Unknown director Jaume Collet-Serra to helm Le Cercle Rouge remake Red Circle?

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Director Jaume Collet-Serra is hot at the moment, coming off a weekend box office win with the Liam Neeson thriller UNKNOWN. Just last week, his name was being bandied about in relation to the impending G.I. JOE sequel as well, not to mention a potential franchise with the film HARKER about the vampire hunter Jonathan Harker character from BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA. And now? Deadline is reporting that Serra is making a deal to take on RED CIRCLE, the remake of the 1970 Jean-Pierre Melville masterpiece LE CERCLE ROUGE.

Originally, Hong Kong filmmaker Johnnie To (VENGEANCE, THE MISSION) was to give us his take (after replacing Melville-disciple John Woo) with a line-up that consisted of Chow Yun-Fat, Liam Neeson, and Orlando Bloom. That version was expected to go into production back in the summer of 2008. With To out, have Fat, Neeson, and Bloom gone as well? Fat and Bloom are anyone’s guess while Neeson is probably a sure thing considering his connection now to Serra.

The skinny on Melville’s classic (via The Criterion Collection):

Alain Delon plays a master thief, fresh out of prison, who crosses paths with a notorious escapee (Gian Maria Volonté) and an alcoholic ex-cop (Yves Montand). The unlikely trio plot a heist, against impossible odds, until a relentless inspector and their own pasts seal their fates. Jean-Pierre Melville’s Le cercle rouge combines honorable antiheroes, coolly atmospheric cinematography, and breathtaking set pieces to create a masterpiece of crime cinema.