Sydney Sweeney Teams Up with Fast and Furious Director Justin Lin for That Man from Rio Remake

Apple Original Films is making a not-so-original move: they’re remaking That Man from Rio, the 1964 French-Italian adventure romp that basically winks at James Bond and steals a few pages from Tintin. The new version has Justin Lin directing and Sydney Sweeney set to star. Yes, the same Justin Lin who steered five Fast & Furious movies, and the same Sydney Sweeney who’s been buzzing in the rumor mill as a possible Bond girl. Feels fitting.

Who is doing what

• Director: Justin Lin (five Fast & Furious entries)
• Star: Sydney Sweeney (also serving as executive producer)
• Screenplay: Chase Palmer, based on the story by Philippe de Broca, Jean-Paul Rappeneau, Ariane Mnouchkine, and Daniel Boulanger
• Producers: Kevin Walsh through The Walsh Company (under his first-look deal with Apple TV); Justin Lin via Perfect Storm Entertainment

Per Deadline, Apple is backing the project, with Walsh producing after chasing the rights for years. He’s a longtime fan of the original and finally locked it down. Sweeney has worked with Apple before on the thriller Echo Valley, which Walsh also produced, so this is a bit of a reunion. One more nugget: the central hero role is expected to draw interest from A-list actors, which gives Lin some prime options for Sweeney’s co-lead.

Quick refresher on the 1964 original

Directed by Philippe de Broca and starring Jean-Paul Belmondo and Francoise Dorleac, That Man from Rio (L'Homme de Rio) is a breezy, globe-trotting caper that riffs on Bond but takes a lot of its DNA from Herge’s comics. Some sequences are basically lifted from The Adventures of Tintin, and that was the point. The plot’s simple and effective: a young private on military leave gets dragged into a rescue mission when his girlfriend is kidnapped by thieves and whisked off to Rio de Janeiro. Cue outrageous set pieces and a lot of sprinting through exotic locations.

If you’ve ever watched it and thought, wait, this feels like Indy’s cool cousin, you’re not wrong. Steven Spielberg and George Lucas later credited That Man from Rio as one of the sparks that led to Indiana Jones. So yes, the movie has real cinematic lineage, not just cult-kid cred.

Why this pairing makes sense

Lin knows how to stage clean, propulsive action with a sense of humor, which is the exact energy That Man from Rio needs. Sweeney’s on a hot streak and has that glam-adventure star factor. And with a still-to-be-cast hero role likely getting shopped to top-tier names, you can start fantasy-casting now.

And because I can’t resist pointing it out: Apple Original Films making a remake is a little on the nose, but if it brings back a film that inspired Indiana Jones and lets Lin cut loose outside of cars and coronas, I’m in.