Woo turning Stranglehold into film

By Robert Purchese Published 9 December, 2009

But too busy to make another game.

Chinese director John Woo has confirmed that 2007 videogame Stranglehold will be made into a film.

"I forgot to tell you. We are going to make that into a movie," Woo told Cinematical.

Does that mean he's making another game? "No. I don't have that much time, even though I want to make one again," he said.

Stranglehold was a sequel to Woo's 1992 action film Hard Boiled, which revolved around hard-as-nails cop Tequila taking down a crime syndicate single handedly.

Woo's good friend Chow Yun-Fat reprised his role as Tequila in the videogame and will presumably take the honours again in a Stranglehold film.

Woo's recent film Red Cliff is Asia's most expensive ever at around $80m and was split into two parts; Part 1 was released in the summer of 2008 and Part 2 came out at the beginning of 2009. A trimmed version of part one was released in the US last month.

Woo confirmed that a full, two-part DVD release of the Asian version will be available in the US - presumably sometime in the new year.

Head over to our Stranglehold review to find out more.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (18) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • MasterNameless #1 2 years ago

    Nice, I played Stanglehold because I love old school John Woo films so much, but didn't enjoy it as much as I'd have liked. This news is win/win. \o/

  • Aretak #2 2 years ago

    I always thought Stranglehold would have made a better film than it did a game.

  • matrim83 #3 2 years ago

    A film based on a game that was based on a film.

    Well not exactly right but its not like Stranglehold was not "heavily inspired" by a movie.'

  • Pac #4 2 years ago

    @EarlBassett

    Silly EG!

    Have you seen it yet? Looks like it would be worth picking up on BRD!

    At 5 hours long could be a perfect xmas day TV marathon

  • andromeda #5 2 years ago

    Yawn.
    John Woo is so overrated. This sounds like a waste of celluloid and I'm sure a lot of chickens will needlessly die during the filming.

  • Retroid #6 2 years ago

    (John) Woo!

    So to speak.

  • Monkey_Puncher #7 2 years ago

    It's true Woo hasn't been great for a long time since he started doing Western films, but Hard Boiled, the Killer and Better Tomorrow are still fantastic films!

    I hear Red Cliff is Woo back to his best, I should really pick up the Blu Ray sometime.

  • Pac #8 2 years ago

    @EarlBassett

    Cheers I will check it out! Got The Warlords to watch too.

    Chickens certainly would not have had the same visual effect. Might be good for a laugh though!

  • space_ace #9 2 years ago

    great news, but he is notorious for attaching to dead-end projects ("1949" etc)

  • Boomerang #10 2 years ago

    If there's one thing Woo does well, it's over the top cheese and cool gunplay (and slow motion doves for some reason...) And i fucking love it!

    Edit: Factually inaccurate Bulletproof Monk reference removed, cheers Bob!
    Edited by 1 at 09/12/09 @ 15:21

  • BOBBYLUPO #11 2 years ago

    @Boomerang Bulletproof Monk wasn't directed by Woo.

    This could be awesome if they completely avoid CGI and go down the practical effects route. Would be amazing to see Woo get his heroic-bloodshed mojo back. And with Chow Yun fat too!

  • Sonic_D #12 2 years ago

    The one-take gun fight at the end of Hard Boiled is one of the best action sequences ever. I wouldl ove to see another sequence like that in the sequel.

  • YourMessageHere #13 2 years ago

    I'm tentatively glad to hear this, but I really, really hope he makes it in HK (i.e. working for an HK studio) and not Hollywood. Woo in Hollywood is not a patch on Woo in HK.

    Awesome news. But Yun-Fat is looking a bit old these days :(

    Means nothing, 'older' does not equate to 'past it'. See also: Ian McKellen, Sean Connery, Morgan Freeman, Jack Nicholson, George Clooney, even Bruce Willis at odd times. Oh, and Solid Snake, though YMMV.

  • Skurmedel #14 2 years ago

    Sonic_D yeah that one is awesome, I lke the one with him holding the smiling baby and they are both spattered with blood :)´

  • GundamJehutyKai #15 2 years ago

    Well, so long as the plot gets rewritten somewhat, I can dig another hong kong gunslinger film by John Woo.

    I mean, where the hell did the little girl and the love interest from the game come from? What happened to his gf from Hard boiled? The 2 were talking about marriage by the end of that awesome film!!

  • trip919 #16 2 years ago

    Does that mean he's making another game? "No. I don't have that much time, even though I want to make one again," he said.

    Pheww! *Wipes brow* He’s just going to be content, making a totally shit game into a totally shit film!

  • telboy007 #17 2 years ago

    I fucking love John Woo and I fucking love Chow Yun-Fat... but which one is best? Theres only one way to find out...

  • TRUTH #18 2 years ago

    Flashpoint has 2 of the best fist fight scenes ever...Personally Woo is over rated except for Hard Boiled, but all his others are just average or decent at best.

    Flashpoint is just as good as Hard Boiled esp towards the end.