John Woo Talks Crazy, Wants to do a Movie Without Violence

Let’s face it, John Woo is getting up there in age, and the man who gave us “Hard Boiled” and “A Better Tomorrow” hasn’t exactly been able to capture his glory days, though admittedly, crappy Hollywood retreads of his own movies don’t help. Woo’s latest is “Red Cliff”, which is already doing gangbuster business overseas, with a sequel already planned as a result. Besides that sequel, Woo has his hands in another dozen or so projects that I can’t even begin to name, including a live-action version of the comic book “Caliber” (a Western take on the King Arthur legend), and the last I heard, he was producing another Western, this time with vampires.

So what’s ol John saying now? Basically that he’s got Olympic fever and wants to do a sports movie with two real-life Chinese athletes. One presumes an inspirational sports movie would not include guns, hyper violence, or the themes of blood brotherhood.

THR gossips:

The director told attendees at a charity dinner recently in Beijing that he hopes to make a sports movie with champion hurdler Liu Xiang and multiple gold medalist diver Guo Jingjing.

“I have wanted to produce a sports-themed movie for some time now,” Woo said. “I want real athletes to be my lead actors so that we can portray the athlete’s spirit accurately.”

“I think Guo Jingjing and Liu Xiang will fit the bill,” he added.

But with a trio of projects in the works — including the sequel to “Red Cliff,” the Chinese Revolution epic “1949″ and an adaptation of the graphic novel “Caliber,” starring Johnny Depp — a sports film might not happen anytime soon.

“This is the first I have heard it,” Terence Chang, Woo’s longtime producing partner, said Wednesday from Los Angeles. “It’s probably wishful thinking.”

Asked whether he felt a sports film was right for Woo and Lion Rock, Chang said he hadn’t thought about it and that he liked to find stories first and then think about the cast, “not the other way around.”

Hey, who can blame John Woo for getting all wrapped up in Olympics fever? After all, I know what underage Chinese gymnasts do for ME, and it, too, involves making movies. Um, yeah. Perhaps I’ve said too much.

Anyways, here’s Guo Jingjing, the diver Woo is looking to cast in his probably-never-gonna-get-made sports movie. Oh yeah, there’s nothing underage about her.