The folks at Collider dropped some pretty interesting news about The Raid remake on Saturday since the film was announced for production earlier this year with The Expendables 3 helmer Patrick Hughes tapped to direct. In an inteview with Perri Nemiroff, actor Frank Grillo delved into a number of topics, including the aforementioned film for which production was previously reported to be pushed back from this September to January next year so that the folks at Screen Gems could find a big name actor to lead, particularly shortlisting Grillo among names like Anthony Mackie, Ethan Hawke and Luke Evans to name a few.
“Well, yeah. I mean, we were officially offered the film, and so that was gonna go in September and now that doesn’t go until January.” he says. “So, you know, that’s the way the movie business is. You’re officially attached until there is no more movie, you know? But yeah, this is something that I’m planning on doing. Yeah.”.
Grillo also added his thoughts regarding the remake going into production just a few years after the initial film, telling Collider, “You know, the script is great. Patrick Hughes, now that he has this time – who just directed The Expendables 3 – he’s tweaking it a little bit. Sony really is behind the project and I loved it. [I’m] one of the three main characters and, you know, I’m excited about it. I can’t wait to actually go do it because it’s gonna be Americanized, but not overtly Americanized. It’s really gonna keep a lot of what made the first Raid so great.”.
There are no details as of yet regarding what role Grillo is being suited for, but there have been previous hints from Hughes himself regarding the plot which may center on a six-unit DEA task force implemented by the Bush administration upon evidence discovered linking the drug trade to 9/11, a premise which will set up a “clash of cultures” between martial arts and fighting styles between the cast members.
Silat action auteurs Iko Uwais and Yayan Ruhian are choreographing the action sequences for the new film, which is being produced by XYZ Films with the original film’s director, Gareth Huw Evans, serving as executive producer.
Grillo also expressed his “cautious optimism” regarding his chances of reprising his role as the official iteration of supervillain Brock Rumlow (a.k.a. Crossbones) in directors Joe and Anthony Russos’ Captain America 3, telling the press “Very early on the Russos said, ‘Look, this is an origin film for this character. We’re gonna discover who this is and this is a big movie with a lot of moving parts, but we’re gonna discover you in this film and, you know, here’s the information about who Brock Rumlow turns into and blah, blah, blah.’# And so we’ve had multiple discussions about what comes after that, that thing. So, you know, it’s obvious Rumlow is covered in rubble and burned to crisp at the end, but you see he’s still there. They don’t do that for no reason.”
Further casting details and confirmation awaits for The Raid as pre-production continues. In the meantime, Hughes will release his next film, The Expendables 3 on August 15.
You can catch Grillo in the forthcoming multiplatform release of Captain America: The Winter Soldier betweet August 19 and September 9. Grillo will also next appear in the July 18 North American theatrical release of The Purge: Anarchy, for which a new international poster has been unveiled. Check it all out below and stay tuned for more information!
