John Woo Developing Historical Drama Film Based on Chinese American DEAN LUNG

Director John Woo (Hard Boiled, Broken Arrow, Face/Off, Mission: Impossible II) is developing a new film based on the Chinese American Dean Lung. The historical drama will follow the story of Lung, “the valet of Oakland’s first mayor Horace Walpole Carpentier — whose donation helped found Columbia University’s Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures.”

The university still refers to the letter Lung sent to Columbia president Seth Low in 1901, which stated, “I send you here with a deposit check for $12,000 as a contribution to the fund for Chinese learning in your university.” Later, in order to honor him, Carpentier provided additional donations.

Woo spoke to Variety about the project at the Fantasia Film Festival in Montréal, where he picked up his Career Achievement Award, saying:

“I hope I can make it before I retire. I really want to do it. He was this man’s servant and there were conflicts at the beginning, but later, they started to learn from each other. When he retired, he donated all his savings to the university. His picture still hangs on the wall.”

Woo described the film as a “serious drama, but not too serious,” and “a very human story,” he said, also underlining its universal appeal. He went on to say:

“These days, there are so many misunderstandings between the people in the West and the people in the East. I think we need to work on it more, work on understanding each other. I want to make a movie that would serve as a bridge between two different cultures. We can be friends – I really believe that.”

This sounds like a great story. I look forward to hearing more about this project, and seeing how it turns out.