After finally releasing his long-gestating action epic The Grandmaster a few years back, Wong Kar-wai has stayed fairly quiet. That is until this summer, when we learned he teamed with the powerful Chinese production company Huanxi Media Group to fund an original, 18-episode drama series to produce and direct a few episodes of. With production not kicking off until next year for that series and details being scant so far, we now have word of a promising new feature film he will reportedly direct.
Buried at the bottom of a THR article about Megan Ellison‘s Annapurna Pictures and how they plan to have a “content empire” is the news that the In the Mood For Love director will helm Gucci for the company. Years ago it was attached to Ridley Scott with Angelina Jolie and Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead — as well as Penelope Cruz circling at one point — but that talent has left, with rumors that an offer is now out to Margot Robbie.
Surrounding the famous Italian family, the story follows Patrizia Reggiani, who went to prison in 1999 for killing her ex-husband Maurizio Gucci, whose grandfather founded the clothing company. With Andrea Berloff (World Trade Center) and Charles Randolph (The Big Short) having a hand in previous drafts, we’d imagine Ellison and Scott Free would hire another writer now that it’s been revived with Wong onboard, but we’ll have to await confirmation.
Interestingly enough, Tom Ford — whose Nocturnal Animals comes out this week — actually plays a part in the story, having created a fashion line around the time of the murder, but we imagine this one is too close to home for him to have any hand in. As for Wong, this would mark his second English-language feature after My Blueberry Nights, and one can check back for details as they come in. At the very least, hopefully there’s a part for Kanye:
KANYE ? pic.twitter.com/iHZ8IUD69J
— Megan Ellison (@meganeellison) October 28, 2016