rope a dope
ROPE-A-DOPE 2 Goes Ringside With New Set Photos
Independent filmmaker, martial arts action cinema favorite Eric Jacobus is back once more with the current filming of the action comedy follow-up short, Rope-A-Dope 2: The Return Of The Martial Arts Mafia. The sequel officially began production back in May, roughly a year since the first installment, Rope-A-Dope, was released, featuring Jacobus in a Groundhog Day-style short story about a Dope who wakes up everyday re-living the same bad luck over and over again until he finds a way to break the vicious cycle, leading to a hyper-kinetic final fight with a gang of martial arts thugs, led by Barrio Brawler co-star, actor and longstanding member of The Stunt People, Dennis Ruel.
Produced by Hollywood stuntman Clayton J. Barber and Death Grip co-star, actress Rebecca Ahn, Rope-A-Dope ultimately began its film festival run last summer, leading to a second place award at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival last November, and an award for best short film at the Sundial Film Festival in California earlier this year, among other things. This time, Jacobus and his team are back with an immensely talented line-up of action actors and stunt performers helping embody the Dope’s next misadventures as we learn more about the Martial Arts Mafia, and that the Dope is not the only one who can restart the day.
Filming is expected to continue from now through Monday with a hopeful release sometime in the Fall. In the meantime, a batch of new set pics are now making the rounds courtesy of the team, and you can now check those out below. And while you’re here, subscribe to the official Facebook page and spread the word!
Eric Jacobus 'Wheels' Out Unseen Fight Footage From ROPE-A-DOPE!
It takes some pretty good editing to make a scene in a film look like something entirely different from what would have looked like another version of it. That being said, I never would have guessed the following clip was part of last year’s shortfilm festival favorite, Rope-A-Dope, starring The Stunt People co-founder, actor, stuntman and Kicktionary author Eric Jacobus.
Remixed with Keith Morrison’s final fight music from the U.S. version of the 1984 Jackie Chan classic, Wheels On Meals (a.k.a. Spartan X), Jacobus revives a partial version of the final fight from Rope-A-Dope which you can check out below. Also, be sure to check out the full shortfilm now available in the same link and subscribe to the channel as well.
And in case you haven’t heard, Rope-A-Dope 2 is coming. True story.
Stay tuned!
Slovakia Gets Its Own Dope To Rope In The New Shortfilm, NEVER SURRENDER!
You may recall last year that independent filmmaker and stunt impressario Eric Jacobus made serious headway in the film festival circuit with his 2013 shortfilm, Rope-A-Dope, a groundhog-style martial arts comedy that saw a dope take on the challenge of changing what he needed to derail the events that led to him getting knocked unconcious. The shortfilm left such an impression among fans that even action star Scott Adkins retweeted it on Twitter, among other important folks in the world of action.
That said, as Jacobus marks fifteen years as founding member of The Stunt People, his work continues to sustain its place as a blueprint for other aspiring action actors and stunt team founders alike, including actor Julius Kmak in the good company of his people representing Slovakian indie film group 3 Media Production with their new shortfilm, Never Surrender. And while it won’t be hard to notice some of the obvious similarities in story and action choreography between this and Rope-A-Dope, it hasn’t been the first time the work of The Stunt People have been copied. However in large part, Jacobus himself is taking it all in stride. “I pride myself on coming up with new ideas,” he tells Film Combat Syndicate. “…so it’s great to see people taking those ideas and using them as vehicles for making their fight scenes come to life.”.
Never Surrender is just a small handful of videos 3 Media has up on its YouTube channel as they have just newly formed as of late last year. Sure, it may be a Rope-A-Dope imitation, but it does pack a punch or two, and even a few laughs to boot, in which case, do watch this little jewel through to the end. And by all means, subscribe to their channel!
