All’s quiet the night before Christmas, but John Woo is ready to enter with a bloody bang.
Woo’s first U.S. film in 20 years, “Silent Night,” stars Joel Kinnaman as a dad who witnesses his son die on Christmas Eve amid a shootout. The almost dialogue-less film co-stars Catalina Sandino Moreno, Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi, and Harold Torres.
The gritty revenge tale follows a tormented father (Kinnaman) who witnesses his young son die when caught in a gang’s crossfire on Christmas Eve. While recovering from a wound that costs him his voice, he makes vengeance his life’s mission and embarks on a punishing training regimen in order to avenge his son’s death.
The original screenplay is written by Robert Archer Lynn.
“It was a very smart script and the story really touched me [because] I have three children,” Woo told Entertainment Weekly. “The biggest challenge is how do you make the audience accept a story without dialogue, and get them moved by the story, let them understand they’re not missing something.”
Director Woo returned to making movies in China after helming 2003’s “Paycheck” starring Ben Affleck. The “Face/Off” director helmed Chinese features “The Crossing” and sequel “The Crossing 2” in 2014 and 2015, respectively, before helming the 2017 police-thriller “Manhunt.”
Lead star Kinnaman previously told IndieWire in 2012 that he selects projects based on the director.
“For me I’ve always been looking for the good work, the real work. I’ve always been looking to working with a good director,” Swedish-American star Kinnaman said. “Of course in the beginning with my first couple of projects in the States, I made a couple of choices that were strictly for career planning.”
“Silent Night” is produced by “John Wick” producers Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee for Thunder Road. Christian Mercuri for Capstone and Lori Tilkin for A Better Tomorrow Films also produce. Executive producers are David Haring, Joe Gatta, and Ruzanna Kegeyan for Capstone, and Mike Gabraw and Will Flynn for Thunder Road.
“Silent Night” premieres December 1 in theaters from Lionsgate. Check out the trailer below.
