While he hasn’t helmed a Hollywood production in quite some time, legendary director John Woo is fondly remembered as a master of the action film. From classic Hong Kong flicks like Hard Boiled and A Better Tomorrow to Western movies such as Mission: Impossible 2 and Paycheck, Woo has solidified himself as one of the best in the business, especially when it comes to the action genre.
One of his more bizarre movies (and arguably his most famous) is 1997’s Face/Off, which saw John Travolta and Nicolas Cage facing off after they swapped identities (yep, their faces were literally transplanted on each other’s body). While the idea might seem a little cheesy by today’s standards, it was well-received by critics and fans alike, and it even snagged an Academy Award nom for Best Effects, Sound Effects Editing.
It should come as no surprise then that Paramount has decided to reboot Face/Off, presumably passing on the sequel that John Woo had pitched years back. It’s not entirely clear who’ll be starring in the new film (so far, no official casting announcements have been made), but it looks like Oren Uziel will be penning the screenplay, having cut his teeth on The Cloverfield Paradox, 22 Jump Street and the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog movie.
If you were hoping John Woo would be coming back to direct though, then we have some bad news for you. As reported by Deadline, the filmmaker has confirmed he won’t be involved with the new project. Even worse, he wasn’t informed by Paramount that they were even rebooting his movie.
For now, we’ll have to remain patient as we wait for official announcements to come down the pipeline, but it looks like we can safely assume Woo won’t be heading back to Hollywood to work on the Face/Off reboot. That being said, we’re curious who you’d like to see in the director’s chair, and which two actors (or actresses) you think should be cast in the starring roles? Let us know in the comments section down below.