"Le Samourai" French Theatrical Poster
Jean-Pierre Melville’s 1967 film Le Samourai remains one of the most influential genre movies of all time thanks to icy, existential cool. The French riff on gangster cinema has inspired filmmakers as diverse as Walter Hill (The Driver) and Johnnie To (Vengeance). Now it looks like legendary Hong Kong director John Woo is planning to tip his hat to Melville’s film – even moreso than he did in The Killer – by helming a remake.
In a recent interview translated by SlashFilm, Woo states that Le Samourai will be one of his next films as a director. The story is being transported to Berlin, thanks to German financiers putting up money for the budget, while the script is currently been worked on. Woo admits his Le Samourai will likely have to be shot in English.
Don’t forget that Woo supposedly has a remake of Youth of the Beast in the works as well. Either way, fans of the director are simply eager for Woo to get behind the camera again.
