Following reports back in May of 2019, Deadline‘s Nancy Tartaglione is reaffirming the news on the pending Don Lee and Sylvester Stallone collab, a remake of Lee Won-tae’s hit 2019 action crime thriller, The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil.
The original film was released in South Korea by Kiwi Media Group and shortly after by Well Go USA in the states following its Fantasia Festival premiere (read our review). Joined by Kim Moo-yul and Kim Sung-kyu, Lee starred as a gangster who, after becoming the sole survivor among a raft of murdered crimebosses, reluctantly pairs up with a dogmatic cop who despises gangsters, to take the serial killer down.
The new film is now in early stages of development at Paramount Pictures. Lee is set to produce the new film via Gorilla 8 Productions, next to B&C Content CEO Chris S. Lee, BA Entertainment CEO Billy Acumen who also produced the original pic, and with Balboa Productions’ Braden Aftergood and Stallone.
The earlier report three years ago out of The Hollywood Reporter noted that Stallone would direct, but the new report from Deadline makes no notation of this, which could mean the producers are in search of a director.
The news comes on the heels of Lee’s successful screen run punching his way into theaters with The Outlaws sequel, The Roundup, which made its way to theaters in the U.S. through Capelight Pictures. The film will also mark another expansion into the west for the actor and action star whose credits also include swordplay actioner Kundo, zombie thriller Train To Busan, arm wrestling sports drama Champion, Kim Yong-hwa’s Along With The Gods: The Two Worlds, and Chloé Zhao’s Marvel’s The Eternals.