The film reunited the director with his star Chow Yun-Fat. There are plans to turn it into a feature film — Woo won't be directing. But will he be involved in making another game?

"I don't have that much time," the filmmaker told website Cinematical, "even though I want to make one again."

Woo currently has a handful of projects in development in both China and Hollywood. He's a busy guy.

Interview: John Woo [Cinematical]

The game is a sequel of sorts to 1992 Hong Kong action flick Hard Boiled and starred the film's lead Chow Yun-Fat and the character he made famous, Tequilla. The Stranglehold film is apparently moving forward without Chow Yun-Fat. What's more, instead of Woo, actor-writer-director Stephen Fung (Enter The Phoenix, House of Fury) has been in negotiations to helm John Woo game.

According to Woo, he'll be simply producing the movie: "I'm involved as producer. We're working on the script and I'm sure it's going be a very interesting movie, but it won't be ready until years from now." Know what would make it an even more interesting movie? If John Woo directed it. Know what would make it even more interesting that than? If Chow Yun-Fat starred in it.

John Woo confirms HARD BOILDED 2 is still in the works [24Framespersecond] [Pic]

The game follows "Tequilla", the character played by actor Chow Yun-Fat in 1992 film Hard Boiled. Terence Chang, John Woo's long time producing partner, explains that the game and the movie will share some action set pieces, but they will be different.

"There was once a sequel to Hard Boiled, from an idea that I had," states Chang. "I developed it for Chow Yun-fat and had commissioned a pretty good script written by John Jarrell. The project is now inactive." The Stranglehold movie is this proposed Hard-Boiled sequel — what's more, Chow Yun-Fat does not appear involved.

"We are now developing a movie of STRANGLEHOLD, and just signed the writers Fabrizio & Passmore," Chang continues. (Jeremy Passmore and Andre Fabrizio are also penning the Mission In Action update.) Chang adds that the Stranglehold flick will be "a hardcore action film" and will be set in both Hong Kong and Chicago just as in the game.

"We will keep some of the action set pieces of the game, but the story is different," Chang says. "It is a total reinvention, with a much younger Tequila. In other words, it is not a sequel to Hard-Boiled." A much younger Tequila? In other words, a difficult role for the 53-year-old Chow Yun-Fat to play.

Terence Change speaks up about that "Stranglehold" movie! [Twitch via Latino Review]

The 2007 video game is a sequel to John Woo's 1992 Hong Kong action flick, Hard Boiled. The game stars Chow Yun-Fat, who played inspector Tequla Yuen. The video game was the first project the two had collaborated on since Hard Boiled.

Hopefully this movie adaptation of the game will be the third.

A screenplay for the game-to-movie is being penned by Jeremy Passmore and Andre Fabrizio.

'Missing in Action' back in action [Hollywood Reporter, via Joystiq]

. I've never been much of a video gamer, but I like the adventure games and the shooting games might help my hand/eye coordination for the gun sequences in the film. I picked up a few games not really knowing what I was buying and when I started playing one I realized I had picked up "Stranglehold" starring Chow Yun Fat! Based on the John Woo movie "Hard Boiled," the graphics are incredible, he jumps, flies and shoots in slow-mo, very John Woo, very cool. I feel a little shy to tell him I'm playing him on a video game, to tell him how cool it is!

Pretty nice random purchase if you ask me, considering one of her co-stars in the Dragonball film is Chow Yun Fat himself, who steps into the role of Master Roshi, the dirty old beach bum who just happens to be stronger than almost anyone on the planet.

As for the rest of Miss Rossum's blog? I suppose you could read through it if you wanted to - I mean it's not like you're doing anything important right now anyway. Aside from a few nifty insights into the making of the movie, this is pretty much what you've got to look forward to:

I suppose I should mention I had a pet rabbit for a week when I was 6. I was the lucky one (when my name was chosen out of the hat) in school to take the class pet rabbit home for a week. Mom was not too thrilled to have "Peter Rabbit" running around our apartment. Even I will admit Peter was pretty messy, but I really loved little Peter Rabbit, and I named him after the great children's book written by Beatrix Potter. Did you read that book growing up? It was one of my favorites.

Beans, beans and beans.... [Emily Rossum's MySpace Blog via VH1 Game Break]

What follows is a look at what it's like using this particular system, how it feels to have one at your disposal, and ultimately if it is worth spending upwards of $1200+ for a similar set up. What you won't find are benchmarks and technical specifications. If you're into that sort of thing, you already know where to go and most likely can look at the system specs and guess how the AMD Spider is going to perform.

Speaking of which...

The System Specs

- CPU: Phenom 2.4GHz

- Graphics: single Revelation RV670 256mb

- Motherboard: Asus M3A32-MVP Deluxe (RD790)

- Floppy: Sony (black)

- DVD Rom: SATA Asus (black)

- DVD RW: SATA Sony (black)

- Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD SATA (150GB)

- Western Digital SE16 500GB SATA

- Power Supply: SEASONIC M12SS-700HM 700WATTS

- Chassis: Lian Li PC-7B Plus (Black)

- Heat Sink: AMD validated B3 model AJIGO MF091-096 CPU COOLER

- Memory: Corsair CM2X1024-8500C5D (2x1GB = 2GB total)

- Operating system license (Vista Ultimate 32-bit - OEM version)

Initial Impressions
The system came preloaded with Windows Vista Ultimate, so installation merely consisted of the usual plugging in, turning on, and waiting for Windows to do its mystical Windows setup thing. Gathering data, making me type in tiny numbers, etc.

Once the system was up and running, I set about downloading the latest drivers, updating the BIOS, and downloading a few choice applications that I cannot operate a PC without (Firefox, for instance.) In standard Windows Vista the system is as smooth as butter, sliding through the interface like a hot knife through said creamy goodness. It certainly put my other Vista computer - a dual core Pentium laptop - to complete shame, but laptops are of course a whole other animal. Now I know I said I wouldn't be dropping any technical specs, but the built-in Vista system performance tool hardly qualifies as technical. It does give a pretty accurate gauge of performance, however, and the Spider system hit the max of 5.9 across the board. The max definitely needs to be upped.

Once I felt comfortable with the PC, I started packing on the gaming goodness.

Crysis
I feel kind of bad using Crysis as a test point on any computer really, but AMD provided it and I felt compelled to put it through the wringer. At medium settings—which is what Crysis automatically set me to after scanning the system—the game performed...okay. The frame rate was hardly smooth, and there were definite stuttering moments throughout. Lowering the settings seemed to smooth things out somewhat, but overall I was not too impressed with how the Spider handled things. My usual PC, which is a low-end dual core Pentium with an ATI Radeon x1950 Pro installed in it, seemed to get much better performance out of Crysis at similar settings. Not a good start.

Stranglehold
The Spider fared much better with John Woo Presents Stranglehold from Midway. I had played the game on the Xbox 360 and not been too impressed, but on this system, with settings maxed and resolution at 1650x1080, the game ran perfectly smooth, and I found that I enjoyed the mouse and keyboard controls much better than the Xbox 360 controller when it came to controlling Tequila. An excellent experience.

The Witcher
Atari's action RPG barely taxed my normal system, other than with the recently patched loading times issue, so it was no surprise that the AMD system performed admirably in tackling the massive game. Details seemed much sharper than when I had played the game previous, and overall my frame rate saw a massive improvement over my dinky little dual core.

World of Warcraft
Let's face it - if your computer cannot handle WoW at 60 FPS in a nearly empty newbie zone, it is time to purchase a new system. Thanks to my renewed interest in healing, I spent the most time on the Spider leveling a newbie Blood Elf priest, and I had a blast. Upgrading to a shiny new high-end system is the best thing for rekindling World of Warcraft lust, and the AMD Spider had me grinding up a storm. A triumph.

Second Life
Just a footnote, really, since many of you don't consider Second Life to be a game. Kind of a bummer, but it seemed like the system really struggled with the virtual world simulation, with performance marks via the program's built-in utility far below what I normally get with my home system. I was planning on using the Spider exclusively for the testing period, but thanks to this limitation I had to hook up my extra monitor to get my stripping for Lindens on. Most likely a problem with the game itself...generally any problem with SL is a problem with the game itself.

In Conclusion
I'd have to say the best thing about the Spider series system I've gotten to play with, is the fact that it is the complete package. You don't have to worry about compatibility between parts, and most drivers are conveniently located within the same couple of web pages, so staying up to date is a snap. It performed great with most of the higher end games I ran on it, and we can hardly fault a computer for choking a bit on Crysis. The real question I suppose is, "Had I the cash and the need for a new PC, would I feel the AMD Spider system a wise purchase?" I am a bit torn, really. As a PC user comfortable with putting together my own components into a case, I could probably build a faster machine for less. Having said that, if I were not comfortable putting together my own system, I would definitely consider the Spider a fine choice for a complete PC gaming package.

Zucker points to games like Vin Diesel vehicle Wheelman and the next-gen debut of Mortal Kombat as some of the "bigger" titles, the latter of which is planned for the end of 2008. There's also mention of more John Woo games, now that Stranglehold is somewhat of a success. Yay? Maybe Zucker and crew should focus less on publishing shovelware crap and try to make the Midway name less of a punchline in the coming years. It might just be crazy enough to work.

Midway resets for 2008 [Chicago Tribune via Game|Life]

Truth be told, I was a complete AMD man until a friend of mine convinced me to ditch my aging Athalon 64 FX for an Intel dual core processor. We'll see if they manage to win me back with what they've packed inside this demo system.

System Specs:
- CPU: Phenom 2.4GHz

- Graphics: single Revelation RV670 256mb

- Motherboard: Asus M3A32-MVP Deluxe (RD790)

- Floppy: Sony (black)

- DVD Rom: SATA Asus (black)

- DVD RW: SATA Sony (black)

- Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD SATA (150GB)

- Western Digital SE16 500GB SATA

- Power Supply: SEASONIC M12SS-700HM 700WATTS

- Chassis: Lian Li PC-7B Plus (Black)

- Heat Sink: AMD validated B3 model AJIGO MF091-096 CPU COOLER

- Memory: Corsair CM2X1024-8500C5D (2x1GB = 2GB total)

- Operating system license (Vista Ultimate 32-bit - OEM version)

We want you to play, play, play and tell your Kotaku readers what you think.

So in other words, this deal may be decent for our UK friends as well (and even you Ash, to pick up while you're in the States). It's odd not to hear from Ash in his night notes, isn't it? Not that Luke "kangaroo boxer" Plunkett isn't great, but I for one am eagerly awaiting the tales of Mini-Bash experiencing Tex Mex cuisine, American Santa and buxom Texas ladies.

Amazon [via cheapassgamer]

Midway Announces Stranglehold Downloadable Map Pack Coming Soon

Midway today announced a downloadable map pack for the acclaimed 3rd person action adventure title, Stranglehold, for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 video game systems. The map pack features 10 additional multiplayer maps ranging from the Kowloon Market to Wong's Estate Grounds to the Rooftops of Chicago, as well as 21 all-new multiplayer character skins. The Xbox 360 version will include 10 new achievements worth 250 points. Rated "M" for mature by the ESRB, the Stranglehold downloadable map pack will be available soon in North America via the PlayStation Network and Xbox LIVE.

Wanna win that computer? Read this. Do it. Contest closes to entries November 12th at midnight EST. Specs after the jump:

Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz 8MB Cache 1066MHz FSB Operating System (Office software not included): Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005 - With no Media Center Remote Control or TV Tuner

Chassis: Alienware® P2 Chassis with AlienIce™ 3.0 Video Cooling and 1000 Watt SLI Capable Power Supply - Space Black Chassis Customization : Alienware® Standard System Lighting - Astral Blue High-Performance Liquid Cooling: Alienware® Standard System Cooling

Motherboard: Alienware® Approved NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI Motherboard

Memory: High-Performance 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM - 1GB - 2 x 512MB System Drive: Single Drive Configuration - 250GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s 7,200 RPM w/ 8MB Cache Primary CD ROM/DVD ROM: 18X Dual Layer DVD±RW/CD-RW Writer w/ Nero Software Suite Graphics Processor: Single Graphics Processors - 768MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ 8800 GTX

Monitor: No Monitor

Sound Card: High-Definition 7.1 Performance Audio

Keyboard: Alienware® USB Full-Size Keyboard Mouse : Alienware® Optical 3-Button Mouse with Scroll Wheel

Warranty: 1-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support w/ Onsite Service Alienware Extras: Alienware® Mousepad Alienware Extras: AlienInspection - Exclusive Integration and Inspection - $100 Value - FREE!

Alienware Extras: AlienWiring - Exclusive Internal Wire Management - $100 Value - FREE!

The contest is based on Crecente's sadistic treasure hunts. Long-time readers will know what we're talking about. Basically, we give you a clue about a post we've done, and then y'all must go find it. If you find the correct post, there will be another clue, which you'll need to track down. And so on. This contest will have ten questions, or "Missions" as I call them. These missions are unnumbered, but if you are doing the contest correctly, they show flow into the next question, etc.

Anyone who posts answers on Kotaku or anywhere on the internet will be banned and made an example of. Here's your first mission:

While Crecente wasn't able to see out of his Halo 3 helmet, this guy was — and added an awesome visor. Thumbs up all around. Find him!

Send your answers, your address and ten correct links to kotakucontestATgmailDOTcom. Specs and some very important info after the jump.

Okay, if you clicked over, chances are you read Kotaku. Like really read it. And perhaps you want to win this great BlackSite: Area 51 computer. And hey, we want to give it to you, the reader. This is important: If you entered our contest, make damn sure you have a commenter account here. What's more, make damn sure it has comments in it. For those who have already entered, there is no need to send us your commenter account. For those who have already entered but don't have an account, create one and start commenting. If you were willing to spend your free time combing through the site, then you should have enough time to comment. At this point, you do not need to send us your commenter page.

This contest is going to be divided into two stages. The first stage is the scavenger hunt. The second stage is a "quick draw." We will randomly select 13 finalists. We will contact those finalists: If any of those finalists do not have a commenter page with comments on it, they will be disqualified. Immediately. If they do not respond to our email within 24 hours, they will be disqualified. New finalists will then be selected. What does that mean? Greater chances that you, Kotaku reader, will actually be a finalist and not some random person.

About the Lucky 13 Quick Draw: We will send those 13 finalists one question, which may be about anything game related or not. It could be a hard question or it could be an easy question. The important thing is speed and accuracy. The first contestant who sends in the correct answer wins the computer, the schwag and INTERNET FAME. The second stage of the contest will be on either Saturday November 17th or Sunday November 18th. The email question will not be posted on the site until the contest is over, hopefully ensuring an honest winner.

In case you haven't seen them, here are the computer specs:

Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz 8MB Cache 1066MHz FSB Operating System (Office software not included): Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005 - With no Media Center Remote Control or TV Tuner

Chassis: Alienware® P2 Chassis with AlienIce™ 3.0 Video Cooling and 1000 Watt SLI Capable Power Supply - Space Black Chassis Customization : Alienware® Standard System Lighting - Astral Blue High-Performance Liquid Cooling: Alienware® Standard System Cooling

Motherboard: Alienware® Approved NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI Motherboard

Memory: High-Performance 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM - 1GB - 2 x 512MB System Drive: Single Drive Configuration - 250GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s 7,200 RPM w/ 8MB Cache Primary CD ROM/DVD ROM: 18X Dual Layer DVD±RW/CD-RW Writer w/ Nero Software Suite Graphics Processor: Single Graphics Processors - 768MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ 8800 GTX

Monitor: No Monitor

Sound Card: High-Definition 7.1 Performance Audio

Keyboard: Alienware® USB Full-Size Keyboard Mouse : Alienware® Optical 3-Button Mouse with Scroll Wheel

Warranty: 1-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support w/ Onsite Service Alienware Extras: Alienware® Mousepad Alienware Extras: AlienInspection - Exclusive Integration and Inspection - $100 Value - FREE!

Alienware Extras: AlienWiring - Exclusive Internal Wire Management - $100 Value - FREE!

The contest is based on Crecente's sadistic treasure hunts. Long-time readers will know what we're talking about. Basically, we give you a clue about a post we've done, and then y'all must go find it. If you find the correct post, there will be another clue, which you'll need to track down. And so on. This contest will have ten questions, or "Missions" as I call them. These missions are unnumbered, but if you are doing the contest correctly, they show flow into the next question, etc. The contest ends Monday November 11 at midnight EST. Send all your answers with links to kotakucontest@gmail.com with the word contest in the subject line. The winner will be randomly selected from the correct entries and announced Friday November 16.

Anyone who posts answers on Kotaku or anywhere on the internet will be banned and made an example of. Here's your first mission:

While Crecente wasn't able to see out of his Halo 3 helmet, this guy was — and added an awesome visor. Thumbs up all around. Find him!

Spent literally hours putting this together, trying to make this as hard and difficult as possible. Remember, nothing is free, so if you want this pricey loot, get to work!

Specs after the jump.

Eds Update: Quick note about the contest. Three things: Be sure to include your name and home address. Also, to enter this contest, you must be 18 years old and up. Also, if you are only sending us one link, you are wrong. Very, very wrong. Send us TEN links and correct answers.

Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz 8MB Cache 1066MHz FSB Operating System (Office software not included): Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005 - With no Media Center Remote Control or TV Tuner

Chassis: Alienware® P2 Chassis with AlienIce™ 3.0 Video Cooling and 1000 Watt SLI Capable Power Supply - Space Black Chassis Customization : Alienware® Standard System Lighting - Astral Blue High-Performance Liquid Cooling: Alienware® Standard System Cooling

Motherboard: Alienware® Approved NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI Motherboard

Memory: High-Performance 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM - 1GB - 2 x 512MB System Drive: Single Drive Configuration - 250GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s 7,200 RPM w/ 8MB Cache Primary CD ROM/DVD ROM: 18X Dual Layer DVD±RW/CD-RW Writer w/ Nero Software Suite Graphics Processor: Single Graphics Processors - 768MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ 8800 GTX

Monitor: No Monitor

Sound Card: High-Definition 7.1 Performance Audio

Keyboard: Alienware® USB Full-Size Keyboard Mouse : Alienware® Optical 3-Button Mouse with Scroll Wheel

Warranty: 1-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support w/ Onsite Service Alienware Extras: Alienware® Mousepad Alienware Extras: AlienInspection - Exclusive Integration and Inspection - $100 Value - FREE!

Alienware Extras: AlienWiring - Exclusive Internal Wire Management - $100 Value - FREE!

Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz 8MB Cache 1066MHz FSB Operating System (Office software not included): Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005 - With no Media Center Remote Control or TV Tuner

Chassis: Alienware® P2 Chassis with AlienIce™ 3.0 Video Cooling and 1000 Watt SLI Capable Power Supply - Space Black Chassis Customization : Alienware® Standard System Lighting - Astral Blue High-Performance Liquid Cooling: Alienware® Standard System Cooling

Motherboard: Alienware® Approved NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI Motherboard

Memory: High-Performance 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM - 1GB - 2 x 512MB System Drive: Single Drive Configuration - 250GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s 7,200 RPM w/ 8MB Cache Primary CD ROM/DVD ROM: 18X Dual Layer DVD±RW/CD-RW Writer w/ Nero Software Suite Graphics Processor: Single Graphics Processors - 768MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ 8800 GTX

Monitor: No Monitor

Sound Card: High-Definition 7.1 Performance Audio

Keyboard: Alienware® USB Full-Size Keyboard Mouse : Alienware® Optical 3-Button Mouse with Scroll Wheel

Warranty: 1-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support w/ Onsite Service Alienware Extras: Alienware® Mousepad Alienware Extras: AlienInspection - Exclusive Integration and Inspection - $100 Value - FREE!

Alienware Extras: AlienWiring - Exclusive Internal Wire Management - $100 Value - FREE!

Citing technical issues that have "taken more time to finalize than expected", David Zucker says that the delays for each will materially affect Midway's 2007 revenue. On the plus side, Zucker says those technical issues are now "complete at a core level in our engine" and that "now that we have the systems working, looking ahead to 2008 we expect the PS3 versions of our titles to ship day and date with other versions."

The game's recommend—unfortunately mislabeled as the minimum specs—are available here, in case you don't feel like waiting for the download and installation to complete before finding out your PC can't handle it. For those of you itching to see what a $30 million game looks like, have at it.

Stranglehold Demo [FilePlanet]

They're rumored to be:

OS: Windows 2000/XP
Processor: Intel P4 1.5 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 1500 or greater
Memory: 256 MB RAM, 64MB VRAM
Hard Disk Space: 3 GB of free space required
DVD-ROM drive: 4X speed
Sound: DirectX 9.0b compliant sound card
Direct X: DirectX 9 will be supplied on the DVD
Video: Video Card DirectX 9.0b compatible, including the following: ATI 8500, All In Wonder 8500, 9000, 9200, 9500, 9600, 9700, 9800, X300, X600, X800, NVidia Quadro, Quadro 2, Quadro 4 series, GeForce 3, 3Ti, Geforce 4, 4Ti, GeForce FX 5200, 5600, 5700, 5800, 5900, 5950, 6800

Keep in mind that until we hear back from Midway or actually pick up a retail copy of the PC version, these should be considered rumor.

MotorStorm owners can pick up the Revenge Weekend add-on ($5.99) which consists of one new track, five new vehicles (including a school bus!), a new online mode and nine new events. Four of those vehicles may be purchased individually for 99 cents each, if you're so inclined. For Ninja Gaiden Sigma players looking for more punishment, the Weapons Master pack adds five survival modes for $2.99. But wait, there's more!

Trailers for upcoming games include:

• Turok "Quiet Kills" Trailer
• PixelJunk Racers Trailer
• Heavenly Sword "Making Of" No. 5 and Anime No. 5
• Lair "World in Chaos" Video
• MotorStorm "Coyote Revenge" Video

On the Hollywood front we have:

• Drillbit Taylor Trailer
• Resident Evil: Extinction Trailer

Finally, a single Heavenly Sword wallpaper has been thrown on the pile. Fire up those fiber optic lines, kids, it's gonna be a busy night.

For those who own PS3s and are upset that 360 owners get the real thing while you just get a lousy demo, just remember: Strangehold really isn't all that great. You'll see for yourself when you download the demo. Which comes out really, really soon.

Confirmed: Stranglehold Demo for PSN [gamerscreed]