AMC cast Hong Kong actor Daniel Wu to star on its upcoming martial arts drama “Badlands,” it was announced on Friday.
Wu will play Sunny, a ruthless warrior who teams up with a young boy to traverse dangerous lands and find enlightenment. He will also executive produce the six-episode series, which was ordered by the network in July and is set for a late 2015 or 2016 release.
The Chinese-American actor has starred in over 60 films, including “City of Glass” and “Around the World in 80 Days.” Wu also won the 2006 Hong Kong prize for Best Director for his directorial debut “The Heavenly Kings,” which brought him the Chinese Film Media Award for Best Director.
“After working together with such a talented team of executive producers, writers and executives at AMC, I am excited for the opportunity to bring this character to life,” Wu said in a statement.
CAA and Great Company represent him.
“Badlands” is based loosely on the Chinese tale “Journey to the West” and will co-star Emily Beecham (“28 Weeks Later”), Sarah Bolger (“The Tudors”) and Oliver Stark (“The Adventurer: The Curse of the Midas Box”).
David Dobkin (“Shanghai Knights”) will direct the series, created by showrunners Al Gough and Miles Millar (“Shanghai Noon,” “Smallville”). They’ll executive produce along Stacey Sher (“Pulp Fiction”), Michael Shamberg (“Pulp Fiction,”), Stephen Fung (“Tai Chi Zero”) and Wu.