Fukuyama Masaharu to star in his first foreign film "MANHUNT" directed by John Woo

Fukuyama Masaharu will be starring in his first foreign film "MANHUNT" together with Chinese actor Zhang Hanyu. The movie is a remake of the 1976 hit movie "Kimi yo Funnu no kawa wo watare" (You who crosses the river of wrath) which starred the late Takakura Ken and was the first foreign movie shown at China in 1978 after the Cultural Revolution. The remake will be a joint production between Hong Kong and China to be directed by John Woo. The production budget is estimated to be about 3.5 billion yen and filmed entirely in Japan at locations such as Osaka and Kyushu this summer. The release date of the movie has yet to be decided.

In the original film, Takakura played a prosecutor who was chased relentlessly by a police officer for a crime he did not commit. However, in the remake, the setting of the character will be changed to that of a lawyer who will be played by Zhang. On the other hand, Fukuyama will take on the role of Yamura, the police detective who was played by the late Harada Yoshio in the original movie. South Korean actor Lee Byung-hun is also reported to be part of the cast. Fukuyama was said to be selected by the director personally as it was felt that Fukuyama matched the requirements of the role. In addition, considering Fukuyama's popularity in the Chinese-speaking region and that Woo had known him well since they last worked together on a CM, he was then invited to participate in this movie.

Fukuyama commented that this is the first movie he is participating in which has so many action scenes and that it will be set in Japan so he is extremely excited about doing this. He hopes that the Asian audience will enjoy the movie and that it will break into the international market as well.

Source: Sponichi