Legendary director Dante Lam proved he could still put butts in seats for last year’s ripped-from-the-headlines action thriller, Operation Mekong, earning $173 million dollars in China. This time he’s returned and within the production of his follow-up, Operation Red Sea which is being housed at Emperor Motion Pictures who are selling the film internationally at Cannes.
The Jiaolong Assault Team, one of the special forces of the world’s largest military force, People’s Liberation Army, is given a potentially fatal assignment, leading a small eight-man unit to evacuate Chinese residents from a North African republic in the throes of a coup d’état.
The squad strategically makes a two-pronged rescue attempt but is tragically ambushed, resulting in heavy casualties. At the same time, the terrorist leader manages to steal the incriminating evidence against him along with essential material for the manufacture of nuclear arms. The Jiaolong Assault Team is fully aware of the importance of ensuring such material is forever removed from the terrorists’ hands.
Production touts a muscular action thriller with $72 million (RMB500 million) dollar budget, with backing from Bona Film Group, Emperor affiliate Emperor Film Production, Film Fireworks, Star Dream Studio, and the Chinese military’s P.L.A. Navy Government TV Art Central of China. Lam wrote the film and produced with Bona’s Yu Dong, with Candy Leung executive producing.
Operation Red Sea reunites Operation Mekong stars Eddie Peng and Zhang Hanyu, with Zhang Yi, Duan Yihong, Huang Jingyu and Bai Bing rounding out the cast for its late 2017 release.
Check out the newly unveiled, action packed promo for the film below as exclusively revealed by Variety on Wednesday.
