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Bleecker Street Nabs Dark Karate Comedy, THE ART OF SELF DEFENSE, Which Starts Production This Week

Production is underway in Kentucky for writer and director Riley Stearns’s new dark comedy, The Art Of Self Defense. Actor Jesse Eisenberg leads the cast with actress Imogen Poots and actor Alessandro Nivola also starring. The film centers on Casey (Jesse Eisenberg), who is attacked at random on the street and enlists in a local dojo led by a charismatic and mysterious Sensei (Alessandro Nivola), in an effort to learn how to defend himself. What he uncovers is a sinister world of fraternity, violence and hypermasculinity and a woman (Imogen Poots) fighting for her place in it. Casey undertakes a journey, both frightening and darkly funny, that will place him squarely in the sights of his enigmatic new mentor. The Art Of Self-Defense is produced by The End Cue’s Andrew Kortschak, Cody Ryder, Stephanie Whonsetler and Walter Kortschak. Worldwide distribution rights have been acquired by Bleecker Street whose Andrew Karpen […]

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THE HIT LIST: September 11, 2017

My weekend was slow, but unnecessarily relaxing. Part of it included getting the prizes ready from our recent Blu-Ray giveaways for Iron Protector and The Prison and the latter contest ends in a matter of hours… I’m JUST saying… By the by, the Hit List is back and fashioning another round of great stunt reels and some of today’s best in independent online action. Caitlin Hutson jumpstarts the week with her latest parkour reel followed by actor Tien Hoang brandishing some sharp weaponry in his new training demo. Rounding out this segment are reels courtesy of Aaron Hawley, Kaiser Tin-U, Lloyd Pitts, Justin Yu, Chase Penny and Spidey Turner, and choreography reels by Indonesia-based Ultimate Stunt Fighter, and Atlanta’s own J.A. Crooms. Enjoy! The weekend didn’t bring much to offer in promotional materials, but I’m pretty certain Zack Snyder had that covered by Monday. The man helping to bring DC’s […]

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JUN Razes Grim Retribution In The First Teaser Poster For The Upcoming Independent Action Thriller

Filmmaker multihyphenate Robert Samuels (H.K.S.A.) is still on his toes these days representing the current progress being made at his independent production banner, R4 Films LLC. His feature debut, Jun, currently has a screening date being readied for this November at the Urban Action Showcase and Expo in New York City but has since garnered an audience over the weekend with the debut of its official teaser trailer. Newcomer, actress Cheyenne, makes her debut in the title role with a story centered on a clone who uses her immense abilities – mental and physical – to assemble a group of killers to eliminate the organization that created her, and to evade dark forces and factions in her pursuit. The film also enlists a raft of actors action performers among its cast, including Teniece Divya Johnson, David Chen, John DeBlasio, Kage Yami, Patrick Logan Pace, Eric Moran and David Lavallee Jr.. […]

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TRIPLE THREAT Sells To Multiple Territories Worldwide For Theatrical And Netflix Releases In 2018

July was a great month to be a martial arts fan with all the excuse in the world to repeat-watch the comic-con teaser trailer for the new martial arts thriller, Triple Threat. Of course, critical results are pending but the trailer ponies up everything you could want in a movie of its genre with Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais and Tiger Chen leading the cast and Savage Dog helmer Jesse V. Johnson directing. The movie opens in 2018 with plans for a sequel already underway and Well Go USA has already snagged first dibs on the upcoming ensemble action pic. That leaves off a number of territories to be accounted for which brings us to Screendaily‘s exclusive on Monday for the U.S. based company to release the film in the U.K. and Australia as well, in addition to the following locations: Germany (Koch), Latin America (Swen), Italy (Movies Inspired), Portugal (Cinemundo), […]

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THE DEFENDERS: A Word With Chris Brewster On The Usung Heroes Behind The Heroes

So, as many of you know, The Defenders has premiered on Netflix and from what I can gather on social media, it has been well received. Of course people will find issues with the show as they do most shows, but I have to be honest, I truly enjoyed it. So much in fact I decided to do a follow up interview with Daredevil stunt double Chris Brewster. This will make our second interview. If you would like to read the first one, feel free to check it out here. Eric Shamm Watson: Chris, how have you been man? The last time we talked was shortly after DD: Season 1. Let’s get everyone caught up. I know one thing that has changed. Now you are a proud father of a beautiful baby girl with eyes that will put most people in a trance.  Chris Brewster: Oh man! My wife and I […]

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Jackie Chan’s Sci-Fi Action Headliner BLEEDING STEEL Sells You On The Thrills You Crave

Jackie Chan’s Sci-Fi Action Headliner BLEEDING STEEL Sells You On The Thrills You Crave

Bear in mind the fact that Jackie Chan is 63 years old and he’s still doing action movies. Say what you will about any number of his recent titles – some of which I might agree to regarding lackluster delivery, his latest upcoming return to the screen with Martin Campbell’s revenge thriller, The Foreigner, has done plenty in ginning up excitement among loyal Chan fans waiting to see the honorary Award-winning action legend back in his element. The movie opens in Asia later this month and in the U.S. in October, and for this, the same hype might even be applicable given what we’re now being handed in the latest full trailer for Leo Zhang’s new sci-fi actioner, Bleeding Steel which opens in December. Zhang’s script here sees Chan in the role of a hardened special forces agent on the run from a sinister criminal gang, protecting a young woman […]

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CHASING THE DRAGON: Donnie Yen And Andy Lau Stir The Action The Explosive New Trailer

Action star Donnie Yen didn’t wait too long before unveiling the full official trailer for the new crime drama, Chasing The Dragon. Sharing the helm are Jason Kwan and producer Wong Jing who shepherd this, the latest pairing in big name stardom for Yen and actor Andy Lau in what looks to be a striking foray for Yen in the prinicipal role of a once-prolific real-life notorious crime lord. The year is 1963, an illegal immigrant named Ho (Donnie Yen) sneaks into British-ruled Hong Kong. Equipped with guts and combat skills, he plunges into the underground world getting into constant conflict with rivals. After many adversaries, the once good-natured man is physically crippled and turns into a monster more atrocious than all the most corrupted cops and ruthless drug dealers. Ho eventually emerges as the most powerful drug lord under the control of Chief Detective Sergeant, Lee Rock (Andy Lau). […]

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Antonio Banderas Action Titles, ACTS OF VENGEANCE And BULLET HEAD Among Recent Saban Rights Acquisitions At TIFF

Actor Antonio Banderas has been on a badass streak in the last few years with a string of action movie appearances. The Security and The Expendables 3 co-star is set to appear in two out of three titles for which Saban Films have acquired the rights while shopping around at the Toronto International Film Festival. Acts Of Vengeance is first on the list as one we’ve all come to know in the past year as Boyka: Undisputed 4 producer Isaac Florentine’s revenge thriller, Stoic. Banderas is joined by Karl Urban, Robert Forster and Paz Vega with a script by Matt Venne that sees a f.ast-talking lawyer taking a vow of silence while transforming his body in preparation to avenge the murder of his wife and daughter. The other, Bullet Head, hails from writer and director Paul Solet with a story that explores all the categorical misgivings that eventually find a group of […]

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THE UNDERCUTTING EDGE: An Interview With Stephen Reedy

The past few weeks have been a little draining. I’ve had to let go of a few people while tending to some much-needed downtime over the weekend while balancing work on all ends, so if you’re reading this, thank you for bearing with me. Part of that rest period was spent on a nice, brisk thirty-some odd minute-long jewel of a shortfilm that I have been in love with for up to thirteen years. My feelings haven’t waned and it served as a nice refresher reminding me why it is I started this site in the first place. That movie finally garnered my own viewing of its behind-the-scenes featurette just this month, showcasing the antics and shenanigans of The Stunt People – one of the independent film and stunt troupes that bred my earlier interest in the world of online martial arts action filmmaking; The group even accrued its own […]

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DOORMAN: Kitamura’s New Action Thriller Locks In Katie Holmes And Jean Reno

It was last November that award-winning director Kitamura Ryuhei was announced to helm home invasion action thriller, Doorman. All’s been quiet since then while it was finally made clear in the last few months regarding his activity with road sniper thriller, Downrange, which is lining up screenings at the Toronto International Film Festival as we speak. I was actually concerned about Doorman as much as film projects tend to come and go, although it now looks as if things are official with word from Variety on the casting of actress Katie Holmes (Batman Begins, Miss Meadows, Logan Lucky) and actor Jean Reno (The Adventurers, Antigang). Holmes will play a homeward bound Marine officer suffering from battlefield trauma whose newfound refuge as a doorman at a historic apartment in New York finds her pitted against deadly mercenaries bent on retrieving precious art hidden in the walls of the building. Smash Media’s […]

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RETURN OF THE CONDOR HEROES: Tsui Hark To Adapt Jin Yong Novel Into Trilogy; Fan Hopeful Lin Gengxin May Star

Lin Gengxin in SWORD MASTER Word has it that actor Lin Gengxin is a possible front runner to lead famed Hong Kong director Tsui Hark’s newly confirmed adaptation of classic literary, Return Of The Condor Heroes. The story is inspired by Jin Yong’s 1959 publication, the second installation of the Condor Trilogy which began in 1957 and has seen numerous film and TV adaptations, as well as its expansion into books and video games. Hark reportedly aims to adapt the book into a trilogy of its own while fans are expecting to hear of Lin’s attachment as Yang Guo, whose taboo romance with his sifu, martial arts master Little Dragon Girl, and their adventures in the martial arts world is central to the story. Lin has worked with Hark on several occassions with credits together including Young Detective Dee: Rise Of the Sea Dragon (2013), The Taking of Tiger Mountain […]

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X-FORCE Lands Drew Goddard In The Director’s Chair

The path to an X-Force movie has been a long one, but now it looks as if its development has finally hit a new milestone with the attachment of Drew Goddard (Daredevil, The Defenders) to write and direct for the 20th Century Fox Marvel adaptation. Other names like Jeff Wadlow and Joe Carnahan have circled the project in the months following the blockbuster release of Tim Miller’s Ryan Reynolds headliner, Deadpool, with the latter ultimately dropping the project among others. Goddard, currently helming Bad Times At The El Royale for Fox, will be joined by Reynolds and actor Josh Brolin in manifesting the popular comic book property which began under Marvel in 1991 from creator Rob Liefeld about a team of mutant warriors more down and dirty than the X-Men. The film, apart from its roots per the studio’s longstanding series of X-Men movies (including 2018 releases, Simon Kinberg’s X-Men: […]

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Action Thriller DECOY Casts Grillo, Posey, Garcia To Star

Save for the short-lived run of MMA series drama, Kingdom, actor Frank Grillo is establishing himself very well this year. He already has several titles completed and in development and as of Thursday, you can add action thriller, Decoy, to the list ahead of its expected presence at TIFF for buyers courtesy of 13 Films. Grillo will headline from a script by David Benullo that has lead actor Tyler Posey (Teen Wolf series) starring as an identity thief whose latest heist finds him on the run from the NSA. As THR writes, Grillo is starring as the task force leader on the hunt for Posey’s character with Andy Garcia (Max Steel) starring as the CEO of a private defense contractor who holds the cards over Posey’s role. Tapped Out and Gridlocked helmer Allan Ungar is directing the film with Gunn Films’s Andrew Gunn (Sky High) and Cedarvale Pictures’s Michael Bien […]

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ARMED: Hannibal Picks Up Mario Van Peebles Gun Violence Thriller For 2018

Now there’s a face I rarely see these days. I was just thinking about actor Mario Van Peebles the other day and reminiscing a bit his career. The last Van Peebles pic I saw was Baadasssss! in 2003 and now it just so happens to be a point of reference in the latest exclusive at Deadline regarding his newest starring/directing venture, Armed, which wrapped a little over a year ago. The movie follows a former U.S. Marshall (Van Peebles) who has fallen on hard times after he led his undercover agents in a raid that went horribly wrong. Suffering extreme anxiety attacks, divorced and temporarily living at his successful brothers home, the Marshall literally runs into Grace, a beautiful, freespirited, self proclaimed tantric healer and erotic filmmaker. In spite of their differences, Grace finds a kindred spirit in the Marshall who she believes is in need of spiritual enlightenment. When […]

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BEYOND FEST 2017: 12 Days Of Classic Hit Niche Delight With Schwarzenegger, Van Damme, Argento And More In Attendance

Los Angeles’s biggest genre film festival is readying its slate for 12 days of celebrity and hit cinema with a variety of titles spanning fifty years of film fandom. Such is what will ensue on September 29 at the American Cinematheque for this year’s Beyond Fest with tickets on sale beginning Thursday, and all one could look forward to in films we’ve either grown up with in action and horror, to titles newly being discovered. Such films include Jean-Claude Van Damme classic, Double Impact as well as the first two episodes of upcoming Amazon series, Jean-Claude Van Johnson, Schwarzenegger hit thriller The Running Man, Cambodian action romp, Jailbreak, Ted Geohegan’s new thriller, Mohawk and so much more. Not for nothing either with a raft of slated appearances by the likes of Van Damme and Schwarzenegger themselves, in addition to Vince Vaughn seeing to the premiere of RLJE Films’s most recent […]

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Gavin O’Connor Takes The Helm For SUICIDE SQUAD 2

Say what you will of David Ayer’s 2016 hit, Suicide Squad. Critiques notwithstanding, that Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment managed to snag up to $746 million dollars in global gross spoke only to its sequel potential moving forward while hopefully the studio gets its ducks in a row with its own line-up of DC adaptations leading up to Justice League in November and thereafter. This brings questions regarding who will direct, which, in turn, now reveals Deadline‘s latest report sharing news of Warrior helmer Gavin O’Connor who will instead helm the brewing sequel. O’Connor’s name is one of several that have circulated in the past year, particularly Ayer who left the sequel in July prior to Jaume Collet-Serra turning it down. Will Smith, Margot Robbie and Jared Leto are expected to reprise their roles as Deadshot, Harley Quinn and Joker. Plot details and specifics aren’t yet known while a sequel […]

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DANGEROUS GROUND: Janus Metz To Helm Crime Pic For Sierra/Affinity

Director Janus Metz is officially tapped to tackle crime thriller, Dangerous Ground, for Sierra/Affinity. Chasing Mavericks and The Score scribe Kario Salem is providing the script inspired by the compelling true story of war veteran Johnnie Porche. Inspired by true events, Dangerous Ground follows a decorated war hero who returns home to join the family business as a cop, only to find himself in a different war. This time, he’s up against a dangerous drug cartel threatening those he loves most and his whole world is turned on its head. The film marks a sophomore effort for Metz whose narrative feature debut sports drama, Borg/McEnroe, starring Tom Hiddleston and Shia LeBeouf will have its Opening Night Gala world premiere at Toronto International Film Festival on Thursday. Gary Foster (Denial, The Soloist, Ghost Rider), Russ Krasnoff (Denial, The Soloist), Mark Roberts (Strangers With Candy, Danika), and Kelly McCormick (Atomic Blonde) are […]

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TREASURE OF ALI BABA & THE FORTY THIEVES Sets Martin Campbell To Helm ‘Arabian Nights’ Folklore Adaptation

Just days from TIFF, word now has Casino Royale helmer Martin Campbell on deck to direct adventure pic, Treasure of Ali Baba & The 40 Thieves. Ehud Bleiberg and Danny Dimbort will handle international sales on the project as well as produce with Nicholas Donnermeyer and Campbell cohort Robert K. MacLean. Writer Dave Holstein wrote the script following an earlier screenplay by Bleiberg and co-scribe Mansur Ahmed with source material rooted in the sprawling collection of Arabian Nights tales of Middle Eastern folklore. Marc Bikindou and Tiffany Boyle are executive producing the film which currently stands as the second grouping for Campbell & MacLean along with Dimbort and Bleiberg following Ernest Hemingway novel adaptation, Across The River and Into The Trees. via Deadline: An adventure novelist gets caught up in a global conspiracy and a hunt for a mysterious antiquity after discovering that his father had a map to the […]

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East L.A. Crime Drama, EL CHICANO, Taps Ben Bray To Direct, WarParty To Produce

Nearing forty five years as a stunt professional with several televsion and shortfilm directing credits in his wake, filmmaker and stunt coordinator Ben Bray is now setting the stage for his feature directing debut, El Chicano. The film marks Bray’s latest partnership with producer Joe Carnahan whose WarParty banner just secured its WarChest Fund with help from a Calgary-based investment group in Alberta, Canada for four-to-five films budgeting under $20 million dollars. via Variety: The new pic tells the story of two fraternal twin brothers, Pedro and Diego Hernandez, both raised in the toughest barrio of East L.A. Pedro is 10 years old, and a Vato Loco in the making, while his brother Diego follows his brother’s stylistic lead and influence but is, at the same time, his diametric opposite in both bearing and character: Pedro is the dark to Diego’s light, but as young chavalitos on the mean streets […]

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Kwak Kyung-Taek's RV: RESURRECTED VICTIMS Tackles Murder Mystery And Eerie Phenomena In The First Teaser

It’s kind of peculiar that it took two years to arrive, but the theatrical release is finally imminent the fascinating new thriller, RV: Resurrected Victims. Writer and director Kwak Kyung-Taek (Friend, Friend 2, Typhoon) has set his sights here, adapting Park Ha-Ik’s 2012 novel with a script that ensues the enticing new tale of a mother who targets the witness of her own heinous murder: Her own son. Dead victims, who are called RV (Resurrected Victims), come back to the living world to kill their murderer who went unpunished. After killing their murderers, the RV disappear.  7 years ago, Seo Jin-Hong witnessed his mother killed during a robbery. His mother, appearing the same as when she died, appears in front of him. She tries to kill Seo Jin-Hong. The first official teaser arrived this week and it shows good and plenty to be excited for. Actress Kim Hae-Suk reunites with […]

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