Hard Boiled Remake News

[fartbubble]

If this is true, this is one of the most retarded things I have heard ofhttp://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=22731 Why not a actual sequal?

[Brian Thibodeau]

Well, if nothing else, it'll draw attention away from the endless stream of actual and planned remakes of Korean and Japanese films, and maybe draw some newcomers into the Hong Kong cinema fold. And with To behind the camera and the rather lenient American attitude toward violence these days (see Hostel, Hills Have Eyes, etc), this might be worth checking out. I'm sure it will have more spit and polish than the original thanks to a doubtlessly bigger budget, but I doubt it will erase the pleasant memories most of us have of "discovering" the original. My only hope is that they don't pair Chow up with some "hot" young nobody who isn't fit to lick the powder burns off his hands!

There's actually a gold mine of older, and lesser, Hong Kong films that would provide Hollywood with desperately needed "new" ideas, films that could move them away from this ridiculous westernized obsession with themes of redemption and allow them to kill off the hero once in a while! And they don't even have to remake the classics. Give me a 90 minute retread of an old Moon Lee or Yukari Oshima vehicle and I'd at least blow five bucks on a rental - provided they respected the original, beefed up the screenplay where necessary, and showed a dedication to quality stuntwork, decent production values and above all, sheer velocity of storytelling. Let's face it, any film like this would very likey cost 20 to 30 times what they spent on the original, but the "stolen" ideas might actually put a fresh face on the moribund state of the bloated, effects-driven Hollywood action film.

By the way, you should change the title of this thread to include the fact that it's about the HARD BOILED remake. That way this might become the "official" thread as the movie nears completion, and it might also draw more people into what could be a very interesting discussion.

[Mike Thomason]

My only hope is that they don't pair Chow up with some "hot" young nobody who isn't fit to lick the powder burns off his hands!

Brian! I can't think what you could possibly mean by that?! I think Owen Wilson would be perfect in the Tony Leung role -- either that or they could spruce it up a bit and tip the concept on its head by casting Jessica Alba as a female "Toni"! Perfect!

As for this rumour -- I'll believe it when I see it...

[Brian Thibodeau]

Owen Wilson?

Pfffft!

I was thinking Paul Walker!

Jessica Alba would be OK in the Theresa Mo role, provided she spends most of the film in a bikini so the marketing department can sex up the poster and draw in the teen boy crowd.

[Brian Thibodeau]

Or better yet...

Chow Yun-fat and Ben Stiller

or

Chow Yun-fat and Mark Wahlberg
(oh wait, that's already been done)

or maybe

Chow Yun-fat and Vin Diesel

or even

Chow Yun-fat, Vin Diesel and Dakota Fanning as Vin's daughter who must be rescued from the towering hospital inferno when it's taken over by...Dennis Hopper!! She can pee on Vin's leg when he catches on fire!

Hoobayeah! I'm on a roll! Somebody get my agent on the phone!

[Mike Thomason]

I really think, were such an animal to actually exist, the only option would be to cast Chow Yun-Fat alongside Johnny Depp (again!) and be done with it...

[Brian Thibodeau]

I really think, were such an animal to actually exist, the only option would be to cast Chow Yun-Fat alongside Johnny Depp (again!) and be done with it...

That could work, too.

He's no Vin Diesel, but he was good in a couple of movies I seen...

[Mike Thomason]

Well, let's be brutally honest here...the years haven't been kind to Chow and the last photos I saw of him he looked all of his fifty years. It would be crazy to recast him in a role he made iconic when he was still in his late thirties -- so therefore, if it's going to be an American remake with To at the helm (fnar fnar fnar) I reckon go with an iconic American/Western actor...like Samuel Jackson or Pierce Brosnan in the Tequila part. Or someone of equal standing who can still pull it off?

And then, pair them up with someone lame like the aforementioned Walker, or Hayden Christensen (or worse still, Heath Ledger) in the Tony Leung part -- and if that doesn't work, I'm sure Brad Pitt, Hugh Jackman or Eric Bana would be free...maybe even Brendan Fraser...yeah, that'd work since he was good in the Mummy movies. Someone grizzled in the Philip Chan role, like Gary Oldman or Harvey Keitel.

But then, Jessica Alba would be too young for the Teresa Mo part...blast! Back to the drawing board!
(Rachel Weisz perhaps?)

[dleedlee]

How about Brendan Fraser?

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006- ... 301907.htm

BEIJING, March. 14 -- HK's Hollywood star Chow Yun-fat will begin filming a Chinese civil war drama, "Bitter Sea," in Shanghai in June, a news report said Saturday.

The film is based on the true story of a British journalist who saved a group of orphans in Shanghai in the 1930s during the Chinese civil war and the Japanese invasion, the Apple Daily reported.

"I agreed to take part in it even though I won't be in the lead role, because the story is very moving," the "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" star was quoted as saying.

Chow helps the journalist, played by Brendan Fraser, rescue the orphans, the newspaper said. It will be directed by "Tomorrow Never Dies" director Roger Spottiswoode.

Chow said he will start filming in June, after taking a month's break from his current project. He is now in Beijing shooting a movie set in ancient China, directed by Zhang Yimou and starring Gong Li, Apple Daily reported.

(Source: Shenzhen Daily/Agencies)

[dleedlee]

Fat Gor - a lover, not a fighter?





I'd love to see him go back to his roots and make comedies and romances. Pair him back up with Dodo Cheng. Very good!

[fartbubble]

some more info. http://www.kaijushakedown.com/2006/03/johnnie_to_dire.html#comments

[dleedlee]

And now the denial:

http://www.cinematical.com/2006/03/15/j ... -yes-well/

[Brian Thibodeau]

...or something....

[fartbubble]

that didn't make a whole lot of sense.