Taiwan-based sales agent Distribution Workshop is launching pre-sales on Juno Mak’s long-gestating Sons Of The Neon Night at the upcoming Asian Contents and Film Market (ACFM) during Busan International Film Festival.
The highly-stylized crime thriller stars Takeshi Kaneshiro (House Of Flying Daggers), Tony Leung Ka-fai (Cold War), Sean Lau (Life Without Principle), Louis Koo and Richie Jen, with the the latter two actors also appearing in Hong Kong’s Oscars submission Twilight Of The Warriors: Walled In.
The film, which is set in a deconstructed and reimagined Hong Kong, also features original scores composed by the late Ryuichi Sakamoto.
The story begins with a gigantic explosion and shootout in a snow struck downtown Hong Kong, which turn out to be planned by the heir to a global pharmaceutical conglomerate (Kaneshiro), who is attempting to wipe out the global drugs trade.
Mak made his feature debut with Rigor Mortis in 2013, which premiered in the Venice Days section of Venice Film Festival and won the FIPRESCI prize at Golden Horse Film Festival. He has already spent several years making Sons Of The Neon Night, which has a budget of more than $50m and is currently in post-production for release in the first half of 2025.
Distribution Workshop’s ACFM slate also includes Taiwanese romantic drama Penguin Girl, from emerging director Yuyu Yang, and Unexpected Courage, inspired by the true story of director Shawn Yu and starring René Liu and Hsueh Shih-Ling.
