Ninja 2 Producer Frank DeMartini Confirms UNDISPUTED 4 At Fantastic Fest
According to an update from Fantastic Fest via Twitch, film producer Frank DeMartini responded to a fan question on Friday night regarding the currently developing fourth installment of the Undisputed franchise, by saying the following (click the link for the full context):
“The Undisputed 4 script is being written right now by David White and it should shoot in the spring. Unless Scott wants too much money.”
The answer came from a Q&A panel that acconpanied the festival premiere of director Isaac Florentine’s latest action thriller, Ninja: Shadow Of A Tear, starring Scott Adkins and actress Mika Hiji, all of whom appeared for the Friday night panel, in front of an attending crowd. Also sitting in attendance among the audience members was actor and Undisputed 3: Redemption co-star Marko Zaror, to whom Adkins and Florentine expressed their hopes to work with him again in the near future. Zaror currently stars in the latest Fantastic Fest premiere of Robert Rodriguez’s new film, Machete Kills, which will have its wide release on October 11.
Seven months after filming wrapped going into the completion of post-production, a trailer was finally released to the public with an unspecified release date which is still pending. The film sess Adkins reprising his role from the film the first film, now out to avenge the death of his beloved wife and unborn child, against incredible odds and darker forces that lie in waiting.
It’s been a couple of years since Adkins emerged online with the good news after returning in Undisputed 3 as the iconic fictional Russian kickboxer, Yuri Boyka. The character has become a phenomenon among fans of the Undisputed franchise who woke up to the films since Florentine’s direct-to-DVD sequel in 2005, which ultimately illuminated one of the best actor/director partnerships in action film history.
In maintaining the excitement since Adkins sat for an inteview with Crave Online while promoting director John Hyams’ Fantastic Fest premiere of Universal Soldier: Day Of Reckoning, sharing his own ideas of a post-prison “Rambo-style” storyline for the film. “For me, I would want to call it Boyka: Undisputed IV because now it’s out of the jail setting,” says the actor.“Boyka’s out of prison. It’s onto the next step of his life. I think people know the character Boyka so well now anyway that you could just go Boyka: Undisputed IV.” Ironically, Adkins also mentions in the same interview that a script was already written, so the statementd from DeMartini on Friday night likely suggest that there may have been different drafts being circulated in the pre-production process, which is quite reasonable after all this time. After all, I myself had my own ideas.
So, all in all, have no allusions doubting the film’s coming existence. Even as Adkins has other films to work on, with others we can only dream of seeing him in (*cough* Ninja 3 *cough* Special ID 2 *cough* Mortal Kombat *cough* Undisputed 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10+ *whooping cough*), Boyka fans can sit safely by their DVD collections and nearby computers cheering on their favorite beloved 720º kicking butt whooper as part 4 comes. In the meantime, Adkins‘ next role will be that of King Amphitryon in the Renny Harlin-directed March 2014 release of Hercules: The Legend Begins, with the first footage to be screened at next month’s New York Comic-Con.
More news ahead.
