Wong Kar-Wai, the masterful Chinese director behind films like In the Mood For Love, 2046, Chungking Express and Happy Together, is coming to America. He wants to make a movie based on Hurricane Katrina, based on true stories in and around the massive disaster.
Wong wanted to shoot the film in New Orleans, and went so far as to scout locations, but decided that the damage is still too severe, so he’ll be filming in New York City. He wants Adrian Brody to star, but the emaciated thespian won’t sign on until he sees a completed script – something he had no qualms about before King Kong, which didn’t have a finished script until well into shooting.
I imagine that the film will focus on at least one bittersweet love story, in typical Wong fashion. It will probably be competing with a Spike Lee project about the hurricane – if Spike can get the investors together. Of course I imagine that Wong had an easier time rustling up his 50 million dollar budget than Spike will, since I doubt Wong is going to be spending any time showing how the US government blew up the levees.