They Turned Us into Killers

The Killer is a 2024 American action thriller film directed by John Woo, a remake of his 1989 Hong Kong film. The film stars Nathalie Emmanuel, Omar Sy, Sam Worthington, Diana Silvers, Eric Cantona, Tchéky Karyo and Saïd Taghmaoui. It centers on a professional contract killer who refuses to murder a blind woman on the orders of her handler, leading to a confrontation with old colleagues and a determined detective. An adaptation of The Killer was in development since the 1990s with various screenwriters and directors being involved but did not materialise. Afterwards John H. Lee was announced to direct the adaptation in 2007 with Woo serving as the producer, but not materialize until 2015, when Woo took over the directing duties from Lee owing to the latter's commitments on other projects. Universal Pictures officially announced the project in 2017 with contributions from Brian Helgeland, Josh Campbell and Matt Stuecken providing the screenplay. The film underwent several casting and screenplay changes, with the main character's role being gender-swapped and Lupita Nyong'o was originally announced to play the lead before being replaced by Emmanuel. Principal photography commenced from May 2023 and concluded by February 2024 despite the month-long hiatus due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. The Killer was released in the United States by the streaming service Peacock on August 23, 2024. It received mixed reviews and received numerous nominations at the Taurus World Stunt Awards.