MRI: Iko Uwais And Liam O’Donnell Reteam For New Siege Action Thriller Filming In 2026
Cameras are set to roll next year in Jakarta with siege thriller MRI according to Variety’s Leo Barraclough on Monday. The film reunites Beyond Skyline star and director Iko Uwais and Liam O’Donnell who’ve made a killing galvanizing action fans with in the last decade on the martial arts and sci-fi fronts.
The plot centers on a broken-down hitman (Uwais) with a shattered family and a busted knee, who undergoes a routine MRI when the entire hospital is taken over by ruthless gangsters. Now, he’s the only man who can rescue their target, the daughter of a powerful crime boss, and somehow save the day, one agonizing step at a time.
O’Donnell will direct MRI from a script by Russell Hainline, while world sales firm K5 will rep the film at the American Film Market when it launches its 2025 edition next month.
What’s more is the production labels behind the film are Strong Island and Uwais Pictures, the latter who’ve spent this year embarking on their lauch with a pair of exciting action titles coming between now and the new year: Sidharta Tata’s martial arts thriller Ikatan Darah which had its world premiere at Fantastic Fest this year, and hostage thriller Timur starring Uwais who also makes his feature directing debut.
“With the dominance of Asian-themed content in the marketplace, we feel ‘MRI’ is an ardent throwback to the classic martial arts films of the 1970s made for audiences born in the 2000s,” added Tuffin, whose recent credits include a string of box office and streaming hits including “Peppermint,” “Canary Black,” “Freelance” and “Sound of Freedom,” as well as such upcoming releases as the high seas actioner “Alphas” and the period action/thriller “The Butler,” starring Jean Reno and Tom Hollander.
Also on the docket for the new year is Skyline: Warpath, directed by O’Donnell in his sci-fi follow-up to Beyond Skyline, and Skylin3s in the sci-fi thriller franchise, and joining Uwais with Scott Adkins, Louis Mandylor, and Yayan Ruhian.
Read more at Variety.
Lead photo: Liam O’Donnell and Iko Uwais on the set of Skylines: Warpath.
*A previous version of this article was updated with an omission of Skylines Warpath as an entry from this year’s 20th Fantastic Fest. The film was initially added to this year’s line-up but was evidently removed.
