John Woo will direct a remake of the French action film LE CERCLE ROUGE for Paramount. Rumored to star in the film are a flock of white doves. Woo's version, retitled THE RED CIRCLE, will follow "a thief who is released from prison the same day a murderer escapes police custody. The outlaws pair up and commit a heist as a relentless cop closes in." Woo, who is prepping work on SPY HUNTER with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, was looking for a project that would take him back to his Hong Kong roots with classics like HARD BOILED and THE KILLER. Woo had been a fan of the original for some time and when the chance came his way he jumped at it. Unfortunately, CIRCLE still has some time to hang back. Woo still hasn't begun filming on SPY HUNTER and after that will film THE WAR OF THE RED CLIFF. Then there's that bizarre HE-MAN news. Jeff Pinkner, who has worked on JJ Abrams' series "Alias" and "Lost", has written the current draft of the script. Much has been made of Woo's fall from grace with films like WINDTALKERS and PAYCHECK and here's hoping this film (or any film really) can bring the man back who showed us greatness before. I mean how can you deny FACE/OFF? "It's like looking into a mirror......only not."

With John Woo, I'm sure it will truly suck.

Le Cercle Rouge was a classic... he should just leave it alone.

Woo needs to go back to Hong Kong and make movies there again and free himself from the confines of Hollywood formula.

So he's attached to Metroid, TMNT, Spy Hunter, Masters of the Universe, and this. Anymore I'm missing.

"Mr. Woo, I met you once and told you how much I admired your work, but stop pimping yourself out to shitty projects."

Argh, beat me to it.

I don't understand why John Woo is directing all these videogames and cartoon live-action movies. There haven't been many successful movies in those genres. It's great to have his name attached to them and he needs a big hit. The best one I see for him is Spy Hunter -- having The Rock started in it won't hurt.

Indeed he should leave a classic alone

BUT

Let's remember that Melville is a major influence on the director and that The Killer is practically a remake of Le Samourai. IMO I think Woo is on the right track, now he just needs to cancel his attachments to all the videogame and tv adaptations.

Legendary 'violence as poetry' director + Hollywood = major suck

John Woo's next project...

Another warmed-over Hollywood "product" from the sellout.

someone slap some sense into woo please.

You forgot Land of Destiny.

Agreed. Though I haven't bothered with any of JW's Hollywood output since MI:2, if there's any project that can help him find his way back to the Killer/Hard Boiled peak, it's probably this one.

Could this possibly sound worse than all of the above?


from Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Filmmaker John Woo's production company has reached an agreement with the publisher of the "For Dummies" series to create an action comedy titled "Espionage for Dummies."

The project revolves around a high school vice principal who is forced to rely on the "Espionage for Dummies" manual when his identity becomes crossed with that of a U.S. superspy. Armed only with the superspy version of the manual, he must try to save the world. The script was written by "Starsky & Hutch" scribe Stevie Long.

"It is a great marriage," Marc Mikulich, vp brand management at "For Dummies" publisher John Wiley & Sons, said of the deal. "We tell our readers that with a little help from us, they can do anything. This story takes that promise to the extreme, with lots of laughter and action in the process."

More than 125 million "Dummies" books have been published by Wiley. The company also has spun off a line of products as well as videos including "Pilates for Dummies" and "Poker for Dummies" that have further established the brand.

Woo's Lion Rock Prods., which he runs with Terence Chang, and Wiley plan to approach distributors with the project in late fall. As a director, Woo was last in theaters with "Paycheck," starring Ben Affleck (news). His other credits include "Mission: Impossible 2" and "Hard-Boiled."

Luckily he hasn't signed on for The Dukes Of Hazard......yet.

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six.

It doesn't say that he's signed to direct; it just says his production company is handling it.

Ten years ago, such a statement would be unthinkable. Now, it's probable. That's sad.