There is good news and bad news about John Woo’s forthcoming remake of his 1989 crime drama The Killer. The good news is that it’s still being made. The bad news is that Lupita Nyong’o is no longer attached to the project. The iconic director shared the news about Nyong’o leaving the project with Deadline at the Hawaii International Film Festival, where he was receiving the festival’s Halekulani Lifetime Achievement Award.

“There was a scheduling problem because she’s so popular right now!” said Woo about Nyong’o’s exit. “We rewrote the script and it took so much time…she had to leave for another project.”

Deadline initially broke the news that Nyong’o was going to star in the film at Universal, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. It is unfortunate that the Us star had to drop out as many were looking forward to seeing her in the gender-flipped take on the classic starring Chow Yun-fat. Woo said that they are moving on and the lead is still going to be a woman.

“The biggest reason why I wanted to do this movie again because [I wanted] ‘the killer’ to be a woman — that’s exciting to me,” said Woo. “It will make the movie have a different look.”

Woo explains that he has seen many female action stars and felt that there was soul missing from their performances. He wanted to create a complex female action star that just doesn’t just fight well but wanted to bring a prominent element of emotion and humanity to the role. He said that Nyong’o was at the top of his list because of her acting capability, but now that she is out, they have just started looking for a new leading woman for The Killer. Woo said that they don’t necessarily need to cast an action star in the film because his specialty is to make any actor “look like an action star.” He smiled, “I have that gift.”

After two decades of working back in his native country of China, action master John Woo’s return to Hollywood filmmaking has been solidified. He’s currently shooting Silent Night, a dialogue-free actioner starring Joel Kinnaman, Catalina Sandino Moreno, and Kid Cudi. Now, one of his projects in development for the last few years has been given a green light.

Back in 2018, it was announced that the director would be reimagining his 1989 action classic The Killer, which starred Chow Yun-fat as an assassin who accidentally blinds a singer and he goes on one last mission to secure the funds for an operation to restore her sight. While Lupita Nyong’o was attached, she had to drop out due to scheduling issues but now the project has been revived.

In a press release, it’s confirmed Woo will next direct the project, though no casting has been confirmed yet. However, a New York Times profile confirms a 2023 release is scheduled, which means production will get off the ground fairly quickly. “The biggest reason why I wanted to do this movie again because [I wanted] ‘the killer’ to be a woman — that’s exciting to me,” Woo said a few years ago. “It will make the movie have a different look.”