By Patrick Luce Jul 17, 2008, 12:17 GMT
John Woo is set to direct the screen adaptation of the hit Radical Comic “Caliber” – which takes the story of King Arthur and his knights and places it in the 19th century with the knights changed to gunslingers in the Pacific Northwest.
Cover art from May 2008's "Caliber" - The Arthurian legend as retold in the American Old West, with all of its great symbolism, magic and spirit of adventure. The Knights of the Round Table are all gunslingers bound by a code of honor to protect the weak and defend the innocent until they are undone from within by their own moral corruption. In this tale, Caliber itself is a tattooed six-gun, given to Arthur by the Indians and imbued with supernatural power. The secret of the gun is that it is never loaded with bullets, but when a man with Justice on his side is holding it, it can fire. When it does, it fires Thunder itself and never misses.
Variety reports an announcement is expected to come at next week’s Comic-Con in San Diego. The film will be a co-production with Johnny Depp's Infinitum Nihil, Barry Levine's Radical Comics and Woo’s Lion Rock.
Woo is currently at work editing part two of his “Red Cliff” epic – which is scheduled to be released in Asia in January with an international version released at a later date. Part one of the “Red Cliff” story opened on July 10th in six Asian territories and took in an estimated $26 million.
Woo is also scheduled to direct Lion Rock's $40 million period drama "1949." The film is a romance story with the Chinese Revolution used as a backdrop. It is scheduled to start production following Woo’s completion of “Red Cliff” and is currently in the casting process.
The iconic director is also at work on a remake of the 1969 French crime drama "The Sicilian Clan," and "The Divide" – which is the story of a Chinese laborer during the construction of America's transcontinental railroads in the 19th century.
Your Talkback on this Story