Weekend In Taipei
George Huang is back in the director ’s death chair after a minuscule over 20 years and is bringing Sung Kang with him inWeekend in Taipei . Huang had first broken out with the 1994 Hollywood satireSwimming with Sharks , which he wrote , lead and was the duologue editor in chief and level-headed effects editor , though after helming the amatory comedyTrojan Warand sci - fi thrillerHow To Make a Monster , he would for the most part put directing on hold . He would , however , continue to work out behind the scenes in a variety of capacities , including as a originative adviser onmultiple Robert Rodriguez motion-picture show .
Kang has been on a steady rise to fame since his breakout turn in Justin Lin’sBetter Luck Tomorrowas Han Lue , a character that , thanks to Lin , he would carry on intotheFast and Furiousfranchisebeginning withTokyo Driftand has played all the way through the current films , save for an absence in the seventh and eighth picture show . Outside of the action franchise , Kang has also bump winner in Starz’sPoweruniverse of show , as well as Lucasfilm’sObi - Wan Kenobiand Rodriguez’sWe Can Be Heroes .
November 2024 is bringing the kidnapping and delivery of Santa Claus , the sequel to Gladiator , Elphaba and Glinda ’s tale , and a lot more .
Kang stars inWeekend in Taipeias Kwang , a drug lord in the titulary state who has been the target of investigation by Luke Evans ' DEA agent John Lawlor . Having taken in Gwei Lun - mei ’s Joey , a distaff transporter Lawlor fall in love with while undercover , and her son , Kwang adjudicate to provide them with a happy sprightliness , only for Lawlor ’s return to complicate everything . Helmed by Huang and co - written by him andThe Transporter ’s Luc Besson , the movie ’s cast also includes Wyatt Yang , Tuo Tsung - hua , Lu Yi - ching and Patrick Lee .
In anticipation of the movie ’s button , Screen Rantinterviewed George Huang and Sung Kang to discussWeekend in Taipei , why the labor felt right to make the former ’s directorial return after a hiatus that lasted a little over 20 years , why the latter found his villain to be a " bracing " twist on the genre ’s tropes , and collaborating with the movie ’s stunt team for his fight sequences .
Huang Has A Very Justified Reason For His Directorial Hiatus
“…it’s not from a lack of trying to go out there and direct stuff…”
Screen Rant : It ’s great to get to chitchat with you both forWeekend in Taipei . I watch it the other day , and I was express mirth , I was gripped with all the action , it was just a flack from start to last . George , I will set about with you . I ’d love to find out when this thought really first grip you , and why you require to return to the feature directorial chair after a little over 20 years ?
George Huang : Yeah , so I ’ve been collaborating with Luc Besson for the last 10 years , we ’ve co - written some scripts together . So , he came to me with the idea a couple years ago , like , " Hey , I ’m conceive of doing a female Transporter set in Asia , what would that look like ? " So , he and I just started asking each other questions , riff off each other , you know , " If it ’s a female transporter , what is she transporting ? Who ’s she running from ? Why is she lam ? What ’s her deep , dark arcanum ? What does she require to protect ? "
Out of that back and forth , we sort of come up up with this idea , and he know that I was originally from Taiwan . Both my parents immigrate from there , and he had a great time pullulate Lucy , also in Taiwan , so we thought this would be a gravid stead to go shoot that movie . The last 20 eld , I have n’t been direct , because life-time receive in the fashion , and it ’s a immense commitment to direct something . And look , it ’s not from want of trying to go out there and direct hooey , but I ’ve been on enough sets now where you could see everything go sideways so quickly , because you ’re not on the same page as the producers , or mass want a different motion picture than you think you ’re directing , and it ’s just not a pleasant place to be .
Weekend In Taipei, directed by George Huang, follows a former DEA agent and a former undercover operative as they rekindle their romance over a fateful weekend in Taipei, oblivious to the dangerous repercussions stemming from their tumultuous past.
I remember I was doing a pilot for a net , and I commemorate sitting in the meeting , I was having chest pains , and I realized at that tip it ’s like , " Oh , my God , this is just not worth it . " [ Laughs ] " I ’m gon na have a pump onrush here , arguing over directing something , yeah , it ’s just not worth it . " So , I stepped back for a while to lift my kinfolk , take care of my momma . But then , when you ’re working with someone like Luc Besson , and because we have been working for 10 twelvemonth and collaborating , Luc Besson is such an ikon in this action film musical genre . He hump how to execute these things , and run expeditiously , and is someone who just loves movies , he loves making pic .
So , to have him and his wife , Virginie , as a producer , you know you ’re going to get the reenforcement you want . It ’s been nothing but just pure pleasure and joy working with Luc and Virginie on this , working with actors like Sung and Luke Evans and Gwei Lun - mei and Wyatt Yang . It really is a dreaming come true . If all my directing assignments had been like this one , I credibly would be directing a caboodle more . [ Laughs ]
It Was “Refreshing” For Kang To Play A Non-Conventional Villain
“…in the script, on the page, it could read as very one-dimensional.”
Sung , I ’ll twist next to you . I love that this character is one that we do n’t see from you often , in term of a really cruel villain , but who also does have sort of a deep care for the kinsperson he ’s build over the 13 years prior to the film ’s story . What is it like walking that assembly line between being that really brutal villain , but also someone who has a heart underneath it all ?
Sung Kang : It ’s refreshing . It ’s refreshful to be able to deviate from the tropes that you see in the bad bozo character reference in action pic , and I give that credit to George . To be able-bodied to be open to have that conversation , because in the book , on the Sir Frederick Handley Page , it could read as very one - dimensional . But George was uncoerced to really search and walk that fine line , and find that North Star within the character that still could be relatable .
Most ca n’t relate with being a drug lord gangster , but you may relate with being in lovemaking , good ? And being madly in love with someone so profoundly that , you have it off , " What would you do ? And what would that trigger , if that somebody was being taken away from you ? " So I think , as an actor , that give you something to drop anchor that character , and then you go and have fun and do all the bad guy clobber . [ Chuckles ]
Kang Had Fun Learning Fight Choreography (But All Credit Goes To The Stunt Team)
“It’s the stunt guys and the doubles that actually really risk their lives…”
speak of the bad guy stuff , I would sleep together to hear about you getting to cultivate with Luc for your boastful climactic fight . We obviously do n’t want to spoil how it ends , but I would love to hear about working with him to sort of choreograph that , as well as with George here to envision out the calendar method of birth control of that ?
Sung Kang : Well , we were rehearsing that aspect from the day that I landed in Taipei , and I give reference to the amazing stunt squad , and most of them were local from Taiwan . They broke bones , and they worked , they put their heart into that scene . A lot of time , it ’s the actors that get the credit for something like that , but it was really the stunt team that made that work out . Luke and I , we flummox to trip the light fantastic toe together , you know , those action at law scene are kind of like larn a stage dancing of a dance . So , we get the well-to-do material . It ’s the stunt bozo and the doubles that actually really run a risk their life-time , they put their blood and sweat into it . So , I ’m gon na evanesce that credit to them .
AboutWeekend in Taipei
On a abstruse undercover assignment in Taipei , DEA broker John Lawlor ( Luke Evans ) was doing everything right … until he shine in love with his informant , beautiful Josephine “ Joey ” Kwang ( Gwei Lun - mei ) , one of the Asian underworld ’s honest raptus drivers . Compromised and extend blown , John was forced to flee . Now , year later , John is back in Taipei for the weekend . But is he here to finish the job ? Or to win back Joey ’s lovemaking ?
correspond out our otherWeekend in Taipeiinterview with Luke Evans !
Weekend in Taipeihits theaters on November 8 !
Source : Screen Rant Plus
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Weekend In Taipei , channelize by George Huang , succeed a former DEA federal agent and a former hugger-mugger PI as they rekindle their romance over a fateful weekend in Taipei , oblivious to the dangerous repercussion stemming from their tumultuous yesteryear .
