In the past three months, all that we officially knew of the Sil-Metropole Organization Ltd.’s long-awaited sequel for the 2005 Hong Kong action thriller, S.P.L. since it was greenlit back in August was the possibility of actors Francis Ng and Andy On joining returning cast members Sammo Hung and Jackie Wu Jing from the first film, in addition to a cameo appearance by lead actor Donnie Yen with Champions and Revenge: A Love Story scribe, Jill Leung Lai-Yin penning the script . Prior to this, it was well over a year ago that Thailand’s own Tony Jaa was rumored to be interested in playing a role in the film, leaving much for genre fans to hype about over seeing Jaa‘s expansion into Hong Kong cinema territory long before the release of his most recent film, Tom Yum Goong 2, and ultimately, his venture into Hollywood with the July 11, 2014 release The Fast And Furious 7.
Well, in the past few days since Jaa announced on his Facebook page that he was taking a brief trip to Hong Kong, all signs pointed to an SPL 2 deal overseas before returning to the Fast 7 set in Atlanta. And on Friday, with an action director attached and a new director named, the word became offficial. Read below:
Tony Jaa has signed to star in SPL II which is being produced by Sun Entertainment Culture Limited. The film stars Tony and Legendary Assassin star Jackie Wu (Wu Jing), who probably has the fastest spinning back kick on planet earth.
Jaa is thrilled to be part of this film, and you can expect some surprise appearances in the film. The action choreography is being handled by Dion Lam who was heavily involved in the stunt work on Spider Man 2. Wilson Yip remains very much involved with Terrence Cheung in the director’s chair. The film while targeted towards the China and Asian markets will also be released in the Americas, Europe and the Middle East. The collaboration represents a breakthrough effort in Chinese film making between a non-Chinese action star and an all star Chinese line up. The film will be shot in Thailand, China and Hong Kong. The story is an action/drama that should keep the audience very much on the edge of their seats.
Sun Entertainment will release more complete information shortly, and will update on a regular basis. Shooting begins in early Spring of 2014.