Yuen is attached to direct the project from a script by Jeff Lau, the writer-director behind iconic Hong Kong movies such as A Chinese Odyssey. The film will be produced by Chui Po-chu who was associate producer on Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and also produced Stephen Chow's Kung-fu Hustle.
The original film, starring David Chiang and Ti Lung, is famous for a scene in which Chiang fights off a horde of knife-wielding thugs whilst wearing a white suit which soon becomes splattered in blood. Celestial CEO William Pfeiffer said the remake will remain faithful to the spirit of the original while taking into account a younger audience.
'You have to quicken the pace and take into account modern sensibilities - for example the remake will be more realistic in terms of the human story,' Pfeiffer said.
Production is scheduled to start in the second half of the year along with two other previously announced remakes - Flying Guillotine to be directed by Teddy Chen and Five Deadly Venoms to be directed by Kirk Wong. All three are in the $10-20m budget range.
At Filmart, Celestial will be focusing on selling its new slate of TV drama series including $4.5m historical drama Empress Feng co-produced with Shanxi Television and Datong Productions.
Celestial will also soon announce a replacement for former vice president, New Film Contents, Philip Lee who helped set up the remakes with Gordon Cheung, executive vice president, acquisitions & distribution. Lee, who resigned from Celestial to become an independent producer, will continue to work on Celestial projects.
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