In Production

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DELIVER US FROM EVIL: New Action Drama Underway From ‘Office’ Helmer

Lee B. Golden III

Director Hong Won-chan is currently in production with tentative title, Deliver Us From Evil. I love this title already, and it stars Hwang Jung-min (Veteran, The Battleship Island) and Lee Jung-jae (The Thieves, Assassination) who have been filming the new action drama since last month. The film marks a reunion for Hwang and Lee who last starred in gangster thriller, New World and occult suspense thriller, Svaha: The Sixth Finger. Deliver Us From Evil now reunites the two going forward, telling the tale of a man whose life turns upside down after being assigned to a contract killing. Best New Prize-winning actress Choi Hee-seo (Anarchist From The Colony) also stars along with actor Park Jung-min whose recent South Korean threquel starrer, Tazza: One Eyed Jack, just saw its North American rollout from Well Go USA. Next to his freshman directing debut with 2015 thriller, Office, Hong bares a small list […]

Behind The Scenes Of COWBOY BEBOP: The Real Work Starts When The Real Star Finally Shows Up

Lee B. Golden III

Netflix series Cowboy Bebop is well on the way after years of long-speculated feature film hype prior to series evolution from the hit manga/anime franchise. Of course, the show’s biggest star is now making the rounds on set and keeping our cast in check as seen in the video above. A ragtag crew of bounty hunters chases down the galaxy’s most dangerous criminals. They’ll save the world… for the right price. The series is headlined by John Cho (Searching) in the role of Spike Spiegel, Mustafa Shakir (Brawl In Cell Block 99, Luke Cage: Season Two) as Jet Black, Daniella Pineda (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom) as Faye Valentine, Alex Hassell (The Bisexual, Amazon series The Boys), and Elena Satine (CBS All Access series Strange Angel) as Julia. Shinichiro Watanabe, who created the 1998 anime based on Cain Kuga’s hit manga, serves as consultant on the 10-part series. Screenwriter Christopher Yost […]

INVISIBLE CITY Begins Filming

Christina Ortega

Brazilian folklore stories will be coming to the small screen in an upcoming Netflix original series. Invisible City has begun production in Brazil. This series will be director Carlos Saldanha’s Netflix debut. Saldanha’s first live-action series will “take Brazilian folklore stories to the world under a contemporary perspective.” Here is the synopsis from a media release: After finding a strange dead animal on a beach in Rio de Janeiro, the policeman engages in a secret murder investigation and finds himself in the middle of a battle between two worlds – ours, as we know it, and another inhabited by mythical entities, invisible to humans. The cast includes Marco Pigossi as a detective and Alessandra Negrini as the owner of a nightclub. Caito Ortiz, Maresa Pullman, and Marco Anton are the executive producers with Mirna Nogueira as the head writer. Invisible City will be available only on Netflix in 2020. Stay […]

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MORTAL KOMBAT: Max Huang To Play Kung Lao As Cameras Roll In South Australia

Lee B. Golden III

Chinese/German actor and martial artist Max Huang is coveting the role of warrior monk, Kung Lao, for Simon McQuoid’s Mortal Kombat, which began filming in South Australia on Monday from New Line Cinema. The Award-winning Australian commercial filmmaker is making his feature debut based on the long-running hit game franchise from a script by Greg Russo. Game lore describes the bladed hat-wearing Kung Lao as the latest descendant (next to Liu Kang) of The Great Kung Lao who originally lost half a century ago to hulking four-armed Shokan champion, Goro, resulting in the start of Shang Tsung’s rule. The character, who has seen more than his fair share of triumph and tragedy throughout the storyline, has been with the game franchise since Mortal Kombat II in 1993, portrayed for the Midway games by Anthony Marquez, and voiced later by several actors for different installments, including Will Yun Lee and Sunil […]

THE PAPER TIGERS Are Officially Cast As Cameras Roll For The New Kung Fu Comedy

Lee B. Golden III

Bao Tran‘s exhilarating 2015 kung fu proof of concept in The Challenger is taking shape at long last with its current evolution, The Paper Tigers, already underway in Seattle, Washington. The official headline casting for the film has also been laid out as well with Dino-Ray Ramos at Deadline confirming actors Alain Uy (The Morning Show), Ron Yuan (Blood And Bone) and Mykel Shannon Jenkins (Undisputed 3: Redemption). The trio will star respectively as Danny, Hing and Jim – former kung fu prodiges now working as middle-aged men one kick away from pulling a hamstring. When their master is murdered, they must quell their differences in order to seek justice. The actors are joined by 102 Productions’ own Phillip Dang along with sibling martial arts duo, YouTubers Andy and Brian Le (Unlucky Stars, Luc Van Tien: Kungfu Hustle). The three will play a gang of martial artists who come from […]

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WE CAN BE HEROES: Robert Rodriguez’s Netflix Superhero Action Comedy Adventure Now Filming

Lee B. Golden III

Trade news made the rounds as of Wednesday with Netflix announcing its cast for superhero action adventure comedy, We Can Be Heroes. Production is already underway with writer/director Robert Rodriguez back at the helm on the Texas set for the story of a team of children who must work together when alien invaders kidnap their superhero parents. Starring are Christian Slater (Mr. Robot, The Wife), YaYa Gosselin (FBI Most Wanted, The Purge), Akira Akbar (Captain Marvel, This is Us), Andrew Diaz, Andy Walken (The Kids are Alright, A Christmas Story LIve!), Boyd Holbrook (Logan), Hala Finley (Man with a Plan, Backroads) Isaiah Russell-Bailey (Family Reunion, SWAT), Lotus Blossom (Magic Max), Lyon Daniels (Patriot), Nathan Blair (Best. Worst. Weekend. Ever.), Sung Kang (Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift, Better Luck Tomorrow), Vivien Lyra Blair (Bird Box, Waco), Adriana Barraza (Dora and the Lost City of Gold, Babel, Cake, Penny Dreadful) and Christopher […]

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WELCOME TO SUDDEN DEATH: Michael Jai White And Gary Owen Lead ‘Thriller’ Director’s Reboot Of 1995 JCVD Hit For Universal 1440

Lee B. Golden III

Last year’s exiting Los Angeles Film Festival saw the premiere of director Dallas Jackson’s coming-of-age Blumhouse revenge slasher, Thriller. I tried posting a trailer for that one ahead of its screening before it quietly got removed from its channel and I hadn’t seen or heard from that film or its filmmaker since, so I never really got to share a post on it. The film eventually surprised folks with a Netflix release back in April and it’s currently on my watchlist while Jackson retains his career progression into some interesting territory with Welcome To Sudden Death from Universal 1140. It’s now underway in Winnepeg, Canada with a cast that lists martial arts star and actor Michael Jai White and actor and comedian Gary Owen. The film also enlists actor and martial artist Marrese Crump most prolifically known for dueling with Tony Jaa in Tom Yum Goong 2 and who recently […]

YAKUZA PRINCESS: Newcomer Masumi To Star In ‘Motorrad’ Director’s New Action Thriller

Lee B. Golden III

Director Vicente Amorim is continuing onward nowadays with his latest female empowerment venture, Yakuza Princess. The Brazilian director is lending his craft to the versatile talents of newcomer, Masumi, following the film’s announcement last summer. In Yakuza Princess, Masumi plays an orphan raised in São Paulo only to learn about her true origins when her late yakuza boss father’s bodyguards track her down. Danilo Beyruth, who provided concept art for Amorim’s previous Toronto International Film Festival outing, Motorrad, authors the original comic book on which the film is based. Masumi stars from a script by Amorim, re-teaming him with Fernando Toste and Motorrad producer L.G. Tubaldini Jr. who co-writes; Tubaldini Jr. also produces with André Skaf for Filmland International. Further casting details are under wraps. Amorim is recipient to a number of nominations and wins on projects like 2003 Brazilian drama, The Middle Of The World and Viggo Mortensen-led 2008 […]

EXCELSIS: ‘Blood, Sweat And Tears’ In Two New Production Stills

Lee B. Golden III

Director Jaze Bordeaux’s latest effort with WMMA sports drama, Excelsis, is out with two new stills which you can view in the gallery above. Production wrapped back in February hailing from Universe Pictures Group and Mr. Bravo Entertainment, and starring actress Karlee Rose. Rose plays Cassady Jones, an amateur fighter whose big break lands before her following her involvement in a melee that shocks the sports world. The EFC (Excelsis Fighting Championship) is currently in the most tumultuous period of its history as Jones and and seven other female competitors are given an opportunity to fight in a tournament to crown a new champion. Understanding that her big break is at hand, Cassady comes to the realization that it’s not just in another fight, it’s the fight for everything. Rose leads a cast that includes Gemini award winner Richard Zeppierri, actresses Andrea Drepaul, Kathry Aboya, Avaah Blackwell and actor Alex […]

Alexandra Shipp

KUNG FURY 2: Now Filming, ‘X-Men’ Actress Joins Cast

Lee B. Golden III

Production is reportedly underway in Bulgaria for Kung Fury 2 according to Amanda N’Duka’s scoop at Deadline. Cameras are also expected to roll in Germany while word also brings that Alexandra Shipp is joining the cast of the feature-length sequel to the crowdfunded hit 2015 short from star/writer/director/producer David Sandberg. N’Duka’s report confirms the former X-Men franchise actress will replace Baby Driver co-star Eiza Gonzalez for the role of Rey Porter, a news anchor who will do anything to get the best story. That story ultimately culminates in the city of Miami in 1985 where our hero as he leads the Thundercops, the ultimate police force assembled from across history to defeat Adolf Hitler. The plot thickens when one of their own is killed and as the team disbands, a mysterious villain surfaces to aid the Führer’s quest to attain the ultimate weapon. Now, the greatest damn cop of all […]

THE OAK ROOM: Cameras Now Rolling For New 2020 Thriller

Lee B. Golden III

Andrew Mack over at Screen Anarchy broke some news last week on the production launch of dark new thriller, The Oak Room, reportedly filming in Burlington, Ontario near Toronto. The film is based on a Canadian stage play by Peter Genoway and hails from Black Fawn Films and Breakthrough Entertainment. Genoway penned the script with director Cody Calahan, and with a cast that lists RJ Mitte (Breaking Bad), Peter Outerbridge (Suicide Squad, V-Wars) and Ari Millen (Orphan Black, I’ll Take Your Dead). The film takes place during “a raging snowstorm when a drifter returns home to the blue-collar bar located in the remote Canadian town where he was born. When he offers to settle an old debt with a grizzled bartender by telling him a story, the night’s events quickly spin into a dark tale of mistaken identities, double crosses and shocking violence.” As the rest of the synopsis elucidates: […]

355: Jessica Chastain Spy Thriller Lands In Paris As Production Begins

Lee B. Golden III

Production has reportedly begun on Dark Phoenix helmer Simon Kinberg’s female fronted spy thriller, 355, as announced by actress and producer Jessica Chastain. All signs here point to Paris as the starting point after recovering from the stalemate surrounding headliner Fan Bingbing’s tax evasion charges last year amid China’s crackdown on tax fraud in the industry. Universal Pictures acquired North American rights at Cannes last year for a 2020 date to be later announced. Kinberg penned the script with Theresa Rebeck with Chastain and Fan joined by Lupita Nyong’o, Penelope Cruz, Sebastian Stan, Edgar Ramirez and Diane Kruger – the latter whose casting was reported in June by Variety’s Justin Kroll who divulges the following on the film’s basic plot: The movie follows a group of spies from international agencies around the world. These women must bond together, overcoming their suspicions and conflicts, to use all their talents and training […]

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Netflix’s AGE OF SAMURAI: BATTLE FOR JAPAN Miniseries Now Filming For Late 2019 Premiere

Lee B. Golden III

Cameras are reportedly underway in North America and Canada for Age Of Samurai: Battle For Japan according to Deadline‘s Peter White. The upcoming mult-episodic docudrama hails from the SVOD service in association with Blue Ant Media-run Smithsonian Canada, and Canadian producer Cream Productions (PBS’ The Dictator’s Playbook, ID series BTK: A Killer Among Us and Fear Thy Neighbor). Billed as real-life ‘Game Of Thrones’, Age Of Samurai: Battle For Japan aims to explore a time when several powerful warlords fought to become absolute ruler. White’s report cites the central focus of the docudrama will chronicle Date Masamune, “a notorious samurai known as the ‘One-Eyed Dragon’ who fought alongside the three founding fathers of Japan – warlords who led fierce armies of samurai against each other to unite the nation 400 years ago…” Simon George (Nat Geo’s Origins: The Journey of Humankind, History’s Barbarians Rising and Showtime doc Pariah: The Lives […]

Zara Phythian on the set of TRIBAL (2019)

TRIBAL: Say Hello To Zara Phythian And Kerry Newton From The Set Of Matt Routledge’s Action Horror Feature Debut

Lee B. Golden III

Oft stunt performer, shortfilm director and actor Matt Routledge can currently be seen on screen taking cinematic beatdowns from Scott Adkins in films such as Accident Man and Avengement. To date, he can also be spotted on set these days on set of his new feature debut, Tribal, which hails from OTM Film & Wildstyle Production and stars Zara Phythian (Doctor Strange), Ross O’Henessey (Avengement), Rachel Warren (Horizon) and Thomas Dodd. Elite military personnel Caitlin Ross retires from service after suffering from PTSD. Along with former team member and close friend Brad Johnson, they opted for the ‘easy life’ and now lead a small security firm. The company are hired by young, troublesome millionaire Richard Kenning to clear and secure the land and property he has recently inherited. Rumours and stories surrounding the land and buildings are dismissed until people start disappearing and the team end up locked in with […]

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MAD LORD: SAMURAI OF 1000 DEATHS Depicts Eight Images Of Madness In These Stills From Samuel Smith’s New Short [Exclusive]

Lee B. Golden III

It’s been a few years since filmmaker Samuel Smith stirred the festival crowds with short duration epics and thrillers like Tengu, Birdmen of the Mountains and I Am Not The Devil. He’s back and in tow with a longer feat of action and drama from his Imageclever Films banner with Mad Lord: Samurai of 1000 Deaths, and he’s also obliging our site with a raft of exclusive stills which you can take a gander at above. When a great samurai Lord’s mind is infected by devils, his loving Sokushitsu comes to his aid. Knowing of this weakness, the neighbouring Red Samurai seek to deliver the final blow that will end the Black Samurai once and for all. Sokushitsu demands that General Ekei travel to the borders of the Shoguns palace to collect some illegally acquired medicine to aid the ailing Lord. The General returns from his mission with more than […]

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REDEMPTION DAY: Go Behind The Scenes Of Actor Gary Dourdan’s New Geopolitical Rescue Actioner From Voltage

Lee B. Golden III

Sales at Cannes last month saw the launch of writer and director Hicham Hajji’s geopolitical action thriller, Redemption Day, from Voltage Pictures and starring Gary Dourdan (CSI), Serinda Swan (Marvel’s Inhumans) and Samy Naceri (Taxi franchise). Production reportedly wrapped its shoot in Morocco with a script reportedly inspired by a true story about a photographer friend killed by a terrorist group during an NGO in Africa. The footage in the player above hails from the first week of principal photography earlier on. After the discovery in Morocco of the oldest human bones dating back 315,000 years – a discovery that will turn what we think we know about human evolution upside down – a famous archeologist Kate Paxton goes on site and is suddenly kidnapped by a terrorist group and held for a ransom. Her husband a US Marines will do everything in his power to save her. Who was […]

THE PROFESSIONALS: Viaplay SVOD Action Series Now Filming With Brendan Fraser And Tom Welling

Lee B. Golden III

I reckon I might have seen a trailer floating around many years ago for director Maksim Korostyshevsky’s 2012 action pic, Soliders Of Fortune – about a special forces captain forced to protect a bunch of thrill-seeking millionaires who want to experience war. Beyond that, I hardly remember this title and never saw the film for that matter as the marketing couldn’t have been great prior to the film’s release on only fifty screens here in the states that year. The film was a blast in Eastern Europe and the Middle East though – interesting moviegoing demographic out there, which essentially means the film found an audience. To that end, I guess it shouldn’t be a huge surprise that it would find traction as a TV series reboot a la Scandinavia with streaming service, Viaplay, shepherding ten-episode series reboot, The Professionals, created by Soldiers Of Fortune producer Jeff Most. According to […]

TENET: Christopher Nolan Mystery Revealed, Espionage Action Gets Cast And 2020 Release

Lee B. Golden III

The Dark Knight trilogy and Dunkirk helmer Christopher Nolan’s capacity to handle action has since carried over with the current production of his latest film, Tenet, following its July 17, 2020 announcement from Warner Bros. Pictures. Principal photography is underway from Nolan’s script with locations spanning as many as seven countries for “an action epic evolving from the world of international espionage” according to the studio. The director is combining IMAX® and 70mm lensing for an international ensemble cast listing John David Washington (BlacKKKlansman), Robert Pattinson (The Twilight Saga, The Lighthouse), Elizabeth Debicki (Widows), Dimple Kapadia (Finding Fanny), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Outlaw King, upcoming Kingsman: The Great Game), Clémence Poésy (The Ones Below), with Michael Caine (The Dark Knight) and Kenneth Branagh (Murder On The Orient Express). Nolan is producing with Emma Thomas. Thomas Hayslip is serving as executive producer. Nolan’s behind-the-scenes creative team includes director of photography Hoyte van Hoytema, […]

MORTAL KOMBAT Begins Production, Sets Release Date

Lee B. Golden III

The wheels are officially turning with pre-production on Simon McQuoid’s directing debut, Mortal Kombat on the hit game from creator Ed Boon. New Line Cinema has reportedly set the date for March 5, 2021 with production having just begun at Adelaide Studios’ Sound Stages in South Australia as cameras roll later this year. Greg Russo (The Highwaymen) penned the script which takes its cues from the hit Midway/Netherrealm Studios fighting game where warriors compete for the fate of mankind in an epic tournanent, overseen by warlords and gods alike. Cast, crew and official story details remain pending. James Wan (Aquaman) is producing with Todd Garner. Larry Kasanoff, who produced the initial two films in 1995 and 1997, is serving as executive producer with E. Bennett Walsh (Men in Black: International), Michael Clear (The Nun), and Sean Robins (Tag). (DEADLINE)

THE GUARDIAN

THE GUARDIAN: Chinese Rescue Action Thriller On The Way From The Winning Team Behind ‘Jailbreak’, And ‘The Prey’ [Exclusive]

Lee B. Golden III

Director Jimmy Henderson and actor and martial arts star Jean-Paul Ly are back in the habit these days with post-production under way for Chinese fight-heavy thriller, The Guardian. The film, shot entirely in Cambodia and wrapped two weeks ago, reunites Henderson and Ly with actor and rising star Gu Shangwei who led the cast for survival thriller, The Prey, on which Ly also served as fight choreographer. In The Guardian, Gu plays Gao Ran, a widoed, underdog boxer who throws fights in order to raise his daughter, Coco, while often tangling with her father in law, Lao Ye, who wants custody. When Coco suddenly goes missing, Gao’s unrelenting search unearths a human trafficking network where he will stop at nothing to save Coco once and for all, and he won’t be treading lightly. Hong Kong actor Eric Tsang (Monster Hunt, Monster Hunt 2, The Adventurers) will play Lao Ye. Tsang’s […]