It looks as if manga-turned-live-action adventure ‘City Hunter‘ may finally be getting another big-screen treatment – so will it finally achieve its potential?
Hoji Tsukasa’s City Hunter made its debut as a manga in 1985, introducing the world to Ryo Saeba, a somewhat lecherous private detective, who works with his partner Hideyuki Makimura trying to rid Tokyo of crime. Following the brutal murder of Hideyuki, Ryo becomes the guardian to Hideyuki’s sister Kaori, whom he swears to protect and never to date! But she not only becomes his new partner, but also grows to be a beautiful young lady and Ryo is torn between his promise and his lust… while Kaori finds herself drawn to him, although his sometimes perverted behaviour does lead to her frequently beating him with a giant hammer!
The original Manga soon transitioned to an animated series which was a huge success across Asia, especially in Hong Kong (with Andy Lau providing the Cantonese theme song for the show). He was most people’s first choice to play the character when it made the move to the big screen and although he would play a very similar character – along with very similar supporting characters and situations in Saviour of the Soul – when the movie went into production with Wong Jing at the helm, it would actually be Jackie Chan who played the title character.
The movie was a huge success but counted by most fans as a missed opportunity for the character, including by Chan himself. A few years later Canadian-Chinese actor Michael Chow brought his own unofficial take on the character to the screen in the action comedy Mr Mumbles. In 2011, the character made the jump to the small screen in Korea with SBS producing a live action series starring Lee Min-ho.
Now Supercop and Rumble in the Bronx director Stanley Tong has announced that he and leading man Huang Xiao-ming from Ip Man 2 & Mission Milano, will be bringing the character back to the screen in a big budget action comedy. They hope to have hitting the screen for X-Mas 2018 if all goes well.
No word yet on any supporting cast or crew for the project, but we’d love to see City Hunter finally getting the big screen treatment it deserves…
