While his brother Albert is having a hard time getting a movie mounted, with "Motor City" recently being scuttled, Allen Hughes is on a bit of a tear. He's in post-production of "Broken City," the thriller starring Mark Wahlberg, Russell Crowe and Catherine Zeta-Jones, and now he's lining up a remake that will be sure to raise some eyebrows, particularly among fans of Korean cinema.
Hughes will direct a remake of Kim Jee-woon's "A Bittersweet Life." The 2005 crime flick — one of the stepping stones that put the director on the international map — tells the story of a hitman tasked to kill the mistress of a boss, along with her lover. Instead, he beats them and makes them promise never to see each other, falls in love with the mistress…and as you might guess, things spiral out from there. And of course, this is all under the stewardship of Kim's distinct eye.
Of course, we're not exactly thrilled by this, but apparently Fox and New Regency have a script they really like with everything being put on the fast track, while Anthony Peckham ("Invictus," "Sherlock Holmes") is banging out a new draft. And, this isn't Allen's first kick at the Asian cinema remake can, as he was attached to helm the forever-developing live-action "Akira" over at Warner Bros. with his brother.
We guess if this has to happen, Hughes is a decent enough choice, and lord knows they could do worse. Let's just hope it does some justice to the original. [Deadline]
I don't wanna hear news of more upcoming U.S. remakes of asian films like Spike Lee's "Oldboy"
or Allen Hughes "A Bittersweet Life" … otherwise I'll go to the nearest U.S. embassy,
dressed in camouflage with a green hezbollah headband and put my forefinger down my throat !!!
Oh dear. Who thought this was a good idea?
Silver lining: Maybe with this coming out, the original will actually get some sort of North American release?
I've done a lot of horrible things since I created the earth…. but this is by far my most viscous act on mankind.