It’s been a few years since we have heard anything follow up from the announcements that the 1988 film, Bloodsport would get a revamp from Relativity Media, to be produced by Edward R. Pressman. Reports are now circulating that James McTeigue will direct helm the film in Austrailia as of Spring 2014, focusing on the life mercenaries who collide with the world of underground Brazilian Vale Tudo fighting, where it is just as what the name means: Anything goes. McTeigue‘s credits include, but are not limited to, the 2009 action adventure, Ninja Assassin, and the 2005 futuristic thriller, V For Vendetta.
The film was previously announced back in 2011 with a story by Taken writer Robert Mark Kamen and Salt helmer Phillip Noyce about an American who escapes to Brazil to help deal with the violence in Afghanistan. That story has been re-written by scribe Craig Rosenburg under McTeigue’s supervision. It was also confirmed that much like the recently announced Timecop reboot, actor Jean-Claude Van Damme would not be involved in the film, though there is no word yet on who will be cast.
For the record, the film is not to be confused with the upcoming all-female Hong Kong martial arts tourno epic, Lady Bloodsport, which is currently filming under a different studio.
It’s too early to tell, but with the prevalence that mixed martial arts continues to earn in major motion pictures, I’m very interested in what style of action choreography we can expect. Some notable names in MMA film choreography include J.J. Perry (Warrior), Damon Caro (Never Back Down), Larnell Stovall (Undisputed 3: Redemption) and Garrett Warren (Here Comes The Boom). Of course one other name would be Donnie Yen, but I presume he’s going to be pretty busy. But let me know what you think.
Stick around for further developments!
QUESTION: Who is your fight choreographer of choice for this kind of film? Let us know your thoughts on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest!
UPDATE (8:52pm EST): Deadline has reported on Wednesday that casting is now underway actor/producer/filmmaker Stephen Fung, best known for his recent steampunk kung fu action adventure releases of Tai Chi 0 and Tai Chi Hero, is being tapped by Radar Pictures for a reboot of the 1989 Van Damme classic, Kickboxer. Unrelated to director Albert Pyun’s upcoming webseries based on the same franchise, Fung’s film will be joined by screenwriters Jim McGrath and Dimitri Logothetis, the latter who will share producer credits with Ted Field and Nick Celozzi, and executive producers Mike Weber and Peter Meyer. The film also begins shooting in early 2014.
As always, stay tuned!
Photo: Everett Collection/REX Features