‘Silent Night’: John Woo To Direct Joel Kinnaman in Revenge Thriller With Zero Dialogue

The dove market just went through the roof because John Woo has a new action flick in the works! The legendary Hong Kong filmmaker is set to direct his first English-language movie since 2003’s forgettable Paycheck with Ben Affleck. And this time, if he’s going to make a Hollywood movie, Woo doesn’t want his star to say any damn thing.

Deadline reports Woo will direct Silent Night, a revenge flick with zero dialogue that will star The Suicide Squad‘s Joel Kinnaman. The actor will play “normal father who heads into the underworld to avenge his young son’s death.” Yes, please. Simple and to the point, just how I like my vengeance thrillers.

As I said before, Woo is a legend of Hong Kong cinema with memorable films such as The Killer, Hard Boiled, and A Better Tomorrow. He journeyed to Hollywood in the ’90s and made his mark with Face/Off, Hard Target, and Mission: Impossible II. He also directed tremendous historical epics including Red Cliff, and 2014’s The Crossing.

I’m a fan of Kinnaman, especially as an action hero. He was great as Rick Flag in both Suicide Squad films, and I even dug his Robocop. Having the chance to work with someone like Woo, who will put him in all sorts of crazy slo-mo stuff with doves flying around between hails of gunfire, should be a perfect fit.

Travis Hopson
Travis Hopson has been reviewing movies before he even knew there was such a thing. Having grown up on a combination of bad '80s movies, pro wrestling, comic books, and hip-hop, Travis is uniquely positioned to geek out on just about everything under the sun. A vampire who walks during the day and refuses to sleep, Travis is the co-creator and lead writer for Punch Drunk Critics. He is also a contributor to Good Morning Washington, WBAL Morning News, and WETA Around Town. In the five minutes a day he's not working, Travis is also a voice actor, podcaster, and Twitch gamer. Travis is a voting member of the Critics Choice Association (CCA), Washington DC Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA), and Late Night programmer for the Lakefront Film Festival.