New action dream team alert: Academy Award winner Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All at Once) is teaming with Sisu director Jalmari Helander on the new action thriller Fairytale in New York for Lionsgate, Deadline reports today.
The new action film will take place on “Christmas Eve in New York City, as an unassuming cab driver takes one last ride before going to celebrate the holiday with his estranged son. After a run-in with a gang of criminals, he embarks on a relentless pursuit to retrieve his kid’s priceless Christmas gift.”
Jalmari Helander is no stranger to holiday fare, having previously helmed Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale. Rory Haines and Sohrab Noshirvani wrote the screenplay for Fairytale in New York.
In a statement on the new project, Adam Fogelson, chair, Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, said, “As soon as we watched Sisu, we knew Jalmari was a filmmaker we wanted to be in business with again. Fairytale in New York is a wildly entertaining, thrill ride of an action film and an emotionally resonant story about family. And every once in a while, an actor hits their prime—Ke Huy Quan is having that moment right now and his deep experience crafting action in front of and behind the camera as well as his exceptional likability make him the perfect actor for this project.“
The praise for Sisu is warranted. In my review, I wrote that “Sisu feels like a gritty actioner of yesteryear but with a modern sense of style. Helander manages to keep progressing this bloody battle in surprising ways. When you think you’ve reached a showstopper action sequence or gory kill, expect another to come along to top it. It’s that style and imaginative visual storytelling that keeps Sisu so thrilling. It’s also in the playful tone; Helander’s having a blast dispatching evil men in fitting and over-the-top ways.”
Scott Sheldon will executive produce for FlynnPictureCo, with Shelby Thomas overseeing the project for the company. James Myers is overseeing for Lionsgate.
Stay tuned for additional details on this exciting new actioner as it develops.