It’s been 20 years since John Woo made an American thriller. The master of Hong Kong action films like The Killer and Hard Boiled initially came to Hollywood in the early 90s, and found success with a string of very Woo-ish action flicks like Face/Off and Mission: Impossible II. But after a couple of flops he returned home and has been making films in Asia since the early 2000s.
At long last, it looks like Woo is poised to make his Hollywood comeback. His first project in America in quite a while — and his first movie period since 2017’s Manhunt — is called Silent Night and stars Joel Kinnaman as a father who decides to take revenge on the people who killed his son. So it’s essentially John Woo’s version of the Punisher, with the added twist that Kinnaman’s character cannot speak. (Get the joke of the title now?)
Check out the trailer for the film below, which does indeed look like a John Woo film, slow-mo gunplay and all:
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Here is the film’s official synopsis:
From legendary director John Woo and the producer of John Wick comes this gritty revenge tale of a tormented father (Joel Kinnaman) who witnesses his young son die when caught in a gang’s crossfire on Christmas Eve. While recovering from a wound that costs him his voice, he makes vengeance his life’s mission and embarks on a punishing training regimen in order to avenge his son’s death. Full of Woo’s signature style, Silent Night redefines the action genre with visceral, thrill-a-minute storytelling.
Silent Night is scheduled to open in theaters on December 1. And Woo’s American comeback will continue with a remake of The Killer; Woo was shooting the film when work was shut down by the writers and actors strikes.
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