Masterful action auteur John Woo‘s most recent efforts with the two-part romantic epic, The Crossing, met some lackluster commerical results upon its release late last year while its second half could arrive in May. In the meantime, the legendary director is refilling his plate once more following updates from the blurbosphere in lieu of this month’s events at the Hong Kong FilMart where Media Asia unveiled a new poster announcing their development for the new revamp of a classic Japanese novel and its proceeding film.
Manhunt is the name of the film which doesn’t have a cast yet, but bodes excellently as an action thriller that centers on a lawyer who must set out to clear his name after being wrongfully accused and framed for robbery, rape and multiple murders. An adaptation of late author Nishimura Juko’s classic novel, Kimi yo Funnu no Kawa o Watare from publisher Tokuma Shoten first arrived in 1976 with director Sato Junya and Black Rain and The Yakuza star, lead actor Takaura Ken starring at the time. Takakura was reportedly a once collaborative hopeful for Woo until Takaura’s passing on November 10, 2014 at the age of 83.
The film also marks Woo‘s return to action since crossing over from his stellar Hong Kong career with Hollywood titles such as Hard Target, Broken Arrow and Face/Off before returning to China once more to helm the award-winning two part 2008/2009 epic, Red Cliff, among other things.
Manhunt is expected to commense filming this year. Stay tuned for more information.
H/T: Variety, Twitchfilm
