THE HIT LIST: March 4, 2019
I actually had a lot to do this weekend – some of which I almost didn’t get done… this week’s installment of The Hit List being one of them. Alas, here we are!
I actually had a lot to do this weekend – some of which I almost didn’t get done… this week’s installment of The Hit List being one of them. Alas, here we are!
Segueing from steering the action and stunt work coordinating films like Ant-Man, Ninja Assassin and Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World, Peng Zhang now rests his prospects at the helm. This one is no small feat either however – reportedly five years and with a tall order of $100 million dollars to date for Ningxia Film Group’s upcoming Buddhist fantasy action adventure, Asura, making it China’s most expensive movie in history, and as the hopeful first in a trilogy.
Signaling this month with an official teaser trailer ahead of a release midway in 2018, the film introduces a story set in the titular realm of pure desire which now finds itself threatened by a staged coup from a lower kingdom. Leading the way are burgeoning talents, actress Zhang Yi Shang (Railroad Tigers) with Lei Wu (The Shanghai Job, upcoming Nehza) starring as saviors to the realm and evident love interests to each other amid the upheaval of emerging villains and fantastic visuals host to spectacular scenery, battles and creature design.
Seasoned and celebrated talents, actress Carina Lau and actor Tony Leung Ka-Fai lead the cast further with a raft of international talents such as actor Matthew Knowles, prolific stunt professionals Damien Walters and Caitlin Dechelle, and prolific contortionist Bonetics Junior known for wowing audiences on Britain’s Got Talent. The crew is another story with a total of up members from 35 countries and nearly 2000 extras contributing to this project, including Nglia Dickson who brings her Oscar winning costuming credentials to the floor after films like The Lord Of The Rings trilogy and The Last Samurai, and VFX wizard Charlie Iturriaga of Deadpool and Furious Seven fame.
There’s a bit to take in with understanding the very mythology that sets the backdrop for the film. Beyond that and judging from the trailer for the time being, expect a grand serving of sprawling fantasy and wonder with big scale action to boot between bold villains and unlikely heroes. It’s a big move for China with a lot of trust placed in a first time director who has undoubtedly earned his way up the ladder as a stuntman fifteen years in and still going strong in front of the lens as well.
And for this, Asura his is offering this year to the masses and it comes this summer. Your move, kids!
Check out the trailer below along with character and concept artwork just beneath!
ASURA (2018) – Character and Preliminary Posters
The launch of Iron Dragon TV in late 2014 was nothing short of a milestone effort for a fledgling banner looking to help represent Asian action and martial arts cinema for netizens and U.S. fans alike. Its current growth, led by founder, Iron Dragon Productions CEO, actress and martial artist Janell Smith, has since begun lending its flourishing stage to available creatives since then and as we speak, it all comes down to the first-annual Iron Dragon TV Action Fest which kicks off in Austin, Texas on August 11 and August 13.
The official website has made available its entire line-up of shortfilm in several blocks and host to a raft of titles both familiar and new (Clayton Barber’s Blindsided, Benedict Sanderson’s Kung Fu Darling, Paul Dreschler-Martell’s John Wick Origins: Kirill and Andrew Suleiman’s You Can’t Hear Me, You Can’t See Me to name a few), as well as celebrity appearances such as actors Seth Lee and Jake Presley (The Accountant) and acclaimed stunt players T.J. Storm (Deadpool) and Caitlin Dechelle (Wonder Woman).
Head over to the official website to learn more about the event, as well as ticket access and much more!
It was only a matter of time before further updates would continue trickling for the forthcoming production of the new action thriller, 4 Towers following an initial report last month. Filming is soon set to begin in Italy, marking Puncture Wounds co-helmer James Coyne‘s solo directorial debut, with a script co-written by Coyne and Alessandro Riccardi which centers on Italy’s tactical SWAT team and interpol units as they infiltrate an 11th century castle where a Serbian ex-soldier has taken a corporate dinner company hostage in an attempt to capture Mussolini’s cursed gold and treasure.
The film reunites Expendables 2, Legendary and Universal Soldier: Day Of Reckoning co-stars, action legends Dolph Lundgren and Scott Adkins headling most of the action, and this week, the official word from the director himself promises the addition of a woman’s touch, in the form of actress, stuntwoman and XMA purveyor Caitlin Dechelle (CZ12, Teen Wolf, Fast And Furious 7). Coyne confirmed the details of her role with Film Combat Syndicate. “I can tell you that she’ll be playing a cop who is part of an international undercover unit that works with Interpol and UK’s special branch.” says Coyne. “She’ll be involved in plenty of the action. We’re really excited to have a martial artist of her caliber in the film and we’re reconfiguring some things now to see more of her ability at work.”
Dechelle has spent since the ages of eight and thirteen making her mark in the world of martial arts, winning up to 85 international world titles while pursuing a fruitful career in acting. She has also done some impressive work within the online action community, most recently for indie action auteur Vlad Rimburg’s online hit tribute to The Raid 2, titled Hammergirl.
There’s no official word yet on who is delivering the action for 4 Towers, although the production is boasting some pretty thrilling stuntwork with integral knife fighting and choreography to boot.
Actress Andrea Tidona rounds out the current cast with actor Gianni Capaldi who is also producing with Riccardi and Gianluca Varriale. Production is expected to commense on November 7 for a likely 2015 release. Stay tuned for more info!
Fans of martial arts action cinema like myself and independent filmmaker Vlad Rimburg represent a majority of people eagerly awaiting the official March 28 release date of writer and director Gareth Evans’s new epic crime thriller, The Raid 2. However, on Tuesday evening, Rimburg took to his channel to offer an inspired look at actress Julie Estelle’s portrayal of the iconic character, Hammer Girl, in a new, brutal, bloody and spectacularly violent fan short by CZ12 co-star and action actress Caitlin Dechelle.
Rehearsed last week in the course of two days and filmed only several days ago, the Hammer Girl fan fight marks Rimburg‘s second project with Dechelle since a chance meeting in 2012 during a photo shoot with photographer and performer Tony Chu. That photo shoot eventually led to their first collaboration later that year for the two-part ensemble action piece, Part 2: Chapter A, and the two had been making an extensive effort to do it all again ever since. Fast forward through 2014, and this is where it gets all kinds of weird and exciting for me, because this is the first time I’m including myself in a report of this nature.
I won’t delve too much into the details as I welcome all of you to read more about how the project came to fruition in the description of the video. But from the bottom of my heart, I am deeply thankful to have such a wonderful extended circle of taleneted acquaintances and friends with like-minded goals. I consider myself very fortunate this week. I am humbled to be included in such a project, and thankful to have inspired such a fine group like this one seen here. They did all the work, and as fans of the action genre, we owe these people our boundless support!
Subscribe to Rimburg‘s channel in the embed below, and stay tuned to Film Combat Syndicate for more exciting content to come!
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