I’m half tempted to say this film will never get made, purely because over the last year everything Doug Liman has shown interest in has either fallen to bit of he’s left as quickly as he signed on. Hopefully though he’ll have a bit more luck this time.
However THR reports that Doug Liman will direct a biopic of Morris Abraham “Two-Gun” Cohen, the English bodyguard of Chinese leader Sun Yat-sen in the 1920s. Although not as famous as perhaps he ought to be, Sun Yat-sen was instrumental in overthrowing China’s last imperial dynasty, and is often referred to as the Founding Father of Republican China.
Morris Abraham “Two-Gun” Cohen was born in London and moved to China after serving in World War I in 1922. He trained Sun Yat-sen’s army even though he didn’t speak Chinese, and moved up to be one of Sun Yat-sen’s personal bodyguards. Cohen then fought with the Chinese after Sun Yat-sen’s death in 1925 against the invading Japanese army.
Here’s what Doug Liman had to say about the story: “He’s a thief and a con man who goes to China with visions of self-aggrandisement, but while he’s there he falls for the country and for a woman. The story falls off the shelf without having to twist the facts. It’s almost hard to believe it happened.”
Matt Brown is writing the script, with plans to shoot the movie on location in China.