Casting

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

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 […]

TRESE: Netflix Casts Filipina Voice Talents For For Netflix Original Anime

Lee B. Golden III

Filipino actress Liza Soberano (My Ex and Whys, Alone/Together) and Filipino-Canadian actress Shay Mitchell (YOU, Pretty Little Liars) will voice the lead character in the respective Tagalog and English iterations of Alexandra Trese in Netflix Original Anime, Trese. Based on the Philippine graphic novel created by Budjette Tan and KaJO Baldisimo, Trese is set in Manila, where the mythical creatures of Philippine folklore live in hiding amongst humans. It is here our heroine finds herself going head to head with a criminal underworld comprised of malevolent supernatural beings. Jakarta and Singapore-based BASE Entertainment’s Shanty Harmayn and Tanya Yuson are producing with Jay Oliva (Wonder Woman, The Legend of Korra) exec producing. “As a fan of the komiks, I knew that the title role of Alexandra Trese was going to be challenging to cast for the animated series.” said Olivia. “It is important for the voice talent to embrace the layered […]

INTERCEPTOR Casts Elsa Pataky For Netflix Action Thriller With Luke Bracey

Lee B. Golden III

Matthew Reilly will direct action thriller Interceptor at Netflix. Elsa Pataky (The Fast and the Furious franchise, Tidelands) will star from a script by Reilly and co-writer Stuart Beattie (Collateral, and Tomorrow, When the War Began), opposite with Luke Bracey (Point Break, G.I. Joe: Retaliation). Interceptor centers on an Army lieutenant (Pataky) who must utilize her years of tactical training and military expertise to save humanity as we know it, when sixteen nuclear missiles are launched at the US, and a violent coordinated attack simultaneously threatens her remote missile interceptor station. Production will take place in New South Wales, Australia. Beattie is producing next to Ambience Entertainment’s Matthew Street and Michael Boughen. Exec producers are Chris Hemsworth, Kathy Morgan, Christopher Mapp, Robert Slaviero and Peter D. Graves Reilly is an acclaimed Australian action/thriller writer known for bestselling books including Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves, Seven Ancient Wonders, and The […]

GASOLINE ALLEY: Bruce Willis Reteams With ‘Cosmic Sin’ Director For New Crime Thriller

Lee B. Golden III

Edward Drake is set to reunite with Cosmic Sin star, Golden Globe winner Bruce Willis (Red, Red 2, Unbreakable, Glass) for Gasoline Alley, a new crime action-thriller shooting this month across the U.S.. Willis will be joined by Luke Wilson (Wes Anderson’s The Royal Tenenbaums, MGM’s Legally Blonde, DC’s Stargirl) and Devon Sawa (Hunter Hunter, upcoming Black Friday), with a script by Tom Sierchio (New York City International Film Festival winner The Girl Who Invented Kissing). Sawa will play Jimmy Jayne, a bruised-fisted rockabilly boss-type sucked into a triple murder of three Hollywood starlets drowned in a luxury hotel pool. As the prime suspect for Homicide Detectives Freeman (Willis) and Vargas (Wilson), Jimmy takes up his own rogue investigation, bending the law in ways the police can’t in order to clear his name. With the killer skating through Jimmy’s shadow, he bands together with the two Detectives to dangerously expose […]

SUPERCELL: Alec Baldwin Heads Disaster Action Thriller From Highland, Short Porch At EFM

Lee B. Golden III

Alec Baldwin (The Departed, Mission: Impossible franchise) is attached to star in Supercell, a new disaster action thriller that Herbert James Winterstern (NBC’s “Siberia”) will direct from a script by Winterstern & Anna Elizabeth James (Deadly Illusions). The film will serve as the launchpad for a non-exclusive first look output deal for Highland Film Group with Ryan Winterstern (Most Wanted, Inheritance) and Nathan Klingher (Zone 414, Becky) with their new startup, Short Porch Pictures. Supercell is an epic disaster movie that tells the tale of William, a good-hearted teenager, who always lived in hope of following in his father’s footsteps, the legendary storm chaser Bill Brody, killed by a massive super tornado. His father’s legacy has now been turned into a storm-chasing tourist business, managed by the greedy and reckless Zane Rogers (Alec Baldwin), who is now using William as the main attraction to lead a group of unsuspecting adventurers […]

ENTER THE DRAGONS: Jason Tobin Boards Action Comedy With Gemma Arterton

Lee B. Golden III

Oscar-nominated director Marjane Satrapi (Radioactive, Persepolis) will helm a UK shoot this summer for martial arts comedy, Enter The Dragons, according to Deadline‘s Tom Grater. The film will star upcoming The King’s Man actress Gemma Arterton. Most notably cast though, is the addition of actor Jason Tobin (pictured above), best known for his series as concupiscent, knife-wielding bad boy and Hop Wei heir-apparent, Young Jun in the hit Cinemax series, Warrior, which aired for two seasons through last year. That series is currently available on Digital and Blu-Ray wherever sold, as well as on HBO Max. Set in the small English town of Coalshaw in 1979, the film follows Gloria Grimshaw (Gemma Arterton). The most she can hope for from life is selling cosmetics and having a baby, but when the close-knit community of women come under threat, Gloria is forced to defend herself – by learning martial arts from […]

Gareth Evans’ HAVOC Casts Tom Hardy To Star

Lee B. Golden III

Gareth Evans (Merantau, The Raid, The Raid 2, Gangs Of London) is directing action thriller, Havoc, for Netflix, as announced by the streamer on Friday. The film, which will star Tom Hardy (Dunkirk, Venom, Legend) will stand as first in line from an exclusive directing/producing deal Evans has signed with the company for the next several years, following fhe streamer’s release of his 2018 period psych horror thriller, Apostle. After a drug deal gone wrong, a bruised detective must fight his way through a criminal underworld to rescue a politician’s estranged son, while unraveling a deep web of corruption and conspiracy that ensnares his entire city. Hardy is also producing, as will Evans via his One More One Productions banner, next to Ed Talfan for Severn Screen and Aram Tertzakian for XYZ Films. Evans previously teased the project a little bit back in 2019, prior to XYZ’s own Todd Brown […]

Showtime Crime Drama CITY ON A HILL, Horror Thriller BRAEK Casts Kevin Interdonato

Lee B. Golden III

Kevin Interdonato (Bad Frank, Dirty Dead Con Men) has been written into Season 2 of Showtime’s successful crime/drama series City On A Hill, and was also recently signed on to star in the horror/thriller, Braek. Airing its second season on Showtime beginning March 28 at 10 p.m., City On A Hill sees Interdonato in the role of Tony Suferin, a fiery, hard-nosed cop from Boston in the early 90’s. It is said that Suferin is a controversial figure in this season’s storyline. Interdonato will be joined by series actord Kevin Bacon, Aldis Hodge, Lauren E. Banks, Mark O’Brien and Amanda Clayton. Produced by Robert Dujmusic and Nicole Wendeborn at Reingeist Productions (Death Count, Bridge of the Doomed), Braek marks the latest from Arrowinthehead.com founder John Fallon (The Shelter, American Muscle) who will be directing the film from his own screenplay. Braek centers on a family that sees their weekend getaway […]

ONE WAY: Storm Reid Joins Action Thriller With Colson “Machine Gun Kelly” Baker, Kevin Bacon And More As Filming Begins

Lee B. Golden III

Principal photography is officially underway in Thomasville, Georgia is for Golden Globe-winning actor Kevin Bacon’s new action thriller, One Way, with actress Storm Reid (Disney’s A Wrinkle in Time, Blumhouse’s Don’t Let Go) heading up a raft of new casting additions this week. Reid joins headliners Bacon (Black Mass, Mystic River, Showtime’s “City on a Hill”), actors Colson “Machine Gun Kelly” Baker (The Dirt, Project Power), and Travis Fimmel (Ridley Scott’s ”Raised by Wolves,” “Vikings,” Warcraft) with Andrew Baird (Zone 414) directing from a script by Ben Conway. Thomasville Pictures is producing One Way, which sees Baker in the role of Freddy, on the lam with a bag full of cash and near-fatally wounded after robbing his former crime boss. Slipping onto a bus headed into the unrelenting California desert, Freddy is soon betrayed after a call for help cues his estranged father (Bacon), who then informs his former ex-employer […]

FAST & LOOSE: Will Smith Toplines David Leitch Crime Drama Now Shopping To Major Studios

Lee B. Golden III

Atomic Blonde and Deadpool 2 helmer David Leitch will direct actor Will Smith in Fast & Loose, a crime drama currently being auctioned among studios and streamers. The move comes following a decision to shop the film around in the months since its initial development at STXfilms last April from a script by Jon and Erich Hoeber (The Meg, Red, Red 2), no star, and with Leitch attached only as producer at the time news broke. After the leader of an upper-echelon criminal organization suffers memory loss from an attack, he reunites with his crew, only to find that things aren’t what he thinks they are. When John Riley (Smith) wakes up in Tijuana after being left for dead with absolutely no memory, he follows a string of clues to uncover his identity discovering he’s been living two different lives: one, as a super-successful crime kingpin, surrounded by beautiful women, […]

PROJECT H: ‘Buffalo Boys’ Star Yoshi Sudarso Joins Aaron Toney’s New Action-Packed Series

Lee B. Golden III

Actor Yoshi Sudarso is the first official casting addition to Project H, a new and independent series endeavor from actor, stunt performer and filmmaker Aaron Toney. The series, which hails from the newly-launched Halvon Corp. Entertainment and Global Forge Studios, signals the newest evolution of Throne, an action-packed and SFX-infused proof-of-concept shot in 2014 with Toney on both sides of the lens. “This project is coming from the hearts of people who love the action genre, so you can bet there’s gonna be a lot of action in this.” says Sudarso in the announcement video published on Monday. “…I’m really excited to introduce to you guys, my character. We’ve been building it for quite some time now, maybe a few months at least and – the weapons he gets to use and the powers that he has – I’m trying not to give it away too much, but I’m really […]

Ryoo Seung-Wan To Shoot SMUGGLING In Summer 2021

Lee B. Golden III

When Ryoo Seung-wan isn’t acting, he’s purely in his element where the director’s chair is, as he will be reportedly come this summer. Plot details are super thin as of late as reports arise for Smuggling, the current title of director Ryoo Seung-wan’s newest thriller set to roll cameras in June of 2021, according to a Star News exclusive. The film is now circling actresses Kim Hye-soo (The Day I Died: Unclosed Case) and Yum Jung-ah (Another Child) to star, a move that signals what will be Ryoo’s first film with a female-fronted cast since the 2002 pic, No Blood, No Tears. Ryoo, best known for helming martial arts romp, Arahan, period thriller Battleship Island, and crime actioners City Of Violence and Veteran, is currently in post-production with ripped-from-the-headlines diplomacy thriller, Escape From Mogadishu starring Kim Yoon-seok (1987: When The Day Comes), Zo In-sung (The Great Battle) and Huh Joon-ho […]

News Briefs: Gadot Boards HEART OF STONE; THE TOXIC AVENGER Casting; Statham Circles SMALL DARK LOOK; Pettyfer For PHANTOM OF BELGRADE

Lee B. Golden III

Gal Gadot (upcomimg Red Notice) is readying Heart Of Stone, billed as an original spy endeavor in the vein of the 007 and Mission Impossible franchise. Currently in the works at Skydance Media, Greg Rucka (The Old Guard) and Oscar-nominated Allison Schroeder (Hidden Figures) are penning the script with film will be produced by Skydance Media’s David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Don Granger producing along with Gadot and her Pilot Wave producing partner Jaron Varsano, Bonnie Curtis and Julie Lynn. Gadot will bow this Christmas Day in select theaters and IMAX, and for HBO Max’s first 4K outing for Wonder Woman 1984. Nearly two years after Legendary acquired the rights to Troma IP, The Toxic Avenger, the studio has since moved forward, casting Peter Dinklage (Game Of Thrones), according to Deadline’s Mike Fleming Jr.. Blue Ruin and Green Room actor Macon Blair, who made his directing debut on 2017’s I […]

News Briefs: Nesson’s EL DESCONOCIDO Remake; PANAMA Adds Two; Sanada Boards BULLET TRAIN; Universal Sets VAN HELSING Thriller

Lee B. Golden III

This month, efforts toward Liam Neeson actioner, Retribution have taken years to formulate but the project has officially attached Predators helmer Nimrod Antal to direct. A remake of Dani de la Torre’s El Desconocido (2015), Retribution centers on a bank executive forced to complete a series of tasks whilst trapped in his car with his children, lest the captor holding them hostage via phone detonates the bomb in his car. Jaume Collet-Serra and Juan Sola at Ombra Films and Andrew Rona and Alex Heinemann at The Picture Company are producing the pic which rolls cameras from next March through June. Studiocanal reportedly sold the film in a raft of territories worldwide following AFM. Actor Cole Hauser is starring alongside Mel Gibson and Kate Katzman for action thriller, Panama, which will shoot in Puerto Rico. The Mark Neveldine-directed pic has added Charlie Weber and Victor Turpin to star from a script […]

THE HUNT: SAVAGE WITHIN: Madeleine Humphries Heads Cast Line-Up For December Sci-Fi Action Shoot From ‘Die Fighting’ Director [EXCLUSIVE]

Lee B. Golden III

American-born Filipina actress and model Madeleine Humphries has been given the lead role in The Hunt: Savage Within, the new action sci-fi from filmmaker Fabien Garcia, which shoots in the second week of December. Also joining the cast for the developing sci-fi proof of concept are Brett Tutor (upcoming Monsters Of Men), Lou Wegner (Last Call In The Dog House), Carla Seneca (Sons Of Thunder, upcoming 22 – The Unforgotten Soldier), Xango Henry (Call Me King, upcoming Keep The Faith), Davis Chong (Die Fighting) and Amje Elharden (upcoming Archenemy). Crowdfunding for the project began in July followed by a month-long extension prior to its success around September. The goal is to shoot a proof of concept short that illustrates the ambitious size, scale and scope Garcia and company are aiming for as they look toward hopeful feature film investment by next year. Humphries will covet the role of Sarah, a […]

Zazie Beetz Hops Aboard BULLET TRAIN For Sony Pictures

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AMBUSH: Jonathan Rhys Meyers And Connor Paolo Join Aaron Eckhart Action Thriller From Mark Earl Burman

Lee B. Golden III

Jonathan Rhys Meyers (The 12th Man, History Channel’s “Vikings,” Showtime’s “The Tudors”) and Connor Paolo (Stake Land, Friend Request, ABC’s “Revenge”) will join Aaron Eckhart (The Dark Knight, Line of Duty) and Jason Genao (Logan, Netflix’s The Get Down) in the upcoming action thriller Ambush. Mark Earl Burman (Dog Eat Dog) is directing the film from a script he’s written with Michael McClung (American Martyr). The film is “based on the exhilarating true story of a deadly high-stakes subterranean mission into enemy controlled territory”, and follows a group of young elite commandos, led by Captain Drummond (Eckhart), tasked with collecting highly classified information that can change the fate of the war. On the edge of the jungle, the team is attacked by the overwhelming invisible force of the enemy army. Drummond’s young team must overcome their apprehension in order to pursue the force into the complex labyrinth of Cu Chi […]