Wong Kar-wai to direct Tong Wars, set in San Francisco's Chinatown in 19th century, for Amazon Studio

A period drama directed by Wong Kar-wai, best remembered as the maker of Chunking Express, is one among five of Amazon Studio’s upcoming projects. This hour-long drama has been titled Tong Wars, and will tell the story of Chinese immigrants and organised crime families residing in Chinatown in 19th century San Francisco. It is set against the backdrop of the Tong Wars, and has hence been named so, reports Variety.

The rest of Amazon Studio’s confirmed deals are three comedies, one of which stars Fred Armisen and Maya Rudolph, and a comic book adaptation by Seth Rogen.

The signing of these deals reportedly was the result of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ mandate that the streaming service must compete with its rivals Netflix and HBO. “The mandate from Jeff Bezos is clear: Bring me Game of Thrones,” reported Variety. “I do think Game of Thrones is to TV as Jaws and Star Wars was to the movies of the 1970s,” said Amazon Studio’s chief, Roy Price.

Wong Kar-wai’s latest offering was the 2013 release The Grandmaster, a martial arts drama film based on Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man. In 1997, he received the Best Director Award at the Cannes Film Festival for Happy Together.

While he has directed ads and commercials in the past, this marks his debut when it comes to directing for the small screen.