The Movies That Moved Me: David Worth’s KICKBOXER
Today, I reflect on an American martial arts classic that’s impacted me as a fan, as well as a critic: KICKBOXER (1989).
kickboxer
Action Stream: BAD BOYS, MORTAL KOMBAT, ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, 24 HOURS TO LIVE And More!
Welcome to the April 2018 edition of ACTION STREAM! Compared to the blowout that was March, this month seems a little anemic. Of course, the one-two punch of Wolf Warrior 2 and Blade of the Immortal (not to mention Power Rangers and Jessica Jones) is a hard act to follow. Action fans may not be gaining much, but we’re also not losing much either. Between last month’s holdovers and a few pleasant surprises this month, it’s doubtful that anyone will be at a loss for entertainment. Netflix is the clear winner for April thanks to one film in particular, 24 Hours to Live. The film has been lauded as the DTV John Wick and Ethan Hawke continues to build an interesting filmography of genre films that are better than they have any right to be. The streaming giant will also be the home of celebrated Donnie Yen/Andy Lau headliner, Chasing […]
STEEL RISING: An Interview With Larnell Stovall
*The following is an interview I did back in 2014. I made some HTML fixes but for some reason, Blogger took it upon itself to update as a new post for 2016. At any rate, it was purely accidental, I hope it serves up a nice little read for fans. Enjoy! The past few weeks have seen a slight shift in gears for me. I hadn’t done any formal interviews with anyone for a long time until about a few weeks ago, and I posted a batch of them just last week. I admit, I may need a break this weekend, although I like the momentum I have seen and maybe I’ve found a pattern I could work around as I would love to continue to share even more stories on my site from extraordinary people working in the film today. Don’t get me wrong though. I don’t use the […]
NOLA 'Kickboxer' Crew Unpaid, Crew Member Says 'Producers Didn't Have The Money'
The forthcoming remake of director John Stockwell‘s newly titled Kickboxer: Vengeance remake is one of the most hyped about films going into the new year. Sadly, the film is not without its share of roadbumps, especially pertaining to previous unfortunate news of its casting and crewing as production didn’t start until three months after its initial September date. Now, the word is that up to 200 people and their families in New Orleans, Louisiana have been affected after 150 crew members, mostly local workers, were left unpaid, based on a new report by Katherine Sayre, lead business reporter at Nola.com | The Times Picayune. Crew members initially refused go start work on the film’s last day of its New Orleans shoot on December 13 after learning their paychecks wouldn’t arrive as they expected, prompting producers to intervene with the promise of payment delivery last Tuesday. Among several people, Sayre’s report […]
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 […]
KICKBOXER Adds Darren Shahlavi!
Filming is currently underway with director John Stockwell‘s reinterpretation of the 1989 martial arts thriller, Kickboxer. Actor and martial artist Alain Moussi (Immortals, X-Men: Days Of Future Past, Warcraft) tops the currently brewing list of announcements finally being made in the last several months in addition to the leading actress Sara Malakul Lane and actors T.J. Storm and Matthew Ziff, with action superstar Jean-Claude Van Damme. Well as of this week, fellow action star and co-star of the upcoming Zambo Dende shortfilm, actor Darren Shahlavi (Bloodmoon, Ip Man 2, Metal Hurlant Chronicles) is being announced for a principle role in the new film, according to Impact. Shahlavi will star as Eric Sloan, whose reluctant master trains his younger brother, Kurt, to avenge Eric’s death at the hands of vicious Muay Thai brawler Tong Po. The film will mark Moussi‘s debut lead role in a film following a lucrative career in stunts, alongside […]
Stockwell’s KICKBOXER Invites Its Original Star, Jean-Claude Van Damme
Kickboxing is all the rage this week (as I said before in my earlier report), as things begin to finally take shape for two current, seperately running visions for a return to the classic martial arts franchise. Here, we are joining in with word from The Hollywood Reporter that martial artist superstar Jean-Claude Van Damme is poised to star in the forthcoming re-adaptation of the 1989 original film which he starred in under directors Mark DiSalle and David Worth. Kickboxer was a cornerstone in Van Damme’s earlier Hollywood career post films like Black Eagle, No Retreat – No Surrender, Bloodsport, and the Albert Pyun-directed Cyborg among others. The film essentially put the Belgian action hero on the world map as he kicked his way to stardom in the role of Kurt Sloane, who undergoes a test of spiritual and physical strength, endurance and will in order to take on […]
Stockwell's KICKBOXER Adds T.J. Storm And Matthew Ziff
Updates are abound now that production is underway for In The Blood helmer John Stockwell‘s current remake of the 1989 martial arts thriller, Kickboxer. Progress has had its share of stops and starts in the past year or so as a few major names departed from the project this month, but now we’re finally getting a grip on what lies ahead for casting thanks to social media. Actor Matthew Ziff, lately known for his upcoming appearance in the action-packed family drama, The Martial Arts Kid, recently took to Twitter and Instagram to share a few images earlier hinting on a “big” project. That project just so happened to be the upcoming Kickboxer where it just so happens he will be joined by his fellow The Martial Arts Kid co-star, martial artist and actor T.J. Storm (Punisher: War Zone, Black Cobra). There aren’t any details yet on what their roles will […]
EXCLUSIVE: KICKBOXER Loses Fung, Gains ‘In The Blood’ Director
Probably one of the biggest pieces of developing news as of late has been the current stagnation surrounding a forthcoming remake of the 1989 martial arts tournament thriller, Kickboxer. Updates have been slow and steady since the film was announced last summer, followed by this year’s press release from The Exchange CEO, Brian O’Shea in lieu of Cannes, with a cast list that appeared to be sizing up quite nicely with martial artist and stuntman Alain Moussi (X-Men: Days Of Future Past, Warcraft) set to make his acting debut. Lately however, the production has been hitting some bumps in the past several months, signified otherwise by the fact that the film was supposed to go into production in Thailand a few months ago. This week now, those bumps have turned into thumps, after losing martial arts action stars, actor Scott Adkins a few months ago, in addition to Tony Jaa […]
Tony Jaa Drops Out Of Fung's KICKBOXER
It was approximately four months ago that international action star Tony Jaa was on deck to possibly star in Tai Chi 0 helmer Stephen Fung‘s forthcoming production of Kickboxer from Radar Pictures, a remake of the 1989 martial arts tournament thriller officially announced a year and a half ago. Since then, casting continued with some missteps along the way while boasting what appeared to be an otherwise promising slate of names joining actor, martial artist and stuntman Alain Moussi for his hopeful lead debut as a Fall 2014 shoot neared, and now with the year approaching its end, it appears the production has hit another bump. Jaa‘s manager, Mike Selby, has informed Film Combat Syndicate that the actor has officially withdrawn from the production, stating “The production changed schedule to a period where Jaa would not be available.”. Whatever the case may be, it looks like a pretty scary pattern […]
RE-ENTERING THE DRAGON: My Pick For "The Deadly Three"
With the recent casting announcement of director Stephen Fung’s new Kickboxer reboot starring Alain Moussi, Scott Adkins, Tony Jaa, Dave Batista, and George St. Pierre, I felt this casting was just insane; a group of actors/martial artists that can really bring something special to the fight sequences…it’s something that many of us haven’t seen in an American martial arts film in quite some time! That thought led to this one: Whatever happened to the classic martial arts tournament movie era that started with King Boxer AKA, Five Fingers of Death and ended with, Bloodsport? (Jean Claude Van Damme is more iconic to American martial arts films then some people think). Well, nowadays we have more actors who ARE real martial artists than ever before on screen, and we’re seeing different styles and systems that were never captured on film more than forty years ago. As such, a new tournament film […]
[UPDATED] Tony Jaa And Scott Adkins Are Confirmed For KICKBOXER
UPDATE (8/5/14): This may come as a mild disappointment, although hopefully a tentative one provided the odds are in fans’ favor. I have just received word that today’s press release went viral prematurely and that neither Scott Adkins, Tony Jaa, nor Dave Batista have been officially confirmed for the film. As such, talks remain on-going as the actors await a final contract to be outlined. Considering the response to today’s premature headline, let’s hope these talks are successful! EARLIER REPORT: The current and accumulating cast list of the forthcoming production of director Stephen Fung‘s new reboot of the Jean-Claude Van Damme classic, Kickboxer is looking better and better. It was previously broken on Film Combat Syndicate that international action star Tony Jaa was in talks for a role in the film, following his forthcoming appearances in Skin Trade, Fast And Furious 7 and SPL 2: A Time For Consequences. With Jaa […]
BREAKING NEWS: Tony Jaa Has Been Offered A Role In The KICKBOXER Reboot
Quite a bit of time has passed with a lot of things happening in the world of film since the official announcement confirmed the forthcoming production of the new Kickboxer reboot from Radar Pictures back in May. While things appear to be moving forward in their tentative state, the film has already begun showing some areas of promise with Tai Chi 0 and Tai Chi Hero helmer Stephen Fung on board to direct, the new film which centers on the reintroduction of protagonist, Kurt Sloan, who sets out to Thailand and finds himself on an epic quest to avenge the death of his champion brother, David, at the hands of the brutal killer Tong Po. Current casting shows a meaty line-up of prominent athletic actors, including world-renowned martial artist and stuntman Alain Moussi, whose own addition to the film has been in the making for the past few years. Actors […]
KICKBOXER Lands Larnell Stovall For Action Director
It’s been a very weird day for writing on my end, as I reported earlier today that award-winning fight choreographer J.J. Perry would be directing the fight scenes for the upcoming production of director Stephen Fung’s Kickboxer remake. The update came in a recent interview hosted at The Action Elite with the film’s lead actor, martial artist and stuntman Alain Moussi. Just minutes after I shared the article on my Facebook page, I was immediately contacted by a stuntman in my friend list who has recently worked with Perry that he would not be directing the action for the new film. So, ultimately I unpublished the article and contacted Perry myself right away to apologize for the confusion and he indicated he was alright by it before also informing me that seasoned martial artist, stunt professional and fight choreographer Larnell Stovall would be working on the film’s principle fight scenes […]
NUK SU KOW! Alain Moussi Will Lead The Cast In The Remake Of KICKBOXER
It was back in July in 2013 that two memorable action classics starring legendary superstar Jean Claude Van Damme, Bloodsport and Kickboxer were each finally announced to be remade with their own directors, with the latter to be helmed by Tai Chi 0 director, multifaceted actor and producer Stephen Fung. On Monday, almost a year later, official news finally confirmed from Cannes announcing actor, stuntman and martial artist Alain Moussi (pictured left) will be taking the lead in Fung‘s new film. The actor most recently did stuntwork on Camille Delamarre’s directorial debut remaking the 2004 action thriller, District B13 in last month’s release of Brick Mansions, in addition to working on films such as Guillermo Del Toro’s 2013 techno monster thriller Pacific Rim, and the upcoming release of filmmaker David Hayter’s own directorial debut, Wolves with Lucas Till and Jason Momoa. Monday’s report also confirmed what may be expected as the official […]