“The Mission” Chinese Theatrical Poster
Back in 2012, it was reported that Bruce Willis was set to star in Five Against a Bullet, a film about a Mexican politician who hires five of the best bodyguards (Willis, being one of them) after his father is killed by a drug cartel.
For die hard Asian cinema fans, the basic premise of Five Against a Bullet sounded a lot like Johnnie To’s 1999 film The Mission, which centered on a Triad boss who, after a failed assassination attempt against him, hires five of the best killers for protection.
In fact, an “official” remake of The Mission has been stuck in development hell for years, which leads us to the question: Is the plot for Five Against a Bullet a mere coincidence or has the The Mission remake morphed into a new, shady idea with a new set of players?
In any case… Willis has since moved on and is no longer attached. Five Against a Bullet ended up being another title in limbo – that is – until last December when Variety broke the news that Jackie Chan would be starring in Five Against a Bullet as one of the bodyguards.
Noted director Joe Carnahan (Narc, Smokin’ Aces) is associated as the film’s writer (he was brought on board in 2014 to do re-writes by Predators’ scribe Alex Litvak); and depending on your source, he was listed as director. But today, Deadline has revealed that Jeffrey Nachmanoff – a director known for Traitor and the upcoming Keanu Reeves thriller, Replicas – will be helming Five Against a Bullet.
It may be awhile for Five Against a Bullet to gain momentum, but for now, Jackie Chan fans have a string of upcoming movies that are pretty much ready to be released: Bleeding Steel, Journey to China and of course, The Foreigner. And be sure to read our reviews for Jackie’s latest films, Railroad Tigers and Kung Fu Yoga.
We’ll keep you updated as we hear more on Five Against a Bullet, until then, here’s the trailer for The Mission just for the heck of it:
