bryan larkin

GWEILO: Bryan Larkin And Ko Shibasaki Topline Action Crime Thriller For ‘Legacy Of Lies’ Director

Adrian Bol, who scored some fanfare in the past year with Scott Adkins headliner, Legacy Of Lies, will next direct action crime thriller, Gweilo, starring Bryan Larkin (London Has Fallen, Chasing The Dragon) and actress Ko Shibasaki (47 Ronin, Baragaki: Unbroken Samurai). Larkin is also penning the script with Rick Romano producing for Firemagine Pictures, and with TDP Films’ Julien P. Bourgon serving as exec producer. Gweilo follows a former SAS captain (Larkin) with a troubled past who abandons his estranged family to avoid facing life behind bars. He travels to Hong Kong where the promise of a new life awaits and his value as a soldier is used to full effect by a charismatic fixer, who recruits him as a hitman. Haunted by his past and the sudden appearance of a fiery and street-wise Chinese girl, his plans go off the rails, forcing him to turn against his employer (Shibasaki). Together, they navigate […]

DEAD END: DEAD MAN WALKING Review: It’s All About Family

Lee B. Golden III

As far as formats go, the current shortfilm trilogy laid out in actor Bryan Larkin‘s Dead End slate easily bodes as a viable proof of concept in different directions. The idea had always been a feature film, though current market evolution with such new age brands like snackable content platform, Quibi, certainly provides options for content creators if the viability proves sustainable going forward. At twenty-minutes plus, each short exudes taut, contained intensity in story, action and drama, all in skillset that filmmaker Ross Boyask continues to apply to his craft for the latest of the shortfilm series, Dead End: Dead Man Walking. The globetrotting story that centers on Larkin in the role of grisled, tough and cunning Contractor keeps the pace going, following the events of the previous installment that now find him at an impasse with his handler (Rebecca Yeo). Bodies are mysteriously turning up in a series […]

DEAD END III: DEAD MAN WALKING Explores A Killer’s Past And Present In The First Teaser

Lee B. Golden III

There’s no telling what will come of actor Bryan Larkin‘s plans for a feature film iteration of his latest shortform series investment, Dead End. All I can say is that he’s proven himself amply in the last few years between appearances in Vengeance and Chasing The Dragon, and all to deliver a globetrotting espionage drama that thrills with introspective mystique, action and style. That effort continues into the new year with Dead End III: Dead Man Walking, signaled finally in the last twenty four hours by a new trilogy highlight teaser. Larkin is joined by returning actor Julian Gaertner and newly added Tony Greengrass with director Ross Boyask (Warrioress) at the helm continuing the gritty saga centered on two vigilante contract killers. I’m told this particular endeavor will be more of a contained, retrospective thriller that flashes back to the first two installments from Carter Ferguson and Larkin who directed […]

CULTIVATION, FORGED: An Interview With DEAD END Star, Actor Julian Gaertner

Lee B. Golden III

Working with actor and filmmaker Bryan Larkin to promote his latest shortfilm sequel, Dead End 2: A Justified Kill, I’ve finally managed to get some dialogue going with actor Julian Gaertner, the second half of Larkin’s explosive hitman shortfilm saga now currently running in festivals. I can only imagine what would entail if he and I could sit face-to-face given the man speaks several languages, and I know quite a few folks who would be enamored by this as well. That, and speaking about Hong Kong, working with Larkin, the process of independent filmmaking and the enrichening factors of art and culture and how they coalesce – that Gaetner is a biproduct of that sort of cultivation is something I find very intriguing, and I reckon as much you won’t find that everywhere. He’s got part three coming very soon with Ross Boyask behind the lens, as well as other […]

Official still from Dry Land Swim (Envizion Films)

UASE 2019 Spotlight: DEAD END II, SANTOS Returns, Rising Tiger Brings SILVERBACK, And More!

Lee B. Golden III

The seventh annual Urban Action Showcase kicks off its two-day event on November 8, host to a raft of spectacular film celebrations including The Warriors, Tim Burton’s Batman and blockbuster sci-fi, The Matrix among a plethora of others. The festival will also have its share of celebrity appearances by martial arts stars to further magnify the annual event. Of course, one other major end of the showcase will include a slew of projects from independent filmmakers from around the world. In addition to the previously reported Final Contact: Episode III and El Hombre De Tijuana, actor Bryan Larkin will enter the fray with his new shortfilm continuation, Dead End II: A Justified Kill. It’s in this chapter where our two contract killers in pursuit of a gangster cross paths with a young girl whose eyes are fixed on a bag of cash as a way out for a better life. […]

MAKING DEAD END’S MEET: A Word With Actor, Producer And Filmmaker Bryan Larkin

Lee B. Golden III

It’s only a matter of weeks before fans attending this month’s 2-day induction of the Fighting Spirit Film Festival will be able to check out at actor, producer and maverick filmmaker Bryan Larkin’s latest gritty short duration entry, Dead End II: A Justified Kill. I had the privilege of seeing the first two installments in the last few years and I’ve enjoyed them both thusfar in my own excitement of wondering just what would become of this ambitious shortfilm series. For this, I can earnestly say that this was one of the most enjoyable Q&A’s I’ve done, as Larkin’s story is one of tested mettle, faith and tenacity – having pounded the pavement and strived for the very platform he has to maintain his growth. He’s proven himself to be a leader as much as he is an artist in multiple facets. He talks the walk and walks the talk, […]

Review: DEAD END II: A JUSTIFIED KILL Is A Sequel, Justified

Lee B. Golden III

Last year’s festivities with hitman thriller short, Dead End, saw some genuine praise and celebration for film duo Carter Ferguson and actor Bryan Larkin. The two have since sought to continue their endeavors for the action-packed vehicle as par for the course toward a short film trilogy with Dead End II: A Justified Kill, now wrapped and waiting proper audience reception. The Contractor and Young Gun are back in action in this rousing second chapter, played respectively by Larkin and actor Julian Gaertner from the first installment. The two are on yet another mission to further their discriminate craft of making people disappear, targeting seedy, dirty underworld types… or as the Contractor himself narrates – those “who deserve to die”. Treading Hong Kong’s subterranean human trafficking circuit, they infiltrate a vast apartment complex to reach their next target, Cheung (Sam Gor), a gangster extorting residents under threat of selling them […]

THE HIT LIST: April 29, 2019

Lee B. Golden III

I’m not even halfway done with the stuff I need to get finished with but it’s been two weeks and so it’s definite time for another installment of the Hit List to help keep things kinetic and moving for our devoted stunt talents out there. Actor Rob Mars is up first in the first playlist, comprised of the usual action acting, stunt performance and demo reels from some of today’s best and brightest, and in Mars’ case, pretty damn hard hitting! The playlist continues onward with entries by Xavier Luo, Rebecca Ferguson, Daniel Himschoot, Claire Hoogenboom, Danny Rivera, Elodie Pretorious, Timothy Flood, Jose Rodriguez, Amy Schumacher, Chad Mason, Holly Dowell, Cameron Tubbs, Lauren Okadigbo, James Ortiz, Ermias Baraki, Carin Nateal, Michael Blouin, Chelsea Goldsmith, James Procelli, Jisaura Cardinale and stunt coordinator Ken Quinn. We’ve also got some trailer stuff’n things to share, first of which you can already read more […]

DEAD END III: Award-Winning Hitman Shortfilm Saga Shoots Trilogy Installer This Spring

Lee B. Golden III

Actor and producer Bryan Larkin (Chasing The Dragon, Angel Has Fallen, Vengeance) is maintaining his stride this week stemming from director Carter Ferguson’s multi-award winning 2018 shortfilm hit, Dead End. With a sequel already in tow, the shortfilm series following the story of a hitman stopped short of his way out from a world of violence with an apprentice under his wing, is going full-service in trilogy fashion as of this Spring, releasing in whole later this year. For Dead End III, Larkin is reteaming with Vengeance (a.k.a. I Am Vengeance) helmer Ross Boyask who will direct the third installment, with filming set for London and Munich between March and April. Larkin reunites with actor Julian Gaertner for the back-to-back series, and with a cast that also lists Greg Burridge pictured (London Rampage, upcoming Avengement and Vengeance 2) Rebecca Yeo (Strangers, Stan & Ollie), Fenfen Huang (Operation Red Sea) Leander […]

Carter Ferguson’s DEAD END Brings Life To The Hitman Genre In Now-Episodic Fashion

Lee B. Golden III

Director and longtime fight coordinator Carter Ferguson has seen a rising of late with the numerous wins he’s amassed on the shortfilm front. With a sequel now in production, there’s pretty much no question as to the success of Dead End and that of actor Bryan Larkin’s foreseeable future following further credits in Ross Boyask’s Vengeance and Donnie Yen crime drama, Chasing The Dragon. Dead End definitely aims for edginess in its approach to the hitman genre, less so an action thriller than a well-focused, kinetic and stirring character study with a script that evenly matches pacing and performance caliber. It grants us as sturdy delivery in Larkin who shepherds the narrative as The Contractor, an international hitman whose last job sends him to Hong Kong where he convenes with Young Gun, a younger prospect working in the same profession. Dead End gives you striking background scenery and drone shots, […]

THE HIT LIST: May 22, 2017

Lee B. Golden III

Some great and surprising news came out of Cannes over the weekend and I’ve been busy like hell covering as much as I could. Those pieces are still up and so feel free to check those out, otherwise, you’re more than welcome to enjoy yourself for this week’s installment of The Hit List which, to say the least, finishes stronger than I even imagined. We kick things off with a brand new playlist of stunt reels featuring some amazing work by Robert Bennett, David Russell Graham, Jazzy Ellis, Alex Del’Aquila, William Asbury, Maria Thomas, Brandon Alan Smith, Michael Carey, Gina Kessler, Benjamin Hinnant, Joseph Roark and Califf Guzman. As far as promotiomal items go, there are a couple of bits and the first is a promo video by stuntman and fight choreographer Rustic B who has been hosting his own miniseries of film fighting tutorials for up-and-comers. He’s stepping it up […]