Casting

KNIGHTS OF THE ZODIAC: Mackenyu Arata Leads International Debut Adapting ‘Saint Seiya’ For The Big Screen From Toei, SPWA

It feels so timely that I’ve only just seen actor Mackenyu Arata’s most recent performance in the fourth installment of the Rurouni Kenshin saga. If you ask me, considering he’s the one cast for the lead role in what looks to be a bolstering international debut with Tomasz Baginski’s Saint Seiya treatment, Knights Of The Zodiac, I’d say Baginski is in good hands. The new movie is produced Toei and Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions, and just wrapped filming in Croatia and Hungary with Arata joined by Madison Iseman, Famke Janssen, Sean Bean, Diego Tinoco, along with Nick Stahl and action star Mark Dacascos. Josh Campbell and Matt Stuecken (10 Cloverfield Lane) penned the most recent drafts, according to THR‘s Borys Kit. The manga and anime, created by Masami Kurumada and first introduced in 1986, told of warriors known as The Saints who gather their powers from the constellations. They are […]

RUST: Joel Souza’s Western Actioner Adds Travis Fimmel And More For October Shoot

Lee B. Golden III

Highland Film Group is announcing cast for Crown Vic helmer Joel Souza’s new Western, Rust, following the attachment of Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe Award winner Alec Baldwin (Mission: Impossible franchise, NBC’s “30 Rock”) last year. Principal photography will commence come early October in New Mexico with Baldwin joined by Travis Fimmel (Ridley Scott’s “Raised by Wolves,” Universal Pictures’ Warcraft, Amazon’s “Vikings”), Brady Noon (Universal Pictures’ Good Boys, Disney +’s “The Mighty Ducks: Game Changer”) and Frances Fisher (Titanic, Warner Bros.’ Unforgiven). Rust is an action/western which tells of infamous Western outlaw Harland Rust (Baldwin), who’s had a bounty on his head for as long as he can remember. When his estranged 13-year-old grandson Lucas is convicted of an accidental murder and is sentenced to hang, Rust travels to Kansas to break him out of prison. Together, the two fugitives must outrun legendary U.S. Marshal, Wood Helm, and bounty-hunter, Fenton “Preacher” Lang, who are hot […]

DAFT STATE Adds Four As Cameras Roll For Chad Bishoff’s New Thriller

Lee B. Golden III

Principal photography is underway in Omaha, Nebraska for Chad Bishoff’s psychological thriller, Daft State. With two names already announced, another four were added and confirmed this week with Two-time Teen Choice Award nominee-Jake T. Austin (Disney’s “The Wizards of Waverly Place”, New Year’s Eve), Paulo Costanzo (CBS’ “The Good Fight,” Netflix’s “Designated Survivor”), Ka’ramuu Kush (Five Deep Breaths, Salvation Road) and Iman Karram (Netflix’s Glow) also set to join the pic. The four stars join previously announced leads Christopher Backus (HBO’s “Big Little Lies”, Netflix’s “Mindhunter,” Apple TV+’s “Truth be Told”) and Skye P. Marshall (Netflix’s “The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina,” NBC’s “This is Us”). Billed as a “relentlessly gripping thriller, molded in the vein of classic Hitchcockian suspense masterworks”, Daft State charts the mysterious psychological destruction of central character Easton (Backus), who is driven to the edge of sanity, and possible self-harm, by those that love him most – […]

DAFT STATE Casts Leads For Psychological Thriller Shoot This Month

Lee B. Golden III

Christopher Backus (HBO’s “Big Little Lies”, Netflix’s “Mindhunter”, Apple TV+’s “Truth be Told”) and Skye P. Marshall (Netflix’s “The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina”, NBC’s “This is Us”, “Black Lightning) will star in Daft State, co-written by Sam Harter and director Chad Bishoff. Cameras are set to roll on the new psychological thriller on location in Omaha, Nebraska from Monday, August 9, 2021. This relentlessly gripping thriller, molded in the vein of classic Hitchcockian suspense masterworks, charts the mysterious psychological destruction of central character Easton (Backus), who is driven to the edge of sanity, and possible self-harm, by those that love him most – his wife (Marshall) and daughter. Will Easton succumb to their increasingly traumatizing pressure, or will he conquer the dark forces at play in his addled psyche? Inny Clemons (Straight Outta Compton, Next Day Air, Netflix’s Sneakerheads, A Lot of Nothing), Lisa Crnic (Paramount’s Clifford the Big Red […]

JOHN WICK 4 Adds Marko Zaror

Lee B. Golden III

Deadline is reporting that Chilean action star Marko Zaror will join the cast of Chad Stahelski’s fourth installment of the John Wick saga from Lionsgate. Zaror’s addition tops an already sizeable bevy of action talents taking aim at the franchise with the martial arts star reuniting with Undisputed 3: Redemption and Savage Dog star Scott Adkins, and fellow action stalwarts Donnie Yen and Hiroyuki Sanada. Rounding out the cast are Rina Sawayama, and Shamier Anderson, and franchise regular Lance Reddick, all next to titular franchise star Keanu Reeves as he returns to his journey as the afflicted ex-hitman now on the run from his very criminal underworld after avenging the murder of his canine keepsake in the first film, killing a member of the high table who attempted to silence him after a job, and fighting back against high table only to be betrayed and left for dead. If you’ve […]

X VENGEANCE: JuJu Chan Szeto Leads Australian Action Thriller Shooting This Fall

Lee B. Golden III

Antony Szeto (Jackie Chan Presents: Wushu) will direct Aussie action thriller, X Vengeance. The film was announced over the weekend at the Cannes Marché du Film by Ken DuBow for US-based Access Entertainment. As Jeremy Kay’s report via Screen notes, the film marks an on-set reunion for the director actress and martial arts star JuJu Chan Szeto (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword Of Destiny). Their previous credits include Szeto’s Palace Of The Damned (2013) and Roger Corman’s Fist Of The Dragon (2014). Plot details are under wraps save for what Kay’s report states of the film’s setting which is in “north Queensland’s beaches and rainforests”. Also starring are Australian-Chinese actor Chris Pang (Crazy Rich Asians, Roger Corman’s Fist Of The Dragon) and Robert Mammone (The Condemned), with cameras set to roll this October ahead of a Spring 2022 rollout. Madd Films’ Tim Maddocks and Filmworks’ Janice Eymann are producing with […]

GWEILO: Bryan Larkin And Ko Shibasaki Topline Action Crime Thriller For ‘Legacy Of Lies’ Director

Lee B. Golden III

Adrian Bol, who scored some fanfare in the past year with Scott Adkins headliner, Legacy Of Lies, will next direct action crime thriller, Gweilo, starring Bryan Larkin (London Has Fallen, Chasing The Dragon) and actress Ko Shibasaki (47 Ronin, Baragaki: Unbroken Samurai). Larkin is also penning the script with Rick Romano producing for Firemagine Pictures, and with TDP Films’ Julien P. Bourgon serving as exec producer. Gweilo follows a former SAS captain (Larkin) with a troubled past who abandons his estranged family to avoid facing life behind bars. He travels to Hong Kong where the promise of a new life awaits and his value as a soldier is used to full effect by a charismatic fixer, who recruits him as a hitman. Haunted by his past and the sudden appearance of a fiery and street-wise Chinese girl, his plans go off the rails, forcing him to turn against his employer (Shibasaki). Together, they navigate […]

JUNG-E: Kim Hyun-Joo Ends Film Hiatus To Lead ‘Train To Busan’ Director’s Sci-Fi War Epic

Lee B. Golden III

Celebrated director Yeon Sang-ho (Train To Busan, Peninsula, Hellbound) is currently in production with futuristic sci-fi, tentatively titled Jung-E, as announced by Netflix earlier this week. The film stars actresses Kim Hyun-joo and Kang Soo-youn, and actor Ryu Kyung-soo (A Resistance, Itaewon Class, Lovestruck in the City) from a script storied and written by Yeon. Per the streamer, “The setting of this film is in the 22nd century where climate changes have made Earth uninhabitable, and humans are living in a man-made shelter. An internal war breaks out, and its outcome hinges on the success of brain cloning technology of the legendary robot mercenary Jung-E.” Kim, whose prominent career on television took hold following her last film appearance in Kim Do-hyuk’s Shin Suk-ki Blues (2004), makes her feature film return here in Jung-E now in a titular capacity – the role billed as “the most elite soldier of the allied forces fighting […]

Scott Adkins Joins The Fourth Installment Of The JOHN WICK Saga

Lee B. Golden III

Filming on the fourth installment of the John Wick saga has already begun and with a cast that already bodes with promise. Late Tuesday, that roster got a little bigger with word actor and martial arts film star Scott Adkins is in talks a role in the hitman franchise, joining him with Keanu Reeves, Rina Sawayama, and Shamier Anderson, and screen action legends Hiroyuki Sanada and Donnie Yen. The move notably also marks a reunion between Yen and Adkins who fought each other to the brutal finish in the fourth and final chapter of the Yen-led Ip Man saga, Ip Man 4: The Finale, which released in the U.S. via Well Go USA. Beyond that, Adkins has long been a favorite since his heyday as an up-and-coming TV actor and stunt performer; his credits partly include having worked on Jackie Chan’s The Accidental Spy and The Medallion, Louis Leterrier’s Unleashed […]

RUPTURE: UK Actor And Martial Artist Mark Strange Set To Star In Ranjeet S. Marwa’s New Thriller

Lee B. Golden III

Pre-production has started for independent action thriller, Rupture, which has actor and martial artist Mark Strange (Ip Man 4: The Finale, Redcon-1) set to star. Cameras will roll in July in Birmingham, U.K. with Ranjeet S. Marwa (upcoming Exiled: The Chosen Ones) directing from a script and story treatment from Daniel White. Raven, a recently freed man from prison must confront the people who put him inside. However, revenge is not always the answer, redemption is. The project was moved up in light of Marwa having to push back a seperate project titled Berzerker, which would have had Malaysian actor and action star Hairul Azreen (Paskal, Wira) on set in the U.K. by now. I’m told that scheduling was the reason for the delay in addition to mitigating factors pertaining to the pandemic. The decision has also allowed Marwa to develop the project a little more in time for Azreen’s […]

HAVOC: Timothy Olyphant, UFC Fighter Michelle Waterson, Action Star Sunny Pang And More Added To The Cast

Lee B. Golden III

Director Gareth Evans (Apostle) shot his shot earlier this year with Netflix, scoring a major deal to produce several projects in a creative partnership with the streamer. The first to come will be Havoc, as announced back in February with Tom Hardy and Forest Whitaker set to star. As of Monday, more names are being added to the roster including Timothy Olyphant (FX’s Justified, Disney+’s The Mandalorian), Justin Cornwell (CBS’s Training Day, Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy), Jessie Mei Li (Netflix’s Shadow And Bone, upcoming Last Night in Soho), Malaysia’s Yeo Yann Yann (Wet Season, Lee Chong Wei). In addition, actor Luis Guzmán will also star in a supporting line-up next to Quelin Sepulveda, UFC mixed martial artist Michelle Waterson, and The Night Comes For Us star Sunny Pang. After a drug deal gone wrong, a bruised detective must fight his way through a criminal underworld to rescue a politician’s estranged […]

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JOHN WICK 4 Casts Hiroyuki Sanada

Lee B. Golden III

Deadline is reporting that the next chapter of John Wick will have Hiroyuki Sanada on board for the cast. This a big, major development that’s likely been waiting to happen since prior to the third film’s shoot when That Hashtag Show first gave rise to rumors of the actor’s involvement in January 2018. It was definitely an exciting prospect that finally looks to be a reality for fans of the hit assassin franchise. At any rate, the move marks a long-awaited reunion for the actor alongside 47 Ronin cohort Keanu Reeves who leads the franchise for a fourth and hopefully fifth outing as hyped in previous interviews from director Chad Stahelski. For relative fans of Asian movies and action films, Sanada is best known for his staunch 55-year career starring for directors such as Teruo Ishii, Kinji Fukusaku, Yoji Yamada and Corey Yuen among others; Western audiences know better the […]

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THE DIVE: Survival Thriller Heads Up New Production/Sales Partnership For augenschein and Protagonist

Lee B. Golden III

Sophie Lowe and Louisa Krause are set to star in elevated survival thriller, The Dive, from rising German filmmaker Maximilian Erlenwein. Principal photography on will commence in mid-August on location in Malta and Germany. The official logline for The Dive reads as follows, according to augenschein: “A dive at one of the world’s most remote spots becomes a fight for survival for sisters Drew (25) and May (30), when rocks tumble into the sea after a landslide, trapping May in the deep. As their oxygen runs low, Drew is forced to make a decision on life and death all by herself, with no help in sight…” The film is the first to emerge in a new slate stemming from a partnership between augenschein Sales and production, finance and sales outfit Protagonist Pictures. The two firms will co-represent worldwide rights on The Dive, as well as future select feature film titles […]

BANDIT: Josh Duhmael-Led Crime Thriller Adds Nestor Carbonell

Lee B. Golden III

Filming is currently underway in Georgia for Allan Ungar’s new action crime thriller, Bandit, and with the addition of actor Nestor Carbonell (Lost, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises) announced on Tuesday. Highland Film Group is handling international sales on the project which joins Carbonell with a lead cast that includes Mel Gibson, Josh Duhamel, and Elisha Cuthbert. Ungar directs from a script by Kraig Wenman, based on author Robert Knuckle’s best-selling novel, as well as journalist Ed Arnold’s interviews with the film’s real-life inspiration, Gilbert Galvan Jr. – a.k.a. Robert Whiteman when he was dubbed the Flying Bandit in 1987. Duhmael takes on the moniker of the man himself who successfully got away with 63 bank and jewelry heists during his notorious crime spree. After escaping from a US prison and crossing the border into Canada under a new identity. He falls in love and marries Andrea (Cuthbert), […]

THE ENFORCER Enlists Antonio Banderas To Star From Millenium Media

Lee B. Golden III

Anyone else up for another Antonio Banderas-led turn at the action genre? Take a gander at Richard Hughes’ The Enforcer, which launches sales for the virtual Cannes market this month from Millennium Media. Set in Miami, the story follows an enforcer who discovers his femme fatale boss has branched out into cybersex trafficking, putting a young runaway he has befriended at risk. The enforcer sets out to sacrifice everything to save the young girl from the deadly organisation he has spent his life building. Banderas, who joins Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg for Sony’s upcoming action adventure, Uncharted, will star from a script by W. Peter Iliff who penned both Kathryn Bigelow’s Point Break and the 2015 reboot among other credits. As Screen Daily reports, “Rob Van Norden, Yariv Lerner, Jeffrey Greenstein, Jonathan Yunger, and Les Weldon of Millennium Media are producing alongside Natalie Burn of Born to Burn Films. […]

JOHN WICK 4 Adds Donnie Yen For The Next Installment Of The Hitman Saga

Lee B. Golden III

Welp, if there’s anything that’ll guarantee butts in seats for the next and fourth chapter of the John Wick film franchise, it’s Donnie Yen. Mike Fleming Jr. reports at Deadline the martial arts superstar will lend his screenfighting prowess to the fray of director Chad Stahelski’s world of assassins and criminal politics. Yen joins lead returning actor Keanu Reeves in a role described as “an old friend of Reeves’ super assassin John Wick, who shares his same history and many of the same enemies.” Also starring is Japanese-British pop superstar Rina Sawayama. Shooting begins this summer in France, Germany and Japan from a script by Shay Hatten and Michael Finch, with Stahelski, Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee producing. Reeves is exec producing with Louise Rosner executive producers. “We are very lucky to have Donnie Yen join the franchise,” said Stahelski. “I am looking forward to working with him in this exciting new […]

BERZERKER: ‘Paskal’ And ‘Wira’ Star Hairul Azreen To Headline Ranjeet S. Marwa’s New Thriller Shooting This Summer [EXCLUSIVE]

Lee B. Golden III

Three months since the announcement of pre-production for futuristic crime thriller, Berzerker, Film Combat Syndicate can confirm the casting of Malaysian actor and action star Hairul Azreen to lead Ranjeet S. Marwa’s new film. Azreen will play Noble, an ex-con who now walks as a free man, seeking revenge on those responsible for his incarceration. Marwa himself describes the overall tone and vision of the film as a unique blend of sci-fi classic, Blade Runner, and Prachya Pinkaew’s 2003 Thai barnburner martial arts flick, Ong-Bak. Berzerker has been in pre-production since March with Marwa set to direct from a script he wrote with co-scribe Daniel White. Principal photography will begin in Birmingham this July. Manchester-based stunt professional Kiran Pandé (Redcon-1) has been on board the project since late March and will now serve as the film’s fight choreographer. Azreen is considered an A-lister among the current crop of film talents […]

HIGHLANDER: There Can Only Be Only One Henry Cavill As Chad Stahelski Casts His Star For The Reboot

Lee B. Golden III

Prolific stunt multi-hyphenate and filmmmaker Chad Stahelski has had his name thrown in the mix for a plethora of titles, whilst working to build what he’s helped contribute in the current four-part Keanu Reeves-led John Wick franchise for Lionsgate. Still, he’s remained steadfast with a promise to resurrect cult classic swordplay epic, Highlander, after landing the project in 2016, and so what with all the concern might be about whether or not it’s still happening, Deadline‘s Justin Kroll is here to confirm the movie announcing Henry Cavill (Zack Snyder’s Justice League, Netflix’s The Witcher, Mission: Impossible – Fallout) as in talks for the reboot. Russell Mulcahy directed the 1986 Christopher Lambert and Sean Connery starrer, telling of a 16th-century Scotsman forged in the heat of battle as one in a diaspora of immortals, all drawn to battle each other for The Prize. His greatest battle then sees him living in […]

WHITE ELEPHANT Adds John Malkovich And More To The Jesse V. Johnson Action Thriller Now In Production

Lee B. Golden III

Actor John Malkovich (Valley Of The Gods, Ava) leads an additional list of names joining Bruce Willis-led actioner, White Elephant. News of the film broke on Thursday through mainstream trade outlets also hailing actress Olga Kurylenko (The Courier) and Michael Rooker (The Suicide Squad) from a script by Erik Martinez, and action stalwart Jesse V. Johnson (Avengement, Triple Threat) who directs. The film, currently shooting in Georgia, also stars actor Vadhir Derbez (The Seventh Day), who plays Carl, a burgeoning assassin who botches his latest job, forcing his mentor, ex-marine-turned-mob enforcer Gabriel Tancredi (Willis) to mitigate his conscience and code of honor in order to set things right. The film also reteams Johnson with Debt Collectors co-stars Josef Cannon and Louie “Ski” Carr. Corey Large (Cosmic Sin, It Follows, The November Man, Lone Survivor) is producing the film for 308 Enterprises. The Exchange is handling international sales. Follow Johnson on Instagram for […]

Anne Heche, Skeet Ulrich, Daniel Diemer, Jordan Kristine Seamón

SUPERCELL: Alec Baldwin Disaster Adventure Now Underway, Adds Four To Cast

Lee B. Golden III

Production is officially underway with thriller, Supercell, following its announcement back in March. Cameras began rolling on May 7 for the Alec Baldwin-led disaster thriller, and now more names are being added to the roster including Skeet Ulrich (The CW’s “Riverdale,” “#Freerayshawn”), and Emmy-award winner and Tony-nominated Anne Heche (Donny Brasco, The Vanished), with Daniel Diemer (Tribeca Film Festival winner The Half of It) and newcomer Jordan Kristine Seamón (HBO’s “We Are Who We Are”) rounding out the cast. Herbert James Winterstern (NBC’s “Siberia”) is directing Supercell from a script he penned with Anna Elizabeth James (Deadly Illusions), and with . In the film, Diemer headlines the thrilling tale of William, a good-hearted teenager, who lives in hope of following in his father’s footsteps, the legendary storm chaser Bill Brody who was killed in action. His father’s legacy has been turned into a storm chasing tour business managed by the greedy and reckless owner Zane […]