BLAQUE RAIN: R4 Films And VCB Collaborating For U.S./Mexico Action Thriller Filming In 2026
R4 Films LLC and Tijuana/Baja-based VCB Films are in development with an independent action thriller inspired by Ridley Scott’s 1989 crime classic, Black Rain. Founding R4 creative Robert Samuels is currently aiming to direct from a script by producing partner Robert Jefferson whose in-progress draft could finish by month’s end.
The project, currently titled Blaque Rain, reteams the indie labels once again following shortfilm concepts such as Samuels and Jefferson’s “Blackout,” and Nicholas Ortiz’s “Jugando Con Fuego.” The plan is to crowdfund ahead of principal photography in 2026.
“We’ll once again be tapping the rich filming environment provided by the Mexican landscape and partnering with VCB and producer/fight choreographer Angel G. Brophy to bring a new level of gun fu action & white knuckle thriller to the screen,” said Jefferson. “The goal here is to create a feature film with the grit and gravitas we’ve brought our audience in our recent memory, this time with a larger budget, bigger better action, and the kind of impact yet unseen from an indie film company like ours. Our goal has always been to bring the best cinematic entertainment for the small screen possible. This time we’re shooting for something feature length & of professional quality.”
Scott’s Black Rain is a staple in East-meets-West Hollywood action/crime bonanza, with Michael Douglas and late screen legends Ken Takakura and Yusaku Matsuda starring. At one point the film finds Douglas’s character, a New York Detective named Nick, forced into a tête-à-tête with a yakuza crime boss named Sugai, played by the late Tomisaburo Wakayama. In that meeting, Sugai iterates his grievances with Nick at the aftermath of the bombs that dropped on Hiroshima, citing a correlation between the “black rain” that precipitated, and the role Western ideals played in corrupting the younger generation of Japanese people.
I did inquire more with Jefferson about the parallels for his film’s inspiration. Shy of any intricate details about the film’s vision? Jefferson does share that the film will pit a detective protagonist against a false revolutionary who deals in the arms trade for the cartels. Additionally, Jefferson describes the project as a meditation on good-versus-evil, one that mingles the aesthetics of Scott’s film with hints of Denis Villeneuve’s Sicario and sprinkles of 80s/90s Hong Kong new wave, set in Mexico for its narrative.
Samuels is a longstanding veteran of Hong Kong film, christened during the production of Sammo Hung’s 1995 action comedy, Don’t Give A Damn, as the first African American member of the Hong Kong Stuntman Association. Some of his credits also include Red Wolf, The Gambling Ghost, and Fatal Bet, in addition to his 2021 co-directing effort with James Lew, Made In Chinatown. He and Jefferson are the main creative heads of R4 Films LLC where they’ve slowly been developing a slate of feature projects following Samuels’ “Shadow Fist” shortfilm trilogy among other shorts. One title still on deck is Journey Of A Thousand Styles which will star Eddie Griffin.
VCB’s Brophy, who also heads up Mexican action film production and stunt training label B-Squad, took home Best Action Actress for Angie, starring award-winning actress and martial artist Reneé Ortiz, from this year’s third edition of the TACFEST. To add, he served as fight choreographer on Farah Evers’ The Heritor, and Bruce Del Castillo’s Cynthia Rothrock starrer, Lady Scorpions.
