Casting

(L)Adeline Rudolph, (R) MK character Kitana

MORTAL KOMBAT 2 Lands Adeline Rudolph For The Sequel’s ‘Kitana’

Casting continued on Tuesday with THR’s Borys Kit reporting on Resident Evil series actress Adeline Rudolph for Mortal Kombat 2. The news confirms that she will play Kitana, a staple in the franchise since first appearing in the original Midway game sequel. Production begins this summer with Simon McQuoid directing for Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line, from a script by Jeremy Slater. The report confirms that actor Karl Urban will be leading the cast in the role of Johnny Cage following news earlier this month. Per game lore, Kitana of Edenia is the adopted daughter of Outworld emperor Shao Kahn, and sister to Shang Tsung’s sinister creation, Mileena. Rudolph’s addition further signals a reunion with her Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina cohort, Tati Gabrielle, who will play Jade, a warrior with whom Kitana shares a lifelong friendship. The role of Kitana was previously coveted by Talisa Soto for the Paul […]

FIGHT FOR YOUR LIFE: Jeremy Piven Leads Supernatural Action Thriller Underway Australia, S&R Leads World Sales

Lee B. Golden III

Production is already underway for Fight For Your Life, the new action thriller starring Jeremy Piven (“Entourage”, The System). The film also features viral video star Jamie Costa. S&R Films has North American and world sales rights on the pic at Cannes. Luke Sparke (Occupation 1 & 2, upcoming Bring Him To Me) is directing from a script he storied, and is co-writing with Tom Evans, as well as producing out of Sparke Films. Piven will play a soldier who wakes up in a mysterious cell and is forced to face an onslaught of deadly opponents in an ever-changing fight arena – his only goal being to survive long enough to return to his daughter. “Fight For Your Life places Jeremy in a morality battle with himself and a slew of opponents in a vast array of settings. I was drawn to do this film and push my limits in […]

OLD GUY: Christoph Waltz Is A Killer Mentor In A First Look At The New Action Comedy

Lee B. Golden III

Highland Film Group is proudly unveiling a first look at Spectre actor Christoph Waltz and Cooper Hoffman of Licorice Pizza in Old Guy, the new action comedy from director Simon West. Hoffman joined Shazam! Fury of the Gods actress Lucy Liu in casting announcements on Friday for the film which recently wrapped in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Waltz plays Danny Dolinski, an aging contract killer who still believes he’s the best at what he does. Stuck at a dead end but vying for the love of club manager Anata (Liu), Danny is thrilled when The Company pulls him back in the field, but only to train Gen Z newcomer Wihlborg (Hoffman), a prodigy assassin with an attitude. The mismatched pair is asked to eliminate top members of a competing crime syndicate and, in the process, uncover their employer’s true motive: removing the old guard in a full takeover. However, The Company […]

MORTAL KOMBAT 2: Tati Gabrielle To Play Jade In The Sequel

Lee B. Golden III

Tati Gabrielle (You, The Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina) is reportedly in final negotiations to play Jade in Simon McQuoid’s Mortal Kombat sequel for New Line and Warner Bros. Pictures. The actress is the latest addition to the film following the casting of Dredd 3D and “The Boys” star Karl Urban in the role of beleaguered movie star, and franchise favorite, Johnny Cage. Jade was initially a hidden character in Midway’s release of the Mortal Kombat 2 fighting game. The character has since grown with the franchise’s evolution as an epic, storied IP with even more villains and heroes, more mystery, and invariably, even more bloody and brutal fatalities. According to game lore, for years Jade served as Outworld Emperor Shao Khan’s personal assassin, until joining childhood princess Kitana and defeating Kahn. Recent storylines also revealed events between Jade and Osh-tekk leader and former Outworld Emperor, Kotal Kahn – food for […]

THE BLACK KAISER: Vanessa Hudgens To Reprise With Mads Mikkelsen For ‘Polar’ Sequel

Lee B. Golden III

Nearly a year after its announcement, Polar sequel The Black Kaiser is set for sales at the Cannes market. Derrick Borte (Unhinged) will replace Polar helmer Jonas Akerlund as director for the pic based on Victor Santos’s 2012 Dark Horse graphic novel publication. Mads Mikkelsen will reprise his role and will be rejoined by Vanessa Hudgens in the role of Camille from the first film. Akerlund’s inaugural 2019 film sees Mikkelsen in the role of Duncan Vizla (a.k.a. The Black Kaiser), settling into retirement when he soon finds himself marked for death by his former employer. As the story unfolds, a dark past unravels between Vizla and Camille, a woman he rescues in the midst of the calamity. Borte’s The Black Kaiser returns Mikkelsen in a story where “the world’s most lethal hitman uncovers a deadly conspiracy protecting a powerful syndicate of killers, and becomes their number one target.” Jayson […]

FLASH POINT 2 And IP MAN 5 Among Three Donnie Yen Actioners Announced At Cannes

Lee B. Golden III

Movie projects get announced all the time, and some get left on the backburner for years only to circle other directors and stars or never get made at all. That too, has been the case for action star Donnie Yen, and so as always, time will tell if the three action films revealed by Mandarin Motion Pictures at the Cannes market said to feature Yen will come to fruition. According to Screendaily’s Jean Noh, the trio of titles are Flash Point: Resurgence, Ip Man 5, and Misjudgement, and there are no directors and other stars or updates in the mix as of yet. Wilson Yip directed all four Ip Man movies leading up to Ip Man: The Finale, pitting Yen with action star Scott Adkins in the years that would see the two converge on the set of Lionsgate’s hit release, John Wick: Chapter 4. The franchise has since taken […]

IN COLD LIGHT: XYZ Films At Cannes, Cast Announced For New Crime Thriller

Lee B. Golden III

Maika Monroe and Oscar-winning actor Troy Kotsur have been cast as leads in the crime thriller, In Cold Light. Maxime Giroux (Félix et Meira, The Great Darkened Days) will make his first English-speaking feature, with Kotsur debuting in his first feature role following Sian Heder’s Coda. Here is the logline: “Ava is trapped. Like a bull in a bucking chute, seconds before exploding onto the rodeo stage. She is hunted. Pursued by those who killed her brother, pursued by her own demons. Ava needs to make a choice. To either save herself and fight another day or to push and become the woman she wishes she could be.” In the film, Monroe will play Kotsur’s daughter. Giroux will direct from a script by Patrick Whistler. Mike MacMillan (Mobile Homes) and Yanick Letourneau (Night Of The Kings) are producing, with Jean-Yves Roubin (Titane) co-producing. XYZ Films is exec producing and financing […]

‘Mulan’ Stunt Double Starring In New Kung Fu Feature From ‘Freaks VS. The Reich’ Director

‘Mulan’ Stunt Double Starring In New Kung Fu Feature From ‘Freaks Out’ Director Gabriele Mainetti

Lee B. Golden III

What you’re seeing above is proof that stunt performer Liu Yaxi is the real deal on the action front, as she’s done accordingly for lead actress Crystal Liu on Disney’s live-action Mulan. Her latest move now brings her talents to Rome’s Piazza Vittorio quarter set in Italy for a title-TBA kung fu movie, now filming from They Call Me Jeeg and Freaks Out director Gabiele Mainetti. Details from Variety’s Nick Vivarelli: Set in the cosmopolitan melting pot of Rome’s Piazza Vittorio hood, Mainetti’s latest work will see two very different souls intersect. One is the son of an indebted local restaurant owner who disappeared with his lover. The other is a young mysterious woman who has just arrived in the Italian capital in search of her missing sister. “United by fate, the two will find themselves catapulted into the slums of Rome’s criminal underbelly,” reads the synopsis. “To survive they […]

THE ROUNDUP: PUNISHMENT Announces ‘The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil’ Reunion Casting Kim Moo-Yul, ‘The Roundup’ Stunt Coordinator Debut Directing

Lee B. Golden III

If you enjoyed the brutal melee of bludgeoning fists and retribution delivered by Don Lee in last year’s The Roundup and you’re ready for impending threequel The Roundup: No Way Out, you’d be wise to stay the course for its fourth outing, The Roundup: Punishment. The production is announcing actor Kim Moo-yul to the cast as the villiain, rejoining him with Lee following their brooding 2019 action thriller, Lee Won-tae’s The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil, which landed a surprise addition to the screening slate for Fantasia Festival that year before releasing in North America through Well Go USA. Seasoned Korean action veteran Heo Myeong-haeng (Hunt, Extreme Job) makes his feature directorial debut on the fourth chapter of The Outlaws franchise. Heo’s credits extend as far back as more than twenty years collaborating with directors like Kim Sung-su, Kang Woo-suk, Ryoo Seung-wan, Na Hong-jin, Kim Jee-woon, Park Hoon-jung, actor Ha […]

ASH: Beluah Koale, Iko Uwais And Kate Elliot Join Flying Lotus Sci-Fi Thriller Now Filming

Lee B. Golden III

Production has begun in New Zealand for sci-fi thriller, Ash, from director Flying Lotus. Casting has also been announced for actor Beluah Koale (Dual), Iko Uwais (Beyond Skyline), and Kate Elliot (Fracture), who join the previously announced Eiza González and Aaron Paul. In Ash, González plays a woman who wakes up on a distant planet and finds the crew of her space station viciously killed, she must decide if she can trust the man sent to rescue her, played by Paul. Flying Lotus is directing based on an original screenplay written by Jonni Remmler, and is also set to compose the film’s original score. Nate Boloton of XYZ Films and Matthew Metcalfe of GFC Films are producing, with Neill Blomkamp (District 9) and Echo Lake onboard as exec producers. XYZ Films is also co-financing alongside IPR.VC. “So proud to work with this amazing group of fearless artists. Everyone involved […]

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THE KILLER’S GAME: J.J. Perry To Direct Novel Adaptation Starring Dave Bautista, Lionsgate Launching Cannes Sales

Lee B. Golden III

It’s been more than twenty years for any move to cinema with Jay Boninsaga’s 1997 novel, The Killer’s Game. The film finally has a home with Lionsgate launching international sales for the adaptation which now has stunt professional and second unit director J.J. Perry lined-up to direct his second feature since Netflix hit vampire actioner, Day Shift with Jamie Foxx. Filming begins this summer for Perry with Guardians Of The Galaxy franchise actor Dave Bautista starring as Joe Flood as a principled veteran assassin who learns he is dying. Thinking his days are numbered and refusing suicide as it goes against his Catholic principles, he stakes a multi-million dollar prize on his own life, only to realize two things: One – that he’s been misdiagnosed and is still in perfect health, and Two – his girlfriend is preganant. Now the two will have to race across Europe in order to […]

PRIMA FACIE: Cynthia Erivo To Star In Feature Adaptation Of Hit Stage Play

Lee B. Golden III

Participant and Bunya Productions are teaming up for Prima Facie, starring Cynthia Erivo. BAFTA Award-winning filmmaker Susanna White will direct from a script by critically-acclaimed playwright Suzie Miller who wrote the original and current hit stage play on which the film is based. Prima Facie is described as a “propulsive and character-driven film,” in which Academy Award nominee and Tony Award winning Erivo will play “Tessa, an ambitious and confident defense attorney from working class roots. A rising star in the high-powered London legal system, Tessa skillfully defends her clients, including those accused of sexual assault. But after she is raped by a colleague, she discovers that the law does not deliver justice along the boundaries of consent. Participant and Bunya are producing in association with Erivo’s Edith’s Daughter; Bunya’s Greer Simpkin, David Jowsey and Jenny Cooney will produce the feature alongside Participant; Miller, Erivo, Solome Williams and Participant’s Jeff […]

DIABLO: ‘Fist Of The Condor’ Director’s Chile-Set Actioner Reunites ‘John Wick 4’ Co-Stars Adkins And Zaror

Lee B. Golden III

How’s this for another ‘triple threat’ of sorts? Actors and action superstars Scott Adkins and Marko Zaror will reunite for Diablo, from director Ernesto Diaz Espinoza, which rolls cameras later this year in Chile. The film teams Adkins up for the first time with Espinoza who has collaborated with Zaror on several genre hitmakers, firstly collaborating on 2006’s Kiltro which launched the Chilean martial arts star to leading man stardom. Deadline’s Zac Ntim reports: Plot follows Kris Chaney (Adkins) who, after being released from prison, embarks on a perilous mission to fulfill an old promise but finds himself in danger when he kidnaps Elisa, the daughter of a powerful gangster. Her father, Vincent, puts out a call to the entire criminal underworld to bring her back alive. El Corvo (Zaror), a psychopathic killer, joins the hunt not for the money but for his own vendetta against Vincent’s family. Kris must […]

ASSASSINATION: New David Mamet Thriller Casts Up Ahead Of Cannes Market, Filming Starts This Fall

Lee B. Golden III

Cameras will roll on location in Vancouver this September for Assassination, a new thriller from director David Mamet (The Verdict, Wag The Dog, Redbelt). Arclight Films is launching sales for the pic at the Marché du Film which begins its annual event on Tuesday at Cannes. Penned by Mamet and co-writer Nicholas Celozzi (Kickboxer: Vengeance, Kickboxer Retaliation), the 1963-set thriller centers on events that take place during a crucial justice hearing against organized crime, when the head of the Chicago mob orders the assassination of President John F. Kennedy Jr., creating a deadly conspiracy while altering the fate of a nation. Academy Award-winner Al Pacino (The Irishman, The Devil’s Advocate), Academy Award-nominee Viggo Mortensen (Green Book, Eastern Promises), Academy Award-nominee and Golden Globe-winner John Travolta (Saturday Night Fever, Pulp Fiction, Get Shorty), Shia LaBeouf (Megaopolis, Honey Boy), Rebecca Pidgeon (Heist, Homicide) and singer/actress Courtney Love (The People vs. Larry Flynt) are […]

THE RIDGE: Billy Magnussen Debut Directs Survival Thriller Later This Year, Highland Launching Sales At Cannes

Lee B. Golden III

Actor Billy Magnussen (Game Night, Aladdin, No Time to Die, Bridge of Spies) will star in The Ridge, a new survival thriller rolling cameras in the U.S. later this year. Highland Film Group will launch international sales at the Marché du Film, with CAA representing domestic. Magnussen will also debut direct the pic from a script he storied with screenwriters Mike Anderson and John Clavier, who penned the pic with Will Lowell. He will play Grady, billed as a “true outdoorsman” and brother to the fiancé of sensitive city dweller, Dez, played by Lamorne Morris (FX’s “Fargo,” Hulu’s “Woke”). When Dez flies out to Wyoming along with his friends to meet the family, Dez is put to the test by Grady, setting the two men at odds with one another, and they engage in an explosive feud that causes their truck to crash and tumble from a ridge. Leaving the […]

MORTAL KOMBAT 2: Karl Urban In Negotiations As The Upcoming Sequel Finds Its Johnny Cage

Lee B. Golden III

Karl Urban is reportedly in talks to take the mantle for the role of Johnny Cage in director Simon McQuoid’s pending sequel to the Lewis Tan-led 2021 actioner, Mortal Kombat. Urban’s name marks the latest addition to the group of new and returning cast members to continue the story, with actor Joe Taslim already contracted for another installment following his debut as franchise character favorite, Lin Kuei ninja and Cryomancer Bi-Han, a.k.a. Sub-Zero. McQuoid will direct from a script by Marvel series Moon Knight scribe Jeremy Slater. Fan posts and blog updates around the web have been brewing with notes of a summer production start and rumors of potential casting choices for the sequel. Urban’s debut of Cage, a narcissistic Hollywood bad boy and martial arts movie star born with the fighting game franchise’s launch in 1992, is also the character’s newest successor on the screen following actor Linden Ashby […]

ROSARIO: High-Concept Horror Casts Emeraude Torba For June Production Start, Highland Launching Sales At Cannes

Lee B. Golden III

Emeraude Toubia (Freeform’s hit TV series “Shadowhunters,” Amazon’s “With Love”) will star in Rosario, a new high-concept horror film launching sales at the Cannes market out of Highland Film Group. Felipe Vargas will direct from a script by Alan Trezza (We Summon the Darkness). Toubia will star in the titular role of Rosario, a successful stockbroker on Wall Street, who is forced to spend the night with the body of her estranged grandmother Griselda who has abruptly died. While waiting for the ambulance to arrive, a heavy snowstorm locks her inside the apartment, surrounded by unfriendly neighbors. As the night endlessly stretches on, twisted and menacing supernatural forces that have possessed Griselda’s corpse begin their assault on Rosario. Now the target of a deadly family curse that spans generations, in a desperate attempt to break the evil, Rosario must battle everything she knows about her past to save herself and […]

THE GUNS OF CHRISTMAS PAST: XYZ Films To Launch Cannes Sales Action Thriller, Liev Schreiber In Talks To Star

Lee B. Golden III

Liev Schreiber (Salt, Repo Men, Showtime series Ray Donovan) is in negotiations to lead The Guns Of Christmas Past, a new action thriller from director Xavier Gens (AMC/Sky Atlantic series Gangs Of London). XYZ Films is launching world sales for buyers at the upcoming Marché du Film in Cannes with cameras set to roll later in the year. Andrew Hilton wrote the script which is billed as a “genre mash-up described as A Christmas Carol meets John Wick”. Schrieber will play ‘Ebb’, a former hitman for the mob, brought out from hiding when his former best friend and partner (Jacob Marley) is killed. Ebb penetrates the compound of his enemy to exact revenge. The “Ghosts” of Past, Present and Future all arrive to thwart our hero’s plans. Navid McIlhargey and Erik Olsen are producing alongside XYZ Films, which is also financing with investment funding coming from IPR.VC. “I am excited […]

FLAVIA DE LUCE: Murder Mystery Family Adventure Finds Cast, Protagonist To Launch Sales At Cannes

Lee B. Golden III

Newcomer Isla Gie (“The Sandman,” “The Outlaws”) is set to play the titular 11-year-old Flavia De Luce for the family crime caper. She joins Martin Freeman (The Hobbit, Black Panther, Sherlock), and director Bharat Nalluri (The Man Who Invented Christmas, Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day), for a feature adaptation of the New York Times bestselling novel “The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie: A Flavia De Luce Mystery,” which is the first book from Alan Bradley’s acclaimed “Flavia De Luce” mystery novel series that to date have sold over four million copies worldwide. Susan Coyne (“Daisy Jones and the Six,” The Man Who Invented Christmas, Mozart in the Jungle, “Anne of Green Gables”), adapted the bestseller with a script that follows the adventures of Flavia de Luce. Amateur Detective. Master Poisoner. Eleven Years Old. When she finds a dead body at her family’s decaying British manor house and […]

MOTOR CITY: Alan Ritchson Heads ‘Wanted’ Director’s Next Actioner

Lee B. Golden III

It’s not the Wanted sequel some fans may still be pining for, but a Temur Bekmambetov-directed action picture is still something people will line up for, and here to test that theory is the upcoming Cannes sales launch by Black Bear International for action thriller, Motor City, starring Alan Ritchson. Ritchson will play John Miller, a Detroit man released from prison, who unleashes a rampage of brutal vengeance on those who framed him. The Detroit-set film will be “characterized by immersive visual storytelling, with stunningly choreographed and stylized action sequences,” according to a statement. Variety’s Leo Barraclough notes that WME Independent will co-represent domestic rights on Motor City with Stampede at the Marche du Film. Pic hails from Stampede Ventures with Black Bear also on board as exec producers. The actor’s next big move will see him pursuing Vin Diesel & Co. this month in Louis Leterrier’s Fast X and […]