Early in the week reports started surfacing that John Woo's production company Lion Rock Entertainment began developing a big screen adaptation of the 2007 video game Stranglehold. Given that Stranglehold is the sequel to Woo's iconic action film from 1992, Hard Boiled, does that mean that a live action Stranglehold film is indeed a sequel? We chose to sit on this bit of news for a while because we wanted to know for sure what was going on. We went directly to John Woo's production partner for many years, Terence Chang, and asked him what the deal is. Here's what he had to say...

There was once a sequel to HARD-BOILED, from an idea that I had. I developed it for Chow Yun-fat and had commissioned a pretty good script written by John Jarrell. The project is now inactive.

At the same time, we developed a video game STRANGLEHOLD featuring the character Inspector Tequila in Chow Yun-fat's likeness and with his voice. We spent four years making the game, which was released in 2006 by Midway. It became a moderate hit.

We are now developing a movie of STRANGLEHOLD, and just signed the writers Fabrizio & Passmore. It will be a hardcore action film set in both Hong Kong and Chicago. We will keep some of the action set pieces of the game, but the story is different. It is a total reinvention, with a much younger Tequila. In other words, it is not a sequel to HARD-BOILED.

So is it a prequel then? I only ask that because Terence says Stranglehold will feature 'a much younger Tequila'. And what about the report over at KFCCinema that HK director Stephen Fung [Enter the Phoenix, House of Fury and the upcoming Jump] is in talks to direct this adaptation? I don't expect Terence to spill the beans on everything but this only leaves more questions than answers. I do not know what I think of Fung behind the camera. I like his first two films. I also welcome the idea of bringing focus back the heroic bloodshed film in a big way. I hope Fabrizio and Passmore are doing their homework. And what about dividing the story between the two countries? It was done before in A Better Tomorrow II; let's hope it works. Hell, as long as there is climactic shootout that last a minimum of twenty minutes [HB's was 30 but I am not greedy] then I will be a happy boy. For a brief history lesson see the collection of trailers after the break.

Our thanks to the mighty Colin Geddes for contacting Terence for us.