Donnie Yen is set to star in the action thriller “The Father” alongside Alec Baldwin and Frank Grillo. The movie will be presented to buyers at the virtual TIFF market by AGC International, AGC chairman and CEO Stuart Ford announced Wednesday.
Tommy Wirkola (“Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters” will direct the film from a script by P. G. Cuschieri that’s meant as a fast-paced ode to ’80s action movies. The film hopes to get underway with principal photography in early 2021.
Set against the Irish-American gangland of South Boston, “The Father” charts the struggle of middle-class Hong Kong immigrant John Chung (Yen) making the best of his family’s new American life while working as a modest fish broker in the city’s docklands. When his wayward teenage boys stumble upon four kilos of heroin, they’re hunted by a local crime ring and a group of corrupt cops. Forced to revive his past to protect his kin, John will stop at nothing until they are safe from harm.
Arthur Sarkissian, Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee of Thunder Road along with John Schramm and Yen will produce “The Father.” AGC International will handle international sales rights, and CAA Media Finance will represent U.S. distribution rights.
Yen most recently starred in Disney’s “Mulan” remake and is best known as the martial arts master of the “Ip Man” franchise.
CAA represented Yen, Baldwin, Grillo and Wirkola and negotiated the deal with AGC’s VP of legal & business affairs Anant Tamirisa and Thunder Road’s EVP of Business Affairs Jonathan Fuhrman. Yen is managed by David Unger at Artist International Group.