(6.6.25: A previous version of this article was updated with brief logline corrections on the second and third films.)
Film duo Maria Tran and Takashi Hara are currently in post-production with Echo 8: Five By Five, and Echo 8: Beyond. The two titles mark the back-to-back prequel/threequel follow-ups to Echo 8, which launched the independent action sci-fi noir franchise in 2021.
Plans to release the films between now and later this year are still being ironed out. Until now, the films have all rounded out what the team has been touting as the “Echo 8 Trilogy” during its campaign; As things stand, I am being told that a fourth chapter in the Echo 8 franchise is not entirely off the table.
I am told that there is an idea in place, but the concept still remains in its nascency, and this could change either way. If development phases onward, it is likely that Tran and her team could look as early as a possible 2028 production start.
Tran and Hara, and screenwriter Elizabeth H. Vu launched Echo 8 through groundswells of momentum that spawned within Sydney’s local Asian-Australian film community. The team was able to complete its extensive production period five years ago, despite extensive delays due to constraints brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Tran helms and headlines the first film along with actors Hara, David Vuong, Mike Leeder, and Gabriella Chan for the story of a clandestine professional killer whose mind starts flashing between nightmarish dream and her reality, forcing her to question her latest assignment which includes killing a grieving mother. The next installment, Echo 8: Five-By-Five, unfolds as a brooding thriller, featuring Hara reprising his antagonistic role from the first film. Part three, Echo 8: Beyond, shifts gears into action-comedy territory, bringing Tran’s character back into the spotlight.
Principal photography on both films wrapped in April after cranking up in January, while I am told fans can expect an official teaser to surface very soon. Watch our front page for more info, and feel free to sub to Tran over at Medium to follow her journey.