Pigeons fly across the screen. Highly stylized fight choreography. Extensive use of slow motion.
Even if you don’t know the name “John Woo,” you are certainly familiar with the man’s unique action film style that has delighted audiences and other filmmakers alike for decades. Without him, for example, there would be no matrix Franchise, and you can really score points with that.
After a long break from the mainstream Hollywood scene, the acclaimed Chinese director is back – and better than ever! – with The Killer, a reimagining of his 1989 film of the same name, premiering exclusively on Peacock on Friday, August 23. game of Thrones And Fast Saga Experienced Nathalie Emmanuel leads the project as Zee, a feared underworld assassin who must run for her life after refusing to murder an innocent witness named Jenn (Diana Silvers).
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“I had never done a film that focused on a female character before, so this was very new and challenging for me,” Woo says in the studio’s production notes. “I always wanted to create a strong and tough female character. I believe that women are just as tough as men, but they have more romance than men.”
Omar Sy (Jurassic World), Sam Worthington (Avatar: The Way of Water), Eric Cantona (The fragile colossus), Saïd Taghmaoui (Wonder Woman), Cheky Karyo (A very long engagement), Gregory Montel (Thirst for life), Angeles Woo (silent Night) and Aurélia Agel (Black widow) round out the main cast.
“I think that’s really innovative,” Woo continues. “Instead of always showing only evil men, we can show that women fighting against women can be just as exciting. In this film, some of the main character’s fiercest enemies are women.”
For the uninitiated, here’s everything you need to know about the legendary and groundbreaking director.
Who is John Woo?
John Woo is a famous film director, known for action classics such as Hard Target, In the Body of the Enemy, Mission: Impossible IIAnd The Killer.
Woo was born in the Chinese city of Guangzhou in 1946, but the exact date is unknown. Four years later, he and his family moved to a crime-ridden neighborhood in Hong Kong. To escape his dreary surroundings, Woo regularly visited the local cinema and developed a love for the works of film giants such as Akira Kurosawa, Sergio Leone, Sam Peckinpah and the French Nouvelle Vague pioneer Jean-Pierre Melville. This was his film school.
He began making films as a script supervisor in the late 1960s before making his feature-length directorial debut with The young dragonsaround the mid-1970s. From then on, things went steeply uphill for him, building an impressive reputation in his home country of China and establishing professional relationships with soon-to-be international stars such as Jackie Chan and Chow Yun-Fat. The latter starred in five Woo projects, including The Killer And Hard boiled.
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“I don’t follow the rules; I basically do everything instinctively,” he said The Wrestler in 2023. “Someone called my action the beauty of violence, something like that. But I don’t know how to describe this kind of action – I just love to make everything look beautiful. Even if it’s a tragic story, I still want to make the tragedy more romantic.”
Which films did John Woo direct?
American audiences first became acquainted with Woo’s special style of cinema in 1993: Hard targetThe director was subsequently hired for a number of high-profile studio titles, including In the face/out, Mission: Impossible II, WindtalkerAnd PaycheckHe then took a two-decade break from Hollywood and returned to Chinese films until 2023. John WickRevenge thriller in classic style, silent Night.
“After PaycheckI couldn’t get any good scripts anymore, so I went to China to make a few films. Some worked. Some didn’t work so well. But I was still looking for a new script to direct,” he explained in an interview with Rolling Stone. “When I returned to America about four years ago, I got the script for silent Night. I was so excited. In Hollywood, I was established as a director of ‘big movies,’ and there were so many good scripts for smaller movies that I never thought of. My partner always said, ‘John, you’re a big director! These are too small for you!’ But I like trying things that are smaller and more personal. And not just action. I really enjoy writing a human story, but I never got around to it (until this came along).”
John Woo’s family life
Woo has been married to his wife Anne since 1976, according to his IMDb page. The couple had three children over the years, including actress Angeles Woo, who plays a contract killer hired to take out Zee The Killer.
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“Angeles is already a very professional and talented actress, so when I work with her, it’s just like any other actor,” John Woo says in the production notes. “It’s only when she does her own stunts that I get more worried, but overall, she’s great to work with professionally.”
How to watch The Killer (2024)
The Killer will stream exclusively on Peacock starting Friday, August 23rd.
The NBCUniversal platform offers two monthly subscriptions: Premium ($7.99 per month with ads) and Premium Plus ($13.99 per month with no ads and download access to certain titles). If you’re a student, you can enjoy the Premium subscription for a whole year for just $1.99!
