Bullet Run, The Cage, High Stakes and more Asia-U.S. action thrillers moving forward

Yifei Liu, Michael Angarano and Jet Li in The Forbidden Kingdom
Yifei Liu, Michael Angarano and Jet Li in The Forbidden Kingdom
Producer David Lee’s Xinhua Media Entertainment shingle, which is a China-U.S. co-production unit set up in Los Angeles and Beijing, announced a five film production slate, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Previously, Lee was the head of the Weinstein Company’s Asian Film Fund.

The roster includes such Hollywood producers as Jon Shestack (Air Force One) and Casey Silver, with whom Lee worked on the hit martial arts flick The Forbidden Kingdom. Apparently, “Kingdom” star Jet Li is in discussions to star in one of Xinhua’s inaugural slate – the martial arts thriller The Cage, which is scheduled to be among the first of the five features.

Other films in the slate include Bullet Run, an international action thriller to be shot across China, and a suspense thriller called The Hunted, which will be shot in 3-D, from producer Steve Squillante (Witchblade) and director David Ellis (Snakes on a Plane), with a script by the Hayes brothers, who wrote recent the comic adaptation Whiteout.

Another film titled High Stakes, will be a high-concept action thriller shot in Las Vegas and China’s gambling capital, Macau. High Stakes’s producers will include Matthew Rhodes (Passengers), Keri Selig (The Stepford Wives) and Kia Jam (Lucky Number Slevin).

Rounding out the slate is the previously announced live-action adaptation of Mulan (11/5/2008), which is being helmed by Drunken Master director Jingle Ma.