‘Silent Night’ Trailer: Legendary Action Director John Woo Returns With Blood-Soaked Revenge Pic This December

John Woo is arguably one of the most influential action directors of the 1980s and 1990s, he basically helped make Hong Kong actor Chow Yun-Fat an international action star while also ushering in gun-fu, essentially an action sub-genre where gunplay is just as visually stunning as any martial arts fight. Those action pics such as “The Killer” and “Hard-Boiled” eventually caught the attention of Hollywood leading to him making “Face-Off,” “Broken Arrow,” “Harget Target,” “Paycheck,” and “Windtalkers.” The filmmaker is making his grand return to Hollywood after 20 years thanks to Thunder Road and Lionsgate, the folks behind the “John Wick” franchise.

Woo is very much back to the genre he helped popularize over 40 years ago with Lionsgate’s “Silent Night” starring Swedish actor Joel Kinnaman (“The Suicide Squad”) playing a grief-stricken father who is looking to get bloody revenge during the holiday season after the death of his son. The kicker and main gimmick of the film, our protagonist doesn’t speak. The film’s tagline is “Action Speaks Louder Than Words” and the trailer they dropped yesterday (See below) very much indicates that’s the case.

Here is the official logline of “Silent Night” via Lionsgate:

“From legendary director John Woo and the producer of ‘John Wick’ comes this gritty revenge tale of a tormented father (Joel Kinnaman) who witnesses his young son die when caught in a gang’s crossfire on Christmas Eve. While recovering from a wound that costs him his voice, he makes vengeance his life’s mission and embarks on a punishing training regimen in order to avenge his son’s death.”

Other cast members include Scott Mescudi, Harold Torres, and Cataline Sandino Moreno.

Another Hollywood project on the horizon for Woo is a Western remake of his iconic Hong Kong pic, “The Killer.”

“Silent Night” will be blasting into theaters on December 1 and you can watch that new trailer below.

SOURCE: LIONSGATE

‘Silent Night’: John Woo & Joel Kinnaman Team For Action Flick From ‘John Wick’ Franchise Producers

John Woo is reportedly making his comeback to American action projects, after a nearly 20-year hiatus. The legend of Hong Kong action filmmaking is said to be partnering with John Wick franchise producers Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee for Silent Night, a high-concept project that will see Swedish actor play a father looking for revenge in the criminal underworld after his son is murdered.

Deadline first reported on the project that is currently being sold at the American Film Market.

The unique angle is that there will be no dialogue will be in the movie.

Woo hasn’t made a mainstream Hollywood film since 2003’s Paycheck and it’s unclear if he’ll return to making Chinese projects after this movie.

He’s likely best known in the west for films such as Hard Target, Face/Off, Windtalkers, Broken Arrow, and Mission: Impossible 2. While those movies had bigger budgets than his Hong Kong movies, the action did not live up to things like The Killer and Hard Boiled. Hopefully, Silent Night can take cues from his earlier work.

Joel Kinnaman is no stranger to action roles in Suicide Squad, RoboCop, The Suicide Squad, Run All Night, Safe House, Snabba Cash, and the cyberpunk series Altered Carbon.

Producers Iwanky and Lee are behind the upcoming John Wick: Chapter 4, the John Wick spinoff film Ballerina starring Ana De Armas and directed by Len Wiseman, and the prequel series at Starz, The Continential.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ Director Adam Wingard & ‘The Guest’ Screenwriter Simon Barrett Reuniting For A Direct Sequel To John Woo’s ‘Face/Off’

Deadline broke the news yesterday that Paramount Pictures has hired Adam Wingard (Godzilla vs. Kong) and screenwriter Simon Barrett to rework a Face/Off film that had been in development at the studio. The project is based on the 1997 film directed by Hong Kong action director John Woo that had actors John Travolta and Nicolas Cage in the main roles.

FACE/OFF – Obsessed with bringing terrorist Castor Troy (Nicolas Cage) to justice, FBI agent Sean Archer (John Travolta) tracks down Troy, who has boarded a plane in Los Angeles. After the plane crashes and Troy is severely injured, possibly dead, Archer undergoes surgery to remove his face and replace it with Troy’s. As Archer tries to use his disguise to elicit information about a bomb from Troy’s brother, Troy awakes from a coma and forces the doctor who performed the surgery to give him Archer’s face.

Adam and Simon previously worked together on the underrated Dan Stevens action-thriller The Guest.

Wingard’s latest film Godzilla vs. Kong broke records for online views for it’s first-look trailer and debuts on March 31.

However, while the reports claimed that the project was a remake, Adam Wingard took to Instagram to clarify that the film they are writing is actually a direct sequel and not a remake/reboot.

You can see that post below.

SOURCE: DEADLINE & ADAM WINGARD