Kim Ji-woon and John Woo Team Up for Max and the Junkmen Remake

John Woo and Kim Ji-woon teaming up for a remake of a French action movie? Now that’s an interesting combination. The film both men are eyeballing is Claude Sautet’s 1971 heist flick “Max et les Ferrailleurs” (translated into English as “Max and the Junkmen”). The film came as a result of a three-picture deal between StudioCanal and Lion Rock Productions, John Woo and producing partner Terence Chang’s company. Kim, a fan of Sautet’s film, is onboard as director of the remake, with Woo putting in producing duties.

More about the original’s plot from Variety Asia:

Sautet’s “Max” had the titular lonesome detective (Michel Piccoli) setting up some small-time thieves to pull a heist, thinking he’d arrest them and boost his flagging reputation. But Max falls for the gang leader’s gal, played by Romy Schneider.

Here’s a longer description of the original (via):

Disillusioned with the French legal system, Max abandons his career as a judge to become a policeman, believing that he will be more effective at bringing criminals to justice. His obsession with catching crooks red-handed leads him to devise a scheme which takes him outside the law: he will manufacture a crime to deliver the result he is seeking. His victim is Abel, a one-time crook who now works as a scrap-metal merchant with a band of thugs and ex-convicts. Max lures Abel’s girlfriend, a prostitute named Lily, by pretending to be a banker and using her love of money to manipulate her. Through Max’s influence Lily coerces Abel and his friends into mounting a bank robbery. The plan cannot fail…

But forget the French setting. The remake will be in English (from a script by Howard Rodman), and will most likely be set in the States, making this Kim Ji-Woon’s first English-language movie. Kim confirms that this will be his next movie after “The Good, The Bad, and the Weird”.