bus 657
KICKBOXER Adds Gina Carano To The Cast!
Let’s face it. After losing Tony Jaa and Scott Adkins, a lot of fans were dimming from any enthusiasm they may have had earlier on for Radar Pictures’s now-current production of Kickboxer, a revamp the 1989 martial arts thriller of the same name. Thankfully though, things have been turning around with surprising announcements left and right, with a sprawling cast list led by martial artist and stuntman Alain Moussi making his big screen acting debut, and now, the roster just got even better.
While it is not known how big the role will be, Fast And Furious 6 and Blood And Bone co-star, mixed-martial artist-turned-actress Gina Carano will be playing a fight promoter in the new film according to The Hollywood Reporter. The film reunites the actress with director John Stockwell since working together on Carano‘s previous action vehicle, In The Blood, and also leaves room to speculate on whether or not the nature of Carano‘s role will be aligned with that of Moussi, or similar to that of the supporting antagonist character, Freddy Lee, played by actor Ka Ting Lee in the original.
Carano joins Moussi along with a stellar cast that sees lead character, Kurt Sloane, whose mission to avenge the death of his brother, Eric, at the hands of vicious Muay Thai brawler, Tong Po, draws him in the throes of Eric’s reluctant master whose training will take him on a grueling physical and spiritual journey that will test his courage and will. Carano also rejoins her fellow Bus 657 co-star and newly-cast Spectre co-star, actor Dave Bautista who will play Tong Po. Action star Darren Shahlavi will play Eric while actress Sara Malakul Lane will play Kurt’s love interest who investigates Eric’s death, and the star of the original film, action legend Jean-Claude Van Damme will reprise the role of the master intially played by Dennis Chan in the first film. UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre, and The Martial Arts Kid co-stars, T.J. Storm and Matthew Ziff round out the current cast.
As a noteworthy mention, updates are still pending regarding Carano‘s most recently talked-about involvement on director Justin Steele’s latest thriller, The Opium War, which underwent production last month according to earlier reports. Perhaps we will learn more about that production in its hopeful existence in due time. In the meantime, Kickboxer is due next year.
Stay tuned for more info!
Carano, Morgan, Bautista And DeNiro Board BUS 657
It was recently reported throughout the media that MMA superstar and actress Gina Carano would not be returning to the ring anytime soon, logically due to her current commitment to her newfound film career. As such, the Fast And Furious 6 co-star and In The Blood leading lady of action has been the subject of numerous talks for roles in various films, including the forthcoming productions live-action comic book adaptation of Avengelyne and The Film House’s The Opium War.
While updates are still pending on those projects, Carano is now being reported to star in The Tournament (2009) helmer Scott Mann‘s new film, Bus 657 which kicks off production on October 13 in Mobile, Alabama with Emmett/Fula/Oasis Films backing the project. Carano joins the ensemble cast that so far includes lead actors Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Dave Bautista, Kate Bosworth and Robert DeNiro from a script by Stephen Sepher and Max Adams, which centers on a fumbled casino heist involving two men who end up hijacking a bus, all in one man’s desperate effort to pay for his dying daughter’s treatments and save her life.
Bautista, whose summer prospects were signified by none other than the milestone success of his newest induction into Marvel with director James Gunn’s Guardians Of The Galaxy, was also the subject of reports for the upcoming production of Stephen Fung’s Kickboxer remake. Meanwhile, Carano is currently expected to formally sign on to star in The Opium War which begins filming in upstate New York this November.
As it stands, Bus 657 is expected to release next year from Grindstone/Lionsgate. Stay tuned for more info!
H/T: Deadline