frank grillo

Wu Jing Flips Frank Grillo A Double In The First Teaser For WOLF WARRIOR 2

It’s a rewarding thing to see action star and filmmaker Wu Jing (SPL 2, Call Of Heroes) back in the fray since the strenuous production of his solo directorial debut, Wolf Warrior, took an already accumulating toll on his physical health to the point of needing surgery. Seeing him bounce back as he has, that he’s come back to conquer the sequel is telling of just how much he probably loves the film property, and perhaps no less with the helpful potential forseen by the first film’s box office success two years ago. Thus, with the behind-the-scenes bridging of shared production muscle between China and the U.S., Wolf Warrior 2 has arisen online with new assets for its promotional campaign ahead of its July 28 release. Specific plot details are nil but the first teaser and stills are making the rounds, setting the stage in a war-torn African country for […]

Frank Grillo: “Joe Carnahan And I Are Relaunching THE RAID!”

Lee B. Golden III

The Raid At least two things could be said regarding the forthcoming remake of director Gareth Huw Evans’s hit 2011 crime thriller, The Raid – One: That it’s long overdue (depending on who you ask), and Two: Any mention of it is nothing short of a conversational powder keg for avid martial arts cinema fans. Some could care less, I suppose, but people have their tastes and The Raid assuredly caters to those of its target audience. The movie drew swelling audiences around the world in the span of a few years lending an electrifying, much-needed surge for Indonesian action cinema, and featuring some of the most physically arduous and tough performances in fight scene choreography ever shot on film. Much to our delight, it led to a sequel that immersed us even more than before, and in all their glory, further added to the genre fervor with actor Iko […]

Sci-Fi Action Sequel BEYOND SKYLINE Previews With X-Spatial 4D Tech At CineAsia Event

Lee B. Golden III

It’s interesting to see how theater technology evolves from time to time, though not everyone shares in that same immersive experience since theaters equipped with that kind of gear are located in select locations around the world, especially Asia, for one. I’m speaking of cinema local where services like Barco Escape and things like 4DX and Screen X are paving the way for moviegoers to engage the cinematic experience even beyond wearing a pair of 3D glasses, only here and now we turn to another new venture unveiled at CineAsia this week in Hong Kong in the form of company X-Spatial’s 4D Psychoacoustics. The new technology became the platform on Wednesday evening for director Liam O’Donnell whose latest contribution, Beyond Skyline, which unveiled a preview sampling with the new technology. The company outlined the details of that conference which includes its latest deal with Zhuijang Film, Faan Cultural and Beijing […]

BEYOND SKYLINE Sees Earth In An Alien Sea Of Blue In The Latest Poster

Lee B. Golden III

Yes, we’re still without footage of director Liam O’Donnell’s forthcoming action sci-fi sequel, Beyond Skyline, as much as many of us have hoped for at least a teaser by now. That said, a new teaser poster designed by artist Derek Winslow is being circulated via Twitter for the film which occurs in the same time line as its 2011 predecessor, Skyline, directed by Colin and Craig Strause. The new film sees Purge trilogy co-star Frank Grillo as a tough detective who sets out on a rescue mission to save his son trapped aboard an alien warcraft. Also starring is a hodge podge of actors and actress that include Indonesian action stars Iko Uwais and Yayan Ruhian along, actresses Bojana Novakovic, Pamelyn Chee, Valentine Payen and Betty Gabriel, and actors Jonny Weston, Callan Mulvey, Jack Chausse, and Kevin O’Donnell. Release information is also still pending but you can check out the […]

THE PURGE: ELECTION YEAR Comes Home Starting Next Month!

Lee B. Golden III

Moviegoers in the U.K. still has about a week before director James DeMonaco’s The Purge: Election Year makes the theatrical rounds capping off the current trilogy until further notice. In the meantime, folks in the U.S. will soon have an opportunity to invite the dystopian suspense thriller saga in their home with both the trilogy as well as the latest installation which sees lead actor Frank Grillo returning to the fray. This is one I missed during its theatrical run so I’ll definitely be bookmarking this for later viewing. For now, the latest trailer is above along with the following artwork and Monday’s press announcement. From Universal Pictures Home Entertainment: THE PURGE: ELECTION YEAR IT’S TIME TO CHOOSE YOUR SIDE AMERICA! AVAILABLE ON DIGITAL HD ON SEPTEMBER 20, 2016 BLU-RAY™ COMBO PACK, DVD AND ON DEMAND ON OCTOBER 4, 2016 “THE BEST PURGE FILM YET” — OWEN GLEIBERMAN, VARIETY UNIVERSAL […]

WOLF WARRIOR 2 Howls For Actor Frank Grillo

Lee B. Golden III

Powerhouse film and production duo Anthony and Joe Russo made a pact earlier this year to help sink their feet a bit further in the China film industry with their newly-established Anthem & Song banner, and as such, they now have vested interests in several products. Thus, their current prospect, Wolf Warrior 2 is now active and with none other than action star and actor Wu Jing returning to the dual roles of filmmaker and star, reprising his role from last year’s hit film in which he plays an embattled, rebellious PLA soldier who clashes with a vengeful crimeboss. The film, which will take place this time in a war-torn African country, is part of a trilogy with The Expendables 2 and Wolf Warrior co-star Yu Nan rejoining the film as well, and with the Russo serving as producers next to producer Lv Jianmin who produced the first film. Part […]

MMA Drama Series KINGDOM Gets Another Round With Season Three

Lee B. Golden III

A lot is happening at the Navy St. gym in the course of AT&T’s and Endemol Shine’s hit Audience network show, Kingdom. Bitter rivalries, sex, controversy and family drama clearly have equal weight in the battles faced outside the MMA ring for our characters since the show took off in 2014 and ran for two seasons. Well, if you’re craving for more then you can thank the latest announcement stating the series’s renewal for a third season. Read it below! EL SEGUNDO, Calif., July 7, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — AT&T AUDIENCE Network® has picked up a 3rd season of the hit show “KINGDOM.” This follows a successful 2nd season of the critically acclaimed drama series. The “KINGDOM” cast features Frank Grillo (“Captain America”), Kiele Sanchez (“The Purge”), Matt Lauria (“Friday Night Lights”), Jonathan Tucker (“Parenthood”), Nick Jonas, Joanna Going (“House of Cards”) and Natalie Martinez (“Secrets and Lies”). Creator, writer and showrunner […]

THE PURGE: ELECTION YEAR Brings The Anarchy To The Hill In The Newest Trailer

Lee B. Golden III

The surprise hit that was writer and director James DeMonaco’s The Purge, has taken quite an authentic and rewarding journey in the last four years. From contained survival thriller to urban action flick, the newly-formed trilogy now immerses itself into a world all its own with a rich, suspenseful story that currently pits leading man Frank Grillo front and center as our protagonist following his stellar performance as a broken father seeking vengeance in The Purge: Anarchy in 2014. Thus, we now move forward with the latest from the collaborative crew from Blumhouse and Platinum Dunes with The Purge: Election Year, with Grillo, back in character and now assigned as a secret serviceman at the behest of a Senator looking to end the annual event of citizen bloodshed and suburban warfare as enacted by the New Founding Fathers Of America years ago. Obviously something like that will rub political opponents […]

WHEELMAN: Netflix Acquires Worldwide Rights To Jeremy Rush’s New Frank Grillo Action Headliner

Lee B. Golden III

Last week’s announcement of director Jeremy Rush’s newest action flick, Wheelman, took shape finally at Cannes with word that dominant streaming video service, Netflix, has officially secured the film’s global rights. Some exhibitors feel threatened by the company’s proliferation following recent efforts toward day-and-date releases, but it’s happening nonetheless and those with Netflix aren’t hugely stressing the matter. It does make you wonder about the theatergoing experience though, and hopefully this doesn’t have a lasting and negative effect. We’ll see. At any rate, Grillo’s got a bit of an eventful summer ahead, and more details are available further below. Cannes, France – (May 17, 2016) – Netflix has acquired worldwide rights to the high-concept action thriller Wheelman starring Frank Grillo. Joe Carnahan (The Grey, The A-Team) is producing the film alongside The Solution Entertainment Group’s Myles Nestel (The November Man, Machete) and Grillo who is making his producing debut. Wheelman […]

Frank Grillo Takes The Wheel For Jeremy Rush's WHEELMAN

Lee B. Golden III

Universal Pictures Actor Frank Grillo is having a good year so far with prospects now propelling in the wake of his latest villainous appearance in Captain America: Civil War for Disney. The next few months will see him returning to the fray in the July 4 release of sci-fi action horror threequel, The Purge: Election Day while he stays the course to film Greg Plotkin’s Wolf In The Wild for the newly-launched Awesomeness Films. As of this week however, action fans can expect to see the Kingdom series star in thrilling fashion with Jeremy Rush making his directorial debut for Wheelman – which I think is a perfect title for any action film. Here, Grillo will also make his debut as producer, reuniting with The Grey (2011) helmer Joe Carnahan in addition to Myles Nestel for The Solution Entertainment Group who will present the film at Cannes. Rush’s script, as […]

WOLF IN THE WILD Casts Frank Grillo For The New Thriller

Lee B. Golden III

With Kingdom series star, actor Frank Grillo back in the limelight for Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War, 2016 further awaits his forthcoming appearances in Liam O’Donnell’s Beyond Skyline, as well as the dystopian sci-fi crime threequel, The Purge: Election Year. In the meantime, the actor’s newly announced gig is now in the hands of the sales agents over at Good Films with the new thriller, Wolf In The Wild. Variety reports that surveilance thrillers like Rear Window and D.J. Caruso’s Disturbia (2007) will set a similar tone for the film’s own story which sees a young man taken in by his best friend’s family after the death of his grandmother, only to discover later on that his new adopted father has some skeletons in his own closet. Greg Plotkin will helm the film from a screenplay by Mark Mavrothalasitis and Will Frank, with Grillo currently joined by actress Claire Holt. […]

THE PURGE: ELECTION DAY Gets A First Trailer!

Lee B. Golden III

Frank Grillo may be far and away from any prospects from a remake of The Raid, but that won’t impede him from featuring in some notable thrillers to date. He’s sure made a killing doing so in the 2014 sequel, The Purge: Anarchy, which film earned him a ton of fan acclaim with a story set in a dystopian version of the U.S. where The Purge, an annual government-implemented event that allows citizens to commit almost any act of crime for one evening of the year, maintains law and order for the remainder of every year. Needless to say, it’s an event that’s drawn the response of a brewing rebellion that will only heat things up further, as they seemingly do now in the third installment from Blumhouse and Platinum Dunes, The Purge: Election Year. Grillio and actress Elizabeth Mitchell headline the cast for the film which releases on July […]

THE RAID Remake Searches For A New Director As Hughes, Screen Gems Part Ways

Lee B. Golden III

I’ve long advocated that remakes and reboots done correctly could work for audiences, and there are a few examples worth mentioning like the lesser-appreciated Dredd 3D and films like Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist which currently awaits a sequel. That said, a remake of the hit Indonesian crime thriller, The Raid, has been on deck for a readaptation for a few years now following its cult success back in 2011, even though its progress has been slow to go for more than a year now. This week, following the departure of Audience network series Kingdom star, Frank Grillo, since his addition to the cast last year, there are a few updates aside from the fact that the remake is not entirely dead but still on the table. Out Of The Furnace scribe Brad Inglesby and even the original film’s director, Gareth Huw Evans have partaken in its script development while the film’s […]

KINGDOM Gets A Season Two Trailer

Lee B. Golden III

DirecTV’s hit MMA family drama, Kingdom, hit high scores among TV viewers upon the first season last October. Alas, it’s no surprise that fans are delighted for the show’s forthcoming second and third-season run, with an October 14 date for season two pending; Not to mention it gives us martial arts action with intense drama from an amazing cast and newly added Natalie Martinez now in the mix. Consider me sold. SYNOPSIS: The family drama Kingdom is set against the gritty world of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) in Venice, California. Season two finds Alvey’s (Frank Grillo) improved fortunes have led to a bigger gym, but also a bigger appetite for risk. Ryan “The Destroyer” Wheeler (Matt Lauria) defends his title, while Jay (Jonathan Tucker) finds a new obsession. Lisa (Kiele Sanchez) focuses on managing Alicia (Natalie Martinez), an impulsive but skilled female fighter. Nate’s (Nick Jonas) determination to get back in the […]

frank-grillo-seeks-revenge-in-the-purge-anarchy

THE PURGE 3 Brings Back Frank Grillo For Sci-Fi Horror Thriller

Lee B. Golden III

Last year’s release of Universal Pictures’s sci-fi thriller, The Purge 2, welcomed the continuation of an expansive narrative that has gained a successful following among moviegoers. Beginning in 2013 with Lena Headey and Ethan Hawke starring in The Purge, the franchise propels you into a darkly-lit future version of a crimeless America that maintains order with the annual nationwide holiday, “The Purge”, where Americans are granted one night to go completely apeshit in order to release the worst of themselves unto their fellow man. It’s a story crazy-littered with epic brutality and seething terror and it’s one that is doing quite a fruitful number on actor Frank Grillo who carried last year’s film and ultimately becoming a winning favorite for his character: a desperate father in mourning over the death of his son who sets out to find the man that killed him, only to find himself aiding a ragtag […]

Did Frank Grillo Just Depart THE RAID Remake?

Lee B. Golden III

It might not be shocking to some, but unless your hopes were high in catching Kingdom series and The Purge 2: Anarchy co-star Frank Grillo in an upcoming remake of the 2011 contained crime thriller, The Raid, then there’s a good chance that isn’t happening. Watching my boy @iko_uwais in #THERAID. There’s no way I’m doing a remake of this. Couldn’t do it justice. #respect — frank grillo (@FrankGrillo) January 10, 2015 The tweet comes roughly a month after Grillo wrapped his scenes for director Liam O’Donnell‘s upcoming standalone sci-fi follow-up, Beyond Skyline in Yogyakarta, Indonesia with co-star and action director Iko Uwais; Uwais himself broke out to huge film festival stardom in the original release of The Raid, directed by Gareth Huw Evans, prior to the 2014 sequel wherein Screen Gems had officially announced plans for a Hollywood remake to be directed by The Expendables 3 director Patrick Hughes. Grillo […]

BEYOND SKYLINE: Tweet Roundup!

Lee B. Golden III

10/30/15: It’s been MONTHS since director Liam O’Donnell‘s latest Beyond Skyline, wrapped principal photography. That said, with any luck we’ll see a teaser VERY soon in a promising fashion following the lackluster first film…and by promising, I mean actor Frank Grillo in the good company of Indonesian action stars Iko Uwais and Yayan Ruhian delivering the brutal action as they take on deadly aliens. So, no footage for now, but Grillo has a few new stills up courtesy of his Instagram page. Take a look, and stay tuned for more info after this! Me and the great @iko.uwais and @yayanruhian #TheRaid films about to get down in #BeyondSkyline. Epic battles and fights. If you like that sorta thing. Coming soonA photo posted by Frank Grillo (@frankgrillo1) on Oct 30, 2015 at 4:48pm PDT #BeyondSkyline @iko.uwais @yayanruhian If you love badass martial arts and alien invasion we have something special for […]

Grillo: 'THE RAID Won't Be Made Unless Its Good Or Better Than The Original'

Lee B. Golden III

While commercial expectations for director Patrick Hughes‘s latest feature film, The Expendables 3, fell short in the face of the millions of illegal downloads it suffered from, the film still bares the brunt of mixed and mostly critical opinions that exemplify just what happens when you take an R-rated property and water it down to try and include a broader audience. With that in mind, it was just at the top of the year when Hughes was officially attached to direct an American adaptation of an overseas cult hit that has already garnered a substantially grand audience in the last several years, and with the current state of consumer opinions on Hollywood remakes of foreign films for lack of original ideas, to say the least, discretion is key. Screen Gems is reinstituting the American standard of martial arts action with a remake of filmmaker Gareth Huw Evans’s his feature-length contained […]

AFM 2014: THE RAID Remake Trio Set To Go BEYOND SKYLINE

Lee B. Golden III

Well this is intersting news! I’ve never seen the 2010 installation of the sci-fi thriller, Skyline. The trailer itself was appealing though, but being the action aficionado I try to be, I eventually put it off. Now, with the American Film Market in its fourth day of activity as of Saturday, who would have thought that the upcoming sequel from Hydralux Entertainment, Beyond Skyline would have given me more reason to see the first? And much to the approval of an international audience at that! (Looking at you Indonesia). According to Bloody Disgusting, action stars Iko Uwais and Yayan Ruhian are joining actor Frank Grillo for the upcoming sequel with Skyline scribes Liam O’Donnell and Joshua Cordes directing and writing, respectively. Greg Strause and Colin Strause helmed the first film which introduced the story of alien creatures descending on Earth looking to wipe away humanity. So, how integral will these […]

DirecTV's MMA Drama, KINGDOM, Gets Two More Seasons

Lee B. Golden III

DirecTV’s gritty new original family fight drama, Kingdom, aired last week, and the response from fans and critics have been made quite clear. As such, the new television show has just been greenlit for twenty more new episodes which will begin filming next Spring, with the first ten to air next Fall, followed by the remaining ten for Fall 2016. Eight more episodes are left for this year’s first season of Kingdom, set in Venice, California and centered on actor Frank Grillo (Captain America: The Winter Soldier, The Raid [upcoming]) who plays an MMA fight gym owner struggling to maintain his complicated relationships with his sons. Also starring and returning for next year’s season are actors Jonathan Tucker, Nick Jonas and Matt Lauria, and actresses Kiele Sanchez and Joanna Going. Kingdom currently airs Wednesday nights at 9:00pm Eastern and Pacific on the Audience Network. Check your local listings, or visit […]