Walter Hill and David Giler wrote a script for a remake of The Killer (1989) as far back as 1992. It was planned to have starred Richard Gere and Denzel Washington, as well as Michelle Yeoh in order to eliminate the homosexual undertone of the John Woo film. In 2018, Lupita Nyong'o was going to star in the American remake, but eventually dropped out.
Nicolas Cage wanted to star in the remake if John Woo directed it.