Casting

HOUSE OF NINJAS Netflix Series Drama About Modern Day Ninjas Announces Cast

From Today, It’s My Turn!! star Kento Kaku is one of a sextet of headliners formally announced on Thursday for the new Netflix series, House Of Ninjas. The cast also lists Yosuke Eguchi (Rurouni Kenshin franchise), Tae Kimura (Wilderness: Part 1 and Part 2), Kengo Kora (Shoplifters, Aristocrats), Aju Makita (Pure Japanese), and Nobuko Miyamoto (BL Metamorphosis, The Tale Of Princess Kaguya). Dave Boyle (Big Dreams Little Tokyo, Man From Reno) is directing from a script he penned with Masahiro Yamaura, Kota Oura, and Kanna Kimura, based on a story created by Kaku along with Yoshiaki Murao, Takafumi Imai. Here is the logline: Ninjas were a fixture of milestones in Japanese history, and even now they’re taking on secret missions behind the curtain of Japanese society. Set in modern Japan, this series tells the story of the Tawara family, the last ninja family that had abandoned its roots after a […]

SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL: Kinnaman Takes Cage For A Ride In New Psych-Thriller Now Filming

Lee B. Golden III

Cameras are now rolling in Las Vegas for Sympathy For The Devil, the new psychological thriller from The Operative helmer Yuval Adler. Casting buzz on Tuesday brought word of actors Joel Kinnaman (The Suicide Squad) and Nicolas Cage (Willy’s Wonderland) who will star in the pic from a script by Luke Paradise. Sympathy For The Devil “follows “The Driver” (Kinnaman) who finds himself in a high-stakes game of cat and mouse after being forced to drive a mysterious man, “The Passenger” (Cage). As their white-knuckle ride progresses, it becomes clear that not everything is as it seems.” Christian Mercuri’s Capstone Studios has reteamed with Alex Lebovici’s Hammerstone Studios and Signature Films to produce since collaborating on Moritz Mohr’s upcoming Boy Kills World. Allan Ungar is producing with Mercuri, next to Stuart Manashil, and Signature’s Marc Goldberg. Lebovici is exec producing with David Haring, David Sullivan, Jason Soto, Tim Moore, Courtney […]

BERLIN NOBODY: ‘Stranger Things’ Star Sadie Sink Joins Thriller Production Now Underway

Lee B. Golden III

“Stranger Things” series co-star Sadie Sink is the latest to join the cast of Berlin Nobody, the new thriller from director Jordan Scott for which principal photography is now underway in Berlin. Sink joins Sophie Rois (Drei and Der Architekt) and German rising star Jonas (The Golden Glove), and Eric Bana (Hana) with a script by Scott based on Nicholas Hogg’s 2015 novel “Tokyo.” Berlin Nobody “follows American ex-pat and social psychologist Ben Monroe (Bana) who relocates to Berlin to further his research on the epidemic of cult mentality. While he immerses himself in German cultism, his rebellious teenage daughter, Mazzy (Sink), becomes entwined with a mysterious and enigmatic local boy (Dassler). As these two worlds collide, Mazzy finds herself in great danger and Ben will need to race against the clock to save his daughter.” Scott Free’s Ridley Scott and Michael Pruss are producing alongside augenschein Filmproduktion’s Jonas Katzenstein […]

SLEEPING DOGS: Russell Crowe To Star In New Nickel City Crime Thriller Adaptation

Lee B. Golden III

Assassins Creed and Exodus: Gods and Kings scribes Adam Cooper and Bill Collage are on track for upcoming novel adaptation, Sleeping Dogs, which shoots this January. Academy Award winning actor Russell Crowe (Gladiator, upcoming Poker Face) is set to star in the pic with Cooper making his directorial debut for Nickel City Pictures. Based on E.O. Chirovici’s critically acclaimed novel, “The Book Of Mirrors”, Crowe will play Roy Freeman, a homicide detective tasked with re-examining a past brutal murder case in the wake of a cutting-edge Alzheimer’s treatment. When a death row inmate he arrested ten years prior steps up to proclaim his innocence, Roy enlists his former partner to help him revive the investigation and discover the truth. This time though, things unfold very differently: As he uncovers a tangled web of contradictions and secrets, Roy is forced to face a horrific reality that changes his world forever in […]

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THE CROW: Danny Huston Joins Graphic Novel Reimagining From Rupert Sanders

Lee B. Golden III

Casting buzz is in for actor Danny Huston (Wonder Woman, Clash of the Titans franchise, The Aviator) who now joins Ghost In The Shell helmer Rupert Sanders’ The Crow. He will star alongside leads Bill Skarsgård (It franchise, Eternals, Deadpool 2), FKA twigs (Honeyboy), based on a script by Zach Baylin (King Richard, upcoming Creed III). Plot details are underwraps but the film is billed as “A modern reimagining of the beloved character, THE CROW, based on the original graphic novel by James O’Barr.” Skarsgård will be the latest actor to don the title role following a series of four films and a TV series, each led by a different actor, with the first feature from director Alex Proyas and released by Miramax in 1994, and starring actor Brandon Lee in what would become his final screen credit due to an on-set accident. Producers on the new The Crow include […]

KTV: KILLING TIME VIOLENTLY Reunites Select ‘Jailbreak’ Cast And Crew For New Action Thriller Filming Next Month

Lee B. Golden III

Jailbreak director Jimmy Henderson still has plans to shoot the long-awaited sequel to his hit 2017 action comedy with actors Dara Our and Jean-Paul Ly. Those plans are still on hold as things develop, while Henderson and his team are currently set up to shoot their latest project in Cambodia next month, KTV: Killing Time Violently, which rolls cameras from early September through October. The film reunites Henderson with actor and martial artist, Our once more for their fifth pairing together after breaking out in 2015 with regional hit, Hanuman, followed by The Forest Whisperers, Jailbreak, and Gu Shengwai starrer, The Prey. Our stars as Mak, an estranged father who must use his skills as a reformed bar-brawler to find a way out and make it home in time for his son’s birthday when he gets caught up in a gang raid at a local club on his first day […]

Omar Sy To Tackle John Woo’s THE KILLER In New Reimagining For Peacock

Lee B. Golden III

The Takedown and Jurrasic World: Dominion actor Omar Sy will lead The Killer for John Woo’s newest directorial effort for Peacock, as reported by the trades on Thursday. Chow Yun-Fat starred in the original 1989 movie which centers on an assassin who accidentally damages the eyes of the singer during a shootout and decides to perform one last hit to pay for her operation. When he’s double-crossed, he teams up with a cop to get even. The film was posied for a remake twenty years ago and circled a number of screenwriters, potential stars and directors, the latest being actress Lupita Nyong’o who boarded the project in early 2019 and left it later that year. Matthew Stuecken and Josh Campbell (“10 Cloverfield Lane”) penned the screenplay along with as Eran Creevy (“Welcome to the Punch,” “Collide”) and Brian Helgeland (“42,” “Legend,” “Spenser Confidential”). A streaming date is expected for 2023 with a release date pending for Woo’s recently-completed actioner, Silent […]

ROAD HOUSE Opens Its Doors As Cameras Rolls For Prime Video Reimagining Of The Patrick Swayze Action Classic

Lee B. Golden III

It was last November when the long-gestating remake of 1989 United Artists action thriller, Road House, managed to set actor Jake Gyllenhaal and director Doug Liman together on the project. As of Tuesday, the film, once designated for MGM, is now home at Prime Video with additional casting info announcing Billy Magnussen, Daniela Melchior, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Lukas Gage. Liman will direct from a script by Anthony Bagarozzi and Charles Mondry, which “follows a former UFC fighter (Gyllenhaal) who takes a job as a bouncer at a rough-and-tumble roadhouse in the Florida Keys, but soon discovers that not everything is what it seems in this tropical paradise.” Rounding out the cast are Hannah Love Lanier, Travis Van Winkle, B.K. Cannon, Arturo Castro, Dominique Columbus, Beau Knapp, and Bob Menery. Joel Silver, who worked on the original film starring Patrick Swayze, is producing for Silver Pictures. Exec producing are JJ Hook, Alison Winter, […]

CARRY ON: Jaume Collet-Serra To Direct Taron Egerton For New Netflix/Amblin Thriller

Lee B. Golden III

Netflix and Amblin Partners have announced the new thriller, Carry On, to be directed by Jaume Collet-Serra (Black Adam, Jungle Cruise, The Shallows) and starring Taron Egerton (Black Bird, Rocketman, Kingsman, Robin Hood). The film will be the first to get produced as part of the deal announced between the two companies last year. Written by TJ Fixman, with additional writing by Michael Green (Logan, Blade Runner 2049), the thriller centers around Ethan Kopek, a young TSA agent who gets blackmailed by a mysterious traveler to let a dangerous package slip through security and onto a Christmas Day flight. Dylan Clark will produce the film out of his Dylan Clark Productions banner. Exec producing are Holly Bario, Amblin’s President of Production who will oversee the project on behalf of the studio, as well Brian Williams via Dylan Clark Productions, Scott Greenberg and Seth William Meier.

WARRIOR: Mark Dacascos And Chelsea Muirhead Join Season Three Of The Hit Martial Arts Action Drama

Lee B. Golden III

WarnerMedia is officially announcing the casting additions of actors Mark Dacascos (John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum) and Chelsea Muirhead (Spare Parts) as series regulars for HBO Max martial arts action crime drama, Warrior. Both actors join a cast of new and returning actors for the upcoming ten-episode third season, led once more by series star Andrew Koji (Paramount Pictures’ Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins, Sony Picutures’ upcoming Bullet Train). Set during the violent and bloody Tong Wars of the late 19th century in San Francisco’s Chinatown, Warrior stars Koji as Ah Sahm, a Foshan martial artist whose covert arrival in search of his missing sister forces him to tread carefully between rival gangs, corrupt politicians, and an amenable police force. At the end of season two, shocking twists and stark revelations unfold in the city’s fractured backdrop, upended by racial unrest between the Chinese and the Irish, while Ah […]

BLACK LOTUS: Frank Grillo Toplines New Action Thriller From ‘Boyka: Undisputed’ Director

Lee B. Golden III

Principal photography has just begun on action thriller Black Lotus, according to production notices sent out on Friday. Todor Chapkanov (Viking Quest, Boyka: Undisputed 4, 2nd unit for The Hitman’s Bodyguard, The Expendables 4) will direct a cast headed up by Frank Grillo (The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard, Copshop, Boss Level) opposite eleven-time world Dutch kickboxing champion and lead actor Rico Verhoeven (Kickboxer: Retaliation, Netxlix series “Undercover”) Penned by Tad Daggerhart (The Expendables 4), Black Lotus sees Verhoeven in the role of special forces officer Matteo Donner. After his best friend dies while on a joint mission, he roams the world struggling with guilt. Once back in Amsterdam, he ends up in a one-man war in the streets and on the canals of the city. Between explosions, flying bullets and crashing cars, Donner has only one goal: to rescue the kidnapped daughter of his dead friend. Cameras are rolling in the […]

VETERAN 2: Ryoo Seung-Wan’s Crime Thriller Sequel To Film Later This Year

Lee B. Golden III

Ryoo Seung-wan will direct a sequel to his 2015 action comedy thriller, Veteran, according to multiple reports now making the rounds online. Plot details are under wraps, while it is known that actor Jung Hae-in (The Age Of Blood, Start-Up, Netflix series D.P.) is in talks for a villain role. Yoo Ah-in portrayed the antagonist opposite leading man Hwang Jung-min in the inital film. The latest developments on the sequel come seven years since its announcement upon the first film’s critical and commercial success. Ryoo has since gone on to direct a trio of projects, including last year’s hit political thriller, Escape From Mogadishu, which took home several Bests during last November’s 42nd Blue Dragon Film Awards. Escape From Mogadishu also took home several more awards along with the Grand Prize from the 58th BaekSang Arts Awards back in May. It was during those festivities that Kang Hye-jeong, CEO of […]

THE GANGSTER, THE COP, THE DEVIL: Don Lee, Sylvester Stallone To Raise Crimefighting Hell At Paramount Pictures

Lee B. Golden III

Following reports back in May of 2019, Deadline‘s Nancy Tartaglione is reaffirming the news on the pending Don Lee and Sylvester Stallone collab, a remake of Lee Won-tae’s hit 2019 action crime thriller, The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil. The original film was released in South Korea by Kiwi Media Group and shortly after by Well Go USA in the states following its Fantasia Festival premiere (read our review). Joined by Kim Moo-yul and Kim Sung-kyu, Lee starred as a gangster who, after becoming the sole survivor among a raft of murdered crimebosses, reluctantly pairs up with a dogmatic cop who despises gangsters, to take the serial killer down. The new film is now in early stages of development at Paramount Pictures. Lee is set to produce the new film via Gorilla 8 Productions, next to B&C Content CEO Chris S. Lee, BA Entertainment CEO Billy Acumen who also produced […]

BELIEVER Sequel In The Works At Netflix

Lee B. Golden III

Baek Jong-yeol (Beauty Inside) will direct a sequel for Netflix to Believer, Lee Hae-young’s 2018 reimagining of Johnnie To’s 2013 crime thriller, Drug War. According to various trade reports here and abroad, actors Cho Jin-woong and Cha Seung-won will reprise their roles alongside a cast that additionally lists Han Hyo-joo (The Pirates 2), Oh Seung-hoon (KBS series Bloody Heart), Kim Dong-young (Boys) and actress Lee Joo-young (Tastes Of Horror). In Believer, Cho starred as Won-ho, the scrappy, jaded leader of an anti-narc unit facing pressure from their superiors as he aims to bring an end to the criminal wave of the elusive Mr. Lee, played by Cha, with the help of a key witness, played by Ryu Jun-yeol. The new film will reunite both actors for a story that reteams Won-ho “with gang members who are not quite what they seem”, with the addition of actress Han in the role […]

News Briefs: FAST X Adds Another, News On Eckhart’s THE BRICKLAYER And AMBUSH, OUR MAN FROM JERSEY Casts Up, UK Thriller LETTER GIRLS

Lee B. Golden III

• Rita Moreno is the latest to join Fast X, adding to the “Family”-themed spy saga of Fast And Furious films starring Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez and new additions Alex Ritchson, Brie Larson and Jason Momoa. Louis Leterrier is directing for Universal. (The Wrap) • Renny Harlin’s The Bricklayer is going to Screen Media, featuring Aaron Eckhart, Nina Dobrev, Clifton Collins Jr. Tim Blake Nelson and Ilfenesh Hadera. The film centers on an ex-CIA operative forced to confront his checkered past amidst a growing international conspiracy that puts the U.S. in crosshairs. (Deadline) • In back-to-back reporting, Eckhart’s latest thriller out of Highland Film Group, Ambush, has landed multiple deals for release including in the UK. Also starring are Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Conor Paolo for the story of a military captain who must lead his commando unit through heavy enemy fire following a surprise attack while on a mission […]

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BLOOD FOR DUST Casts Trio For New Action Thriller, Highland Launching Sales

Lee B. Golden III

Scoot McNairy (Argo, Gone Girl, A Quiet Place Part II), Kit Harington (HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” Eternals), and Josh Lucas (Ford v. Ferrari, The Forever Purge, “Yellowstone”) are set to star in the action thriller feature film Blood For Dust. Rod Blackhurst (Netflix’s Amanda Knox, Peacock’s “John Wayne Gacy: Devil in Disguise”) will direct the shoot this September from a story by himself and David Ebeltoft (Here Alone) which they both scripted. Former friends Cliff (McNairy), a traveling salesman struggling to make a living, and Ricky (Harington), an illegal weapons dealer making serious money, reconnect one fateful day. Hoping to make some quick cash, Cliff agrees to partner with the violent Ricky, who is expanding his business to include cross-state drug and gun deliveries for John, a mid-level American cartel boss (Lucas). Reluctantly he agrees to retrofit his beat-up station wagon to carry dozens of kilos of drugs. When Ricky […]

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News Briefs: Eastwood Returns For FAST X; THE KILL ROOM Casts ‘The Unicorn’ Actress; SHE-RA Goes Live-Action; Adkins Boards VIOLENCE OF ACTION

Lee B. Golden III

• Universal is on the way with the first of a back-to-back finale of the Fast saga with Louis Leterrier directing Fast X, and with none other than Scott Eastwood confirmed to reprise his role from The Fate Of The Furious. He joins newly-added Alan Ritchson along with Jason Momoa, and the usual Fast cadre led by franchise main Vin Diesel for its May 2023 release. (THR) • Hitman comedy drama The Kill Room is adding Dree Hemingway to the Yale Entertainment production, which centers on a hitman named Reggie, his boss and an art dealer, and their joint money laundering scheme that accidentally turns the Reggie into an overnight Avant-Garde sensation, forcing the dealer to play the art world against the underworld. Nicol Paone is directing from a script by Jonathan Jacobson for a cast that also lists Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson, Joe Manganiello, Maya Hawke, Debi Mazar and […]

SCURRY: Barry Pepper Toplines New Horror Thriller From ‘Occupation’ Franchise Director

Lee B. Golden III

Actor Barry Pepper (Saving Private Ryan, The Green Mile, Seven Pounds) will star in new genre-raising horror film, Scurry. The film will be directed and produced by Luke Sparke as announced by Film Mode Entertainment’s Clay Epstein and Sparke’s Sparke Films on Thursday. “We’re thrilled to be working with Luke and the Sparke Films team on yet another stellar feature film that raises the genre bar as well as the project’s commercial viability around the world,” said Epstein. “The addition of Barry Pepper and his adept talent, along with his massive global following starting with films like Saving Private Ryan and The Green Mile to more recent titles with box-office earnings exceeding the $1B mark all add immense value to Scurry.” “As huge horror/thriller fans it is fantastic to be able to step into the genre with Scurry. This elevated horror film is sure to terrify and have the audiences on the edge of their seat when they […]

Aaron Eckhart Actioner MUZZLE Adds Trio To The Cast

Lee B. Golden III

Stephen Lang (Twentieth Century Fox’s Avatar franchise, “Into The Badlands”), Nick Cassavetes (Face/Off) and Diego Tinoco (MTV’s “Teen Wolf”) are set to join Aaron Eckhart in Crypto helmer John Stalberg Jr.’s new action thriller Muzzle. Stalberg Jr. will direct from a script he storied with screenwriter Carlyle Eubank (The Signal). Eckhart plays LAPD K-9 officer Jake Rosser, who has just witnessed the shocking murder of his dedicated partner by a mysterious assailant. As he investigates the shooter’s identity, he uncovers a vast conspiracy that has a chokehold on the city in this thrilling journey through the tangled streets of Los Angeles and the corrupt bureaucracy of the LAPD. L.A.-based Highland Film Group is co-financing the thriller and is handling worldwide sales rights, with cameras set to roll this summer. Stalberg Jr. is also producing the pic with Broken Open Pictures’ David Frigerio (Crypto), and Ford Corbett (the upcoming Where all Light […]

Sentient Rounds Up Action Thriller SOMBRA, O’Donnell And Grillo For MERCILESS

Lee B. Golden III

Sentient Pictures International (SPI) has greenlit two action thrillers for its slate at the Cannes market: Sombra with Juan Pablo Raba (Peppermint, “Narcos”, upcoming Freelance with John Cena), and supernatural thriller Merciless, featuring Frank Grillo (Audience network series “Kingdom”, The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard, Wheelman Copshop, Ida Red). SPI is handling international sales on the hot titles and are introduce to buyers immediately. Domestic rights on both films are being co-repped by SPI and UTA Film Independent. “The strength of these packages is a direct result of the fact that they were ideas that originated here, were developed by Sentient filmmakers and are now being sold, financed and produced internally,” said SPI’s Managing Directors Renee Tab and Christopher Tuffin. “This continuous flow is central to Pierre Morel’s goal of providing artists with a one stop shop for elevated, commercial and genre films which will at the same time ensure a high […]