Park Hoon-jung – the director of New World, Tiger: An Old Hunter’s Tale and writer of I Saw the Devil – returns to the dark world of sadistic killers in V.I.P, an upcoming South Korean noir/thriller about the son of a high-ranking North Korean official who is suspected of committing serial murders around the world. V.I.P. stars Jang Dong-Gun (No Tears for the Dead), Kim Myung-Min (Man of Vendetta), Park Hee-Soon (The Age of Shadows), Lee Jong-Suk (Hot Young Bloods) and a … Continue reading →

There’s another Expendables-ish Asian action film in the works – not to be confused with Jesse V. Johnson’s upoming actioner Triple Threat (aka The Makeshift Squad) – titled Asia Pacific Elimination Service (or A.P.E.S.). Earlier this year at Filmart (via THR), the $12 million project had Tony Jaa (Tom Yum Goong 2), Tiger Chen (Monk Comes Down the Mountain) and David Wu attached, but upon further research, Max Zhang (SPL 2 aka Kill Zone 2) … Continue reading →

After his smash hit Veteran, Ryoo Seung-wan is now preparing to release Battleship Island (read our review), a big budget action thriller. The upcoming film, set on Hashima Island in Japan, will revolve around the story of Korean laborers force to work by the Japanese military during World War II, who plan to escape to the island. Veteran star Hwang Jeong-min leads a cast that includes So Ji-Sub (Company Man), Song Joong-Ki (Five Senses of … Continue reading →

Acclaimed director Takashi Miike (Dead or Alive, Ley Lines), one of the hardest-working filmmakers from Japan – and the legendary Sammo Hung (The Bodyguard), one of the hardest-working figures in Hong Kong cinema – are joining forces for an action comedy in 2018. According to AFS, the upcoming Chinese-made presentation will be directed by Miike and action will be choreographed by Hung, with Shun Oguri (Lupin the Third) and Takuya Kimura (2046) starring alongside a to-be-announced Chinese cast. At this time, there’s no … Continue reading →

A Hollywood adaptation of Tsugumi Ohba’s Death Note – a hit manga, anime and Japanese live-action horror film series – is coming to your Netflix queue. The upcoming film, directed by Adam Wingard (The Guest), stars Nat Wolff (The Fault in Our Stars) and Margaret Qualley (The Nice Guys). Death Note (read our review) centers around an intelligent high school student goes on a secret crusade to eliminate criminals from the world after discovering … Continue reading →

Considering that he’s gone all respectable with historical action pictures like The Legend is Born: Ip Man and The Woman Knight of Mirror Lake – not to mention edge-of-your-seat blockbusters like Shock Wave – it’s easy to forget that director Herman Yau (Taxi Hunter) got his start in the grimy, nasty world of Category III. Movies like The Untold Story and Ebola Syndrome made Yau famous and now the filmmaker is once … Continue reading →

China Lion is releasing Our Time Will Come on July 7th in 16 cities in North America. Based on a true story, this action-filled wartime epic is directed by award-winning filmmaker Ann Hui (A Simple Life) and stars Zhou Xun (The Flying Swords of Dragon Gate), Eddie Peng (Operation Mekong) and Wallace Huo (Fatal Countdown: Reset). Our Time Will Come portrays a chapter in the history of Hong Kong’s wartime era … Continue reading →

Justin Chon (Revenge of the Green Dragons) writes, directs and stars in Gook, an upcoming thriller that examines the relationships between Korean and African American communities set around the 1992 L.A. Riots. Eli (Chon) and Daniel (David So) are two Korean American brothers that run their late father’s shoe store in a predominantly African American community of Los Angeles. These two brothers strike up an unlikely friendship with an 11-year-old African American … Continue reading →

On September 15th, Lionsgate will be releasing American Assassin into the theaters. This upcoming action thriller is directed by Michael Cuesta (Kill the Messenger) and based on a series of novels by the late Vince Flynn. The film stars Dylan O’Brien (The Maze Runner) as a special agent who carries out covert counter-terrorist operations. Co-starring is Michael Keaton (Jackie Brown), who plays Stan Hurley, Rapp’s instructor/mentor. According to Deadline, the pair are enlisted by CIA Deputy Director (Sanaa Lathan) to investigate a … Continue reading →

We here at City on Fire enjoy passing along the latest news, features, interviews, and reviews for our readers. But we need a break. Not a long one! We promise. We’ll be back in a couple weeks, probably less – just enough time to relax and recharge. Watch some good movies while we’re gone and be sure to tell us about ’em when we get back. This will also be a good … Continue reading →