Luke Evans Actioner ‘Weekend In Taipei’ Produced By Luc Besson’s EuropaCorp Acquired By Ketchup Entertainment

Matt Grobar
·2 min read
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EXCLUSIVE: Ketchup Entertainment has acquired North American rights to the action film Weekend in Taipei, produced by EuropaCorp’s Luc Besson and Virginie Besson-Silla, and starring Luke Evans (Murder Mystery), Gwei Lun-Mei (Black Coal, Thin Ice) and Sung Kang (Fast & Furious franchise).

The film from director George Huang (Swimming with Sharks) has been slated for a wide theatrical release this year, with further details on the worldwide roll-out planned by EuropaCorp still to come.

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Co-written by Huang and Besson, Weekend in Taipei follows John Lawlor, a pit-bull DEA agent married to his job. There’s not a bad guy he can’t stop, nothing he won’t sacrifice to close out a case. Joey Kwang is a top “Transporter” in Taipei — fast-driving and fast-thinking, she’s difficult to pin down, impossible to catch. The two of them weren’t supposed to fall in love, but fate brought them together…before forces of crime and corruption tore them apart. Now, 15 years later, fate puts Joey and John on a collision course during a weekend in Taipei. And the two will discover that the only thing harder than falling in love…is falling back in love.

“Weekend in Taipei is an exciting movie that George Huang has masterfully directed and features a great cast that includes Luke Evans, Gwei Lun-Mei, and Sung Kang,” stated Ketchup Entertainment CEO Gareth West. “We look forward to working with Luc, Virginie and EuropaCorp and bringing this film to North American audiences this summer.”

EuropaCorp CEO Jean-Marc Lacarrère added, “We are very proud of Weekend in Taipei, which perfectly captures EuropaCorp’s DNA by bundling action, romance, and comedy together. We are also pleased to partner with Gareth and Ketchup’s team in sharing this thrilling film with audiences throughout North America.”

Founded in 2008, Ketchup Entertainment is coming off of the release of Michel Franco’s Memory, starring Jessica Chastain and Peter Sarsgaard, which won Sarsgaard the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival, bringing Chastain an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Lead Performance. Recently, the company also produced Michael Mann’s Neon title Ferrari and released Robert Rodriguez’s Hypnotic, starring Ben Affleck.

Upcoming theatrical releases include Hallie Meyers-Shyer’s comedy Goodrich, starring Michael Keaton and Mila Kunis, and Brian Taylor’s Hellboy: The Crooked Man, starring Jack Kesy.

Negotiations for the sale of Weekend in Taipei were led by David Spiegelman, Gregoire Melin, Kinology, and Brieuc Jonnet of EuropaCorp.

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