Well, that was fast (again). Just a few days ago we shared the news that The Raid, Gareth Evans‘ Indonesian action hit and Midnight Madness audience award winner of Toronto, was picked up for a US remake. Now, less than a week after TIFF has concluded, another Midnight Madness hit has got the same treatment.
THR reports that Warner Bros. has just acquired the remake rights for Frederic Jardin‘s Sleepless Night. They’ve set The Departed and The Ring producer Roy Lee, who has Abduction coming out this week, to oversee the project. Night was one of my favorite films of TIFF; a tense, thrilling film that can best be described as a cross between Die Hard and Taken. I encourage you to check out my review and video reaction here and synopsis below.
Synopsis:
The movie centers on an undercover cop trying to get back his kidnapped son from a drug-dealing nightclub owner. Unfortunately for the cop, he loses his only bargaining chip – a duffel bag filled with cocaine that he and his partner stole in a botched job that got the cop not only recognized but badly stabbed as well. The cop spends the movie in the club trying to find the bag and his son, while evading goons from multiple drug lords and Internal Affairs police officers.
My first thought getting out of the screening was that remake rights would immediately be in the works. I heard some rumors and it looks like I wasn’t far off. THR reports that the studio and producer were already planning to snatch up the rights before its premiere. The original team will still be involved, as producers Lauranne Bourrachot and Marco Cherqui are executive producers for this Hollywood re-do.
This is a film structured on visual storytelling and can be easily transferred to any language. I just hope they get it right, as it has some of the most well-executed action sequences of recent memory and strong characters to add. Check out the French trailer below.
Will you seek out Sleepless Night before the remake hits US theaters?