Highland Film Group has locked distribution deals in key international territories for action thriller Gunner. The new film is directed by Dimitri Logothetis from a script by Gary Scott Thompson.
Production is already wrapped as of last week in Alabama for action thriller, Gunner from director Dimitri Logothetis (Kickboxer: Vengeance, Kickboxer: Retaliation, Jiu-Jitsu), and new casting additions have been announced. With Morgan Freeman and Luke Hemsworth, the roster now includes Sean Rogers (Warner Bros.’ upcoming The Flash), Yulia Klass (Survive the Game), John Hickman (Jiu Jitsu), Gary Wood (Kickboxer: Retaliation), and Barry Minoff (Assassin).
New Dimitri Logothetis action thriller Gunner is casting up as of Thursday with the addition of Morgan Freeman according to a new news release. The Academy Award-winner whose credits partly include Million Dollar Baby and The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard, joins lead actor Luke Hemsworth with a script by Gary Scott Thompson (The Fast and The Furious).
HBO series Westworld may be over but actor Luke Hemsworth is still going strong as he’s now poised to take on the lead role in action thriller, Gunner, as Deadline’s Matt Grobar noted on Monday. What’s more though is it will have Dimitri Logothetis directing from a script by Gary Scott Thompson, last reported to be priming a series turn for the Kickboxer franchise as of late last year.
A new series is now in development from Todd Garner (producer on last year’s Mortal Kombat) and Dimitri Logothetis with Operation: Kickboxer, according to Matt Grobar’s Deadline exclusive on Thursday. The two will join to exec produce the series with Gary Scott Thompson (Universal’s Fast Saga) serving as showrunner, and Gary Marenzi’s Marenzi & Associates overseeing global co-production and distribution duties, according to the report.
Best known for reimagining 1989’s Kickboxer with two storied back-to-back reboots, filmmaker Dimitri Logothetis segways into the comic book genre for the first time, adapting Acme Rocket Fuel’s in-house IP, Jiu Jitsu. Teeming with action-heavy talent per usual, the film rejoins Logothetis with Kickboxer Vengeance and Kickboxer Retaliation star Alain Moussi, having since escalated from stunt performance to achieving leading man status for the martial arts niche.
Alain Moussi, Tony Jaa, JuJu Chan, Frank Grillo and Marrese Crump on the set of Jiu-Jitsu
(l) Wikimedia Commons, (m) Antony Szeto, (r) Mike Selby
Much has been ado with Alain Moussi and the Kickboxer reboot franchise which still awaits a third entry in Kickboxer: Armageddon.
What I will do is give it to you straight while the last few years of this franchise is painfully fresh in my head as we cheer on the career fruition of its star, Alain Moussi. I like the prospects of seeing him on screen, but fuck it. These Kickboxer movies suck.
I myself couldn’t really get past some of the fan-service that culminates all seemingly ado with the current Kickboxer franchise following the reboot in 2016. I suppose the best part is that Dmitri Logothetis has found a direction to take it in, onward from Vengeance through Redemption and now with the third, Kickboxer: Armageddon. And indeed, that’s Alain Moussi in the footage donning a whole new Kurt Sloan we haven’t seen before. Brand new look and all!
Other details are officially pending but Logothetis himself has mentioned the possible return of Mike Tyson, Ronadinho and Christopher Lambert in addition to George St. Pierre and other UFC and sports favorites…and Snoop Dogg for some reason? He’s also presented a brand new teaser to help stir the fandom some, so check it out anf expect more Kickboxer news onward through 2019.
Two years ago, action fans were given a polarizing reboot of a 1989 Van Damme vehicle in the form of Kickboxer Vengeance. Regardless of expectations, this reboot turned out to be the same kind of entertaining yet disposable action-fest that the original was. Sadly it was released in the far more saturated media landscape of 2016, which amplified the DISPOSABLE part of the equation. Vengeance was a far cry from the Undisputed movies (which it was inevitably compared to), but when approached on its own terms it was actually quite entertaining. Now, the second part of a planned trilogy is upon us and it begs to question: Can this franchise carve out its own part of the market, or will it perpetually be in Undisputed’s shadow?
After surviving a fight to the death with human jack hammer, Tong Po (Dave Bautista), Kurt Sloan (Alain Moussi) returns to the US and becomes an MMA sensation. But old debts still need to be paid. Sloan is kidnapped and dragged back to Thailand by the evil Thomas Moore (Christopher Lambert) and forced to defend his title in another fight to the death. His new opponent is a souped up mountain of a man named Mongkut (Hafpor Julius Bjornsson). After refusing, he is promptly thrown into a Thai prison where he meets new ally Briggs (Mike Tyson) and old friend Master Durand (JCVD), who is now blind but with Daredevil-esque super powers. Strap in folks, this is gonna be a weird one.
Any pretense of what this movie is gets thrown out the window in the first five minutes. We quickly go from a tango dance number to a 2 on 1 fight on the top of a train. But the whole thing turns out to be a dream that Kurt has when he’s in the middle of an MMA match. The film just seems to get weirder from here. Any attempts the first film might have made to ground the action in reality are abandoned as the filmmakers lean hard into its more daffy elements. Rarely a scene goes by that doesn’t have an eccentric touch added to it, but the film wisely plays it all with sincerity and lets the audience be in on the fun instead of smugly winking at them (this isn’t Sharknado). Stranger still, all these bonkers elements are wrapped in a surprisingly strong production with enviable cinematography and production design. Movies this unabashedly weird are rarely this well made.
Returning for his second round as leading man is veteran stuntman Alain Moussi. It’s hard to gauge whether or not Moussi has grown much as an actor since the previous film. The material he has to work with is just as weak as the first go around and his unnatural delivery of such unnatural dialogue doesn’t do the film any favors. Thankfully he still has enough likability to carry most scenes and the physical dexterity to keep up with the demanding fight work. Moussi also steps in as the film’s fight coordinator, taking over from Larnell Stovall from the first film (more on that later).
Also returning is the original Kurt Sloan, Jean Claude Van Damme, reprising his role as Master Durand. Much like the film itself, Durand has gotten extremely weird in the last two years. In addition to his newly discovered super powers, he’s also become less cantankerous and more eccentric; often joking about the fact that Kurt can probably never hope to defeat Mongkut and looking on the brighter side of inevitable death. He also has a son named Travis, who just shows up halfway through the film because reasons. It should come as no surprise that Travis is played by Van Damme’s youngest son Nicolas Van Varenberg, who holds the distinct honor of being the least charismatic of the Van Damme children. He has zero presence and all of his scenes seem like the editors are trying to cut him out of the movie as much as possible without angering his father (who was also an executive producer).
Newcomers to the franchise include boxing legend Mike Tyson, veteran actor Christopher Lambert, and Game of Thrones alum Hafpor Julius Bjornsson. Tyson is proving to be quite adaptable in action movies and clearly possesses the aptitude and rhythm of a budding action star. His fight work here isn’t as impressive as Ip Man 3, but his considerable skills are displayed well. Unfortunately, he’s still getting up to speed as an actor; something that rears its ugly head from time to time and can take you out of a scene. Lambert seems to be revelling in his role as lead villain; with his raspy voice and bright white hair, he seems to be channeling his villainous character from Mean Guns. Unfortunately, it’s Bjornsson who gets the short end of the stick. Compared to Dave Bautista’s Tong Po, Mongkut is just a giant slab of meat with little personality or menace. Where Tong Po carried a great deal of respect and reverence, Mongkut is just a lab experiment who happens to beat people into a hamburger.
The original film’s action scenes are often compared unfavorably to the Undisputed series, but it’s not exactly a fair comparison; both franchises have vastly different outlooks on action. Undisputed is out to give hardcore action fans everything they dreamed of by bringing in some of the most gifted screenfighters in the biz and having them do what they do best. Kickboxer on the other hand is more focused on the marquee value of its fights. It’s a different kind of spectacle in the form of dream matches we never thought we’d see such as Mike Tyson vs JCVD, Christopher Lambert fighting Moussi and Van Damme with a machete, and a parade of MMA cameos. The quality of the actual fighting is quite good for what it wants to be, though in some ways it falls short of Vengeance. Moussi clearly gives it his all as fight coordinator, but Larnell Stovall is a tough act to follow. No matter how hard it tries, this franchise will probably always be viewed as Adkins-lite.
If you are a fan of Kickboxer Vengeance, then you’ll probably enjoy Retaliation immensely (all others need not apply). It shaves off any pretense the first film may have had and lets it freak flag fly. For most people, this is a great rainy day film; the kind of movie that is perpetually available on some streaming service. You’ll watch it, remark at how entertaining it is without actually being a GOOD movie, and then forget it until the next rainy day. Kickboxer Retaliation carries on the legacy of its namesake; it’s entertaining, breezy and ultimately disposable fun.
One year after finding vengeance for his murdered brother, MMA champion Kurt Sloane finds himself back in Thailand – kidnapped and imprisoned there by a powerful gangster (Christopher Lambert). His only shot at freedom is to win an underground death match against a 400lb killer enhanced with state-of the-art drugs (Game of Thrones’ Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson).
The new film brings a meatier batch of action muscle that otherwise promises something entertaining in the process. Of course though, much of the dramatic gravitas will likely reside in performances by the film’s worthwhile lead as well as actress Sara Malakul Lane and action star Jean-Claude Van Damme reprising from the first film, in addition to seasoned thesp Christopher Lambert teasing some pugilist villainy below in the new teaser; Lambert fighting is something we haven’t seen since we last saw him clash swords in the Highlander movies so this was an interesting find. Cautious optimism ensues from here at any rate.
As a martial arts vehicle kickoff, Kickboxer: Vengeance had its worthwhile functions. However, if I’m being totally honest compared to some of my counterparts and maybe other fanboys out there reading this, I frankly felt the film to be a subpar shadow of itself. It spent most of the film touring Thailand while notably aiding Van Damme in sustaining his relevance and forcing a strained revenge tale and love story down our eye-sockets all on the count of launching a fresh reboot from a classic martial arts IP, coupled with the criminality of completely wasting Gina Carano in the process.
Courtesy of Acme Rocket Fuel
Director John Stockwell’s Kickboxer: Vengeance has yet to release a full teaser, trailer, or even a release date for the upcoming reboot of the 1990 classic tournamemt action thriller. But, I digress, as this doesn’t seem to be stopping Acme Rocket Fuel and Our House Films from moving forward with its sequel, Kickboxer: Retaliation, with the film now rolling into pre-production as per its new artwork below!
Martial artist and stuntman Alain Moussi who will be debuting as actor in the first film will reprise his role as Kurt Sloan with action star Jean-Claude Van Damme back once more as Durand, and this time they’re taking on Hafthor Julius Björnsson, formerly of Game Of Thrones fame. Dimitri Logothetis is co-writing the film, as well as producing and sitting in as director.
Rob Hickman, who is further producing the franchise, shared his own excitement for the film with respect to the responses from early screenings of the first. “The response we have garnered for the first film, before its release, has been staggering,” he says, “and we are excited to continue the franchise with the Mountain himself added to the cast,”.
Fans looking to sample some of Moussi’s acting can look toward his forthcoming role as Nash in Joey Ansah’s Machinima series, Street Fighter: Ressurection this March exclusively on the go90 app. In the meantime, a release date remains pending for Kickboxer: Vengeance which stars Moussi, Van Damme along with Georges St. Pierre, Sara Malakul Lane and Dave Batista with Gina Carano and the late Darren Shahlavi.
Kickboxer: Retaliation takes to Thailand this May.
H/T: CS
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