In the original Bangkok Dangerous, the main character (an assassin) was deaf-mute. A very interesting angle for a killer, and one that would've made for good conversations had that aspect of the film made its way into the English-language remake. Ah, but it's not to be. I mean, could you imagine hiring Nicolas Cage for a film and then giving him no lines? Seriously -- the guy overacts as it is; what in the world would it look like if Cage had to tell us everything through facial expressions? There's a chance the dude's cheeks would literally explode on camera.

But anyway, above you will find the trailer for Bangkok Dangerous; a remake of the 1999 Pang Brothers film, directed by the boys behind the original. Here, Cage plays an assassin who travels to Thailand to kill a bunch of people, but falls for a local Thai girl in the process. Cue feelings of regret ... yada yada. For those who saw the original, how do you feel about them removing such a crucial part for the remake?

Bangkok Dangerous hits theaters on August 22.

He may not be a wrestler, but Nicolas Cage certainly knows how to be dangerous in Bangkok. Back in June of 2006, the National Treasure-hunting actor signed on for the Pang Brothers' (Oxide Pang Chun and Danny Pang) remake of their 1999 action film, Bangkok Dangerous. Now The Hollywood Reporter posts that Lionsgate has picked up the North American distribution rights to the film, which they will push out to us this summer.

Bangkok follows Cage as "an anonymous assassin who travels to the city to handle four kills for an underworld crime boss, but his conscience becomes his enemy when he meets a local Thai girl." You might notice that the deaf-mute angle on Cage's character is missing this time around. Why? According to an old interview with the filmmakers: "We'd like to keep him the same, but we understand that from a marketing purpose Nic needs to have some lines." In other words, they were convinced to change the character? That's really too bad, since that's an interesting angle for a hitman -- someone who can't hear the results of his work. Instead, his girlfriend will get the deaf treatment. Still, it's the Pang Brothers, so maybe that won't matter.

Down-on-his-luck private eye Tam (Aaron Kwok) is asked by a man to find a woman who is trying to kill him. Tam takes the case but instead of locating the mysterious woman he starts turning up dead bodies. Welcome to the off-kilter world of The Detective, directed by Oxide Pang. He and his brother Danny Pang made Bangkok Dangerous, which they are remaking in English with Nicolas Cage, The Eye , which is being remade by two French directors in English with Jessica Alba, and The Messengers, which isn't being remade because it was shot in English and made a good deal of money in relation to its budget.

The Pang Brothers are quite prolific; in the last five years or so, they've made three other films together as a team, Oxide has directed four others on his own and Danny has made three solo efforts. I very much enjoyed the energy and style of Bangkok Dangerous and The Eye, admired certain elements of The Eye 2, and was bored silly by The Messengers, but I haven't seen their other work. The Detective opened strong in Hong Kong last week, earning HK$1 million on its first day of release, according to Hong Kong-based entertainment news site batgwa.com. The Detective also opened in Singapore last week and opens today in Malaysia. Reviewer Kozo of LoveHKFilm.com calls it "more of a ride than a complete experience, but Oxide Pang puts together a very enjoyable ride." Stefan Shih of movieXclusive.com had some reservations yet wrote: "still recommended for the visuals, sound design and [Aaron] Kwok's charismatic one man show." The film also received a positive nod from Cammy Zulkifli of Cinema Online in Malaysia.

Aaron Kwok has been a romantic pop idol for many years while also starring in movies in which his dramatic talents have sometimes been questioned. Entertaining blogger Soupdragon commented in her review: "He's an obsession just biding its time before it takes over all over again. ... Sometimes you rediscover [old obsessions] and find it's going to be a blatant case of not-stalgia ... Other times you remember exactly why they were obsessions [in the] first place. This is a clear case of the latter." She puts the film on the top of her list for 2007. Sadly, The Detective doesn't appear to have North American distribution yet.

I've marveled before at how dramatically Nicolas Cage has upped his work-rate recently -- instead of making a movie every year or so, he's now hell-bent on turning out at least three every year, and if all of his planned projects stay on schedule, he looks to be keeping that pace up through at least 2008. As if the eleven (or so) films he already has in various stage of production weren't enough, Cage has now officially signed on to star in the Pang brothers' remake of their 1999 action flick, Bangkok Dangerous. In the movie, Cage will play a hitman who takes a deaf-mute sharpshooting kid -- the casting of that role is going to be key, obviously -- under his wing while visiting Bangkok to kill a few people. (He also, as you might expect, falls in love while he's there.) As you all know, I tend to be bitter about all remakes, but at least writer Jason Richman had the decency not do the typical Hollywood thing of transplanting the movie to, say, Austin or something. Plus, the fact that the Pang brothers are once again at the helm is probably a good sign. Right?

I've not seen the original film but, based on the reviews I read this morning, I clearly need to do so. Those of you who have seen it, please weigh in, both on the original and the potential for remake success.