Casting

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

RED SONJA Casts Hannah John-Kamen For Millennium’s Sword-And-Shield Comic Adaptation

Lee B. Golden III

Hannah John-Kamen (Ant-Man And The Wasp, Ready Player One, upcoming Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City) will take up the sword in Red Sonja for Millennium Films. Casting comes following the attachment of Netflix/Legendary’s upcoming animated Tomb Raider series writer/exec producer, Tasha Huo. The move marks the latest film effort since Richard Fleischer’s Brigitte Nielsen/Arnold Schwarzenegger, 1985 adaptation of the on-going 1970s comic from Dynamite Entertainment; Fleischer’s movie bombed critically and commerically but sustained a cult following over the years through merchandising, and a TV incarnation adaptation in the 1990s, years before news arose of remake efforts as of 2018. The character was originally recreated by Roy Thomas and artist Barry Windsor with partial inspiration from Robert E. Howard’s own shortstory work from the 1930s, and centers on a young girl from the Western Hyrkanian steppes who trains and sets out to seek revenge for her own rape and the […]

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A LOT OF NOTHING: Justin Hartley Joins Dark Comedy Thriller

Lee B. Golden III

Actor Mo McRae’s (Wild, The Butler) feature directing debut, A Lot Of Nothing, continues principal photography this week with a cast that now adds award-winning actor Justin Hartley (NBC’s “This Is Us”) to the roster. The news comes just as CAA Media Finance boards the project to rep sales. McRae directs from a screenplay he co-wrote with Sarah Kelly Kaplan (HBO’s Perry Mason), for a cast that also lists Y’lan Noel (FX’s The Spook Who Sat by the Door, Universal Pictures’ The First Purge), Cleopatra Coleman (Hulu’s upcoming Dopesick, Fox’s “The Last Man on Earth”), Lex Scott Davis (Universal Pictures’ The First Purge, Columbia Pictures’ SuperFly), and Shamier Anderson (Netflix’s Stowaway, Saban’s City of Lies, Annapurna Pictures’ Destroyer). A Lot Of Nothing is billed as a dark comedy thriller in which “things spiral out of control when a married couple living in a Los Angeles suburb is compelled to take […]

THE BAKER: Action Drama Headlines Ron Perlman For Cayman Islands Shoot

Lee B. Golden III

Jonathan Sobol (The Padre, The Art of the Steal, A Beginners Guide to Endings) will direct The Baker, an action drama written by duo Paolo Mancini and Thomas Michael (Hank and Mike). Ron Perlman (Hellboy, Monster Hunter) will headline the cast along with Academy-Award nominee Harvey Keitel (The Irishman, Pulp Fiction), Elias Koteas (The Thin Red Line, Crash), Joel David Moore (Avatar) and 10 year old newcomer Emma Ho (Code 8, Disney’ Jr’s “Pikwik Pack”). Filming is set to commence in the Cayman Islands as part of a sweeping multi-film production deal with the Islands’ Film Commission, the Cayman’s Ministry of International Trade, Investment, Aviation and Maritime Affairs, and Dart Enterprises. The film rejoins producers William G. Santor, CEO of Productivity Media, and Nicholas Tabarrok, President of Darius Films, for their second project together in their three-pic deal for the Islands, the first being Bob Saget/Iggy Pop crime dramedy, Blue […]

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Scott Adkins to work the “Day Shift” for action master J.J. Perry

Not too long ago legendary action coordinator J.J. Perry was on Scott Adkins’s YouTube show “The Art of Action” and dropped some hints that he and Scott, who first worked together on the low-budget action classic UNDISPUTED 2, would be teaming up again soon. Well… now we know what J.J. Perry was referring to as THR has reported that Scott Adkins is the latest addition to the cast of DAY SHIFT. A Netflix original film that will mark J.J. Perry’s main directorial debut. Adkins joins a cast headlined by Jamie Foxx but also includes Snoop Dog, Dave Franco, and Meagan Good. The story sees Foxx as a hard-working single father- whose California pool cleaning job is just a front for his real work; killing vampires. Will Adkins be teaming up with Foxx to spin kick some bloodsuckers or will he be squaring off with the lead as a member of […]

BLUE IGUANA: Iggy Pop Joins Crime Comedy Starring Bob Saget And Joel David Moore

Lee B. Golden III

Actor and punk-rock icon Iggy Pop (Coffee and Cigarettes, Universal Pictures Cry-Baby, The Crow: City Of Angels) has joined the cast of the dark comedy Blue Iguana, currently filming in the Cayman Islands under the newly announced three-picture production deal between Productivity Media and Darius Films. Jeremy LaLonde (James vs. His Future Self, Sex After Kids) is directing the film from a script by Matthew Dressel (YouTube’s “The Pilot is Dead”) and stars Joel David Moore (James Cameron’s Avatar), Bob Saget (“Full House,” “Fuller House”), Jason Jones (TBS comedy series “The Detour,” HBO Max’s “The Flight Attendant”), Carly Chaikin (“Mr. Robot”), and Mary Lynn Rajskub (Paul Thomas Anderson’s Punch-Drunk Love, Fox Searchlight Pictures’ Little Miss Sunshine, and TV’s “24”). In Blue Iguana, Iggy Pop will play Edward, the wealthy patriarch whose death kicks off a chain of unfortunate events after Daniel Powell’s plan to reconnect with his siblings hits a […]

HAVOC: Forest Whitaker Joins Tom Hardy For Netflix Action Thriller

Lee B. Golden III

Trades are reporting this week that Forest Whitaker (Marvel’s Black Panther), will join actor Tom Hardy in new Netflix thriller, Havoc, from celebrated director Gareth Evans. The film was announced with Hardy last month, a few years after Evans teased its development in an Instagram post. Whitaker’s addition to this film signals something pretty interesting that fans of Evans can take heed to, particularly for those familiar with the actor’s performances in films like Ghost Dog: Way Of The Samurai, and even Repo Men. His screenfighting caliber is a thing of beauty to witness, on top of his gravitas as a solid actor, all of which, depending on how his character is written, may make for something really special going forward. Evans, best known for leaving tower block hallways, staircases and Jakarta streets bloodied and mounted with perpetual bodycounts in the spectacle of back-to-back thrillers like Merantau, The Raid and […]

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BLACK CRAB: Adam Berg’s Noomi Rapace Actioner Casts Up For 2022 Release

Lee B. Golden III

Production is under way for Adam Berg’s new Swedish action thriller, Black Crab with Noomi Rapace leading the cast. Indio’s Malin Idevall and Mattias Montero are producing the film from a script by Berg and by Pelle Rådström, based on the novel of the same name by Jerker Virdborg. Black Crab is a Scandinavian action thriller set in a post-apocalyptic world torn apart by climate change and war. During an endless winter, six soldiers are sent on a dangerous mission across the frozen sea to transport a package that could finally end the war. Equipped with weapons and ice skates, unaware of what they’re carrying, or who they can trust, the mission challenges their beliefs and forces them to ask: what are they willing to sacrifice for their own survival? Netflix, who are releasing the film in 2022, also unveiled a few cast photos which you can view in the […]

CARTER: ‘The Villainess’ Director Jung Byung-Gil’s New Action Series Finds Its Lead

Lee B. Golden III

Heretofore billed as a film weeks earlier, The Villainess director Jung Byung-gil’s Carter has been confirmed instead for a more serial format with the Korean stunt stalwart at the helm, and with actor Joo Won (Alice, Yong-Pal) starring in the title role. News comes following Netflix’s major announcements in the last several weeks touting the streamer’s ongoing $500 million dollar investment into its own self-funded programing. In Carter, Won will play a top agent who awakens one day with a complete loss of memory, but is then thrust into an inner struggle with his own uncertainties while undergoing the mission of a lifetime. Won’s casting comes with notice of his recent work on SBS TV series, Alice, garnering praise for the actor’s skill in performing action, with Netflix promising that “Carter will challenge [Won] with even more extreme and exciting action.”

ASSAULT ON RIO BRAVO: Western Action Horror Casts Up For Spring Production

Lee B. Golden III

Joe Cornet’s new film, Assault On Rio Bravo, is casting up this week following announcements in January. The film, billed as an action-packed western with strong horror elements, is the latest project currently gaining traction for actor and producer Alexander Nevsky, who marks a reunion with several cohorts from his 2016 action ensemble, Showdown In Manila. The film is inspired by true events, centered on a band of warriors who, led by a mysterious foreigner, set out to protect a vulnerable bordertown from a notorious, bloodthirsty gang of outlaws en route to free their leader from prison. Planeted deep in the narrative is the role Ivan Turchaninov (to be played by Nevsky); Better known in North America by his Anglicised name John Basil Turchin, he served as a colonel in the Russian Imperial Guard before immigrating to America in 1856, and later became a Union army brigade general, and the […]

KOWLOON WALLED CITY: Max Zhang Leads Trio For Soi Cheang’s 80s-Set Martial Arts Gangland Manhwa Adaptation

Lee B. Golden III

Soi Cheang will direct Kowloon Walled City, an adaptation of the popular 2010 cult manhwa, “City Of Darkness”, from creators Andy Seto and “Yuyi”. As Screen‘s own Liz Shackleton reports that actors Max Zhang (The Brink), Louis Koo (Paradox) and Richie Jen (Bodies At Rest) will star in the film which is “set in the 1980s inside Hong Kong’s infamous walled city, which was demolished in 1993”; According to 88Bar‘s Jason Li in a 2018 review of the property, the initial story “…chronicles the fall and rise of prominent gangster and martial artist 陳洛軍 (“Lok”) as he goes into hiding in the Kowloon Walled City after a bitter fight with his former boss.” Wilson Yip (Ip Man franchise, Flashpoint SPL, Dragon Tiger Gate) is producing the film next to Media Asia’s John Chong, who was hands-on during last week’s virtual EFM, with Kowloon Walled City as one of multiple titles […]