triple threat

FESTIVE FILM BITS: ‘Master Z’, ‘Triple Threat’, ‘The Man From Kathmandu’ And More!

Lee B. Golden III

Well Go USA is just days away from its North American theatrical release of Yuen Woo-Ping’s spin-off venture, Master Z: Ip Man Legacy. The good news, also, is that folks over in the UK awaiting its release thereafter will soon have a chance to view the film for themselves at the Spring 2019 edition of the Fighting Spirit Film Festival at the Mockingbird Cinema and Kitchen at Birmingham on April 28. The film, featuring Max Zhang, Michelle Yeoh, Liu Yan, Dave Bautista, Xing Yu, Kevin Cheng and Tony Jaa, will screen right next to a small spate of winning FSFF shortfilm favorites, as well as Jesse V. Johnson’s heavy-hitting ensemble thriller, Triple Threat. Tickets are still available at this link. Segueing to our local North American commonwealth, Puerto Rico’s 12th Rincon International Film Festival is proposing its five-day event kicking off on April 10 through 14 wherein its closing premiere […]

Jesse V. Johnson’s TRIPLE THREAT Is A Showdown Every Bit Worthy Of It’s Title

In the opening scene of Jesse V. Johnson’s film, TRIPLE THREAT, Payu (Tony Jaa) and Jaka (Iko Uwais) meet in a Maha Juyan jungle setting during a high stakes rescue mission. They fight briefly amid the chaos of gunfire, each of them instantly delivering a whirlwind volley of homespun moves from their respective catalogues – these familiar to anyone that has followed their separate, impressive oeuvre. And though that initial fight ends briefly, it’s exclamation a bomb detonation that interrupts the melee, the scene still plays to the sort of wish fulfillment that lies at the foundation of many a speculative debate among fans of the martial arts genre. In this way Triple Threat’s premise is a promise, and the rest of its runtime delivers in generous servings. The jungle sequence is the catalyst, introducing us to many of the stars (Michael Jai White, Tony Jaa, Tiger Chen, Michael Bisping, […]

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Jesse V. Johnson’s TRIPLE THREAT Multiplies With Its Starry Action Cinema Line-Up

Lee B. Golden III

There’s no real shortage of action movies in the industry. The rarity, however, lies in seeing so many talented household names under one banner (save for The Expendables franchise of late) in a film like Jesse V. Johnson’s newest ensemble gathering, Triple Threat. The film presents a familiar, albeit intriguing, classic betrayal/revenge story that dares to do what Hollywood thusfar won’t do; Granted, piting together the likes of martial arts action cinema favorites like Tony Jaa, Tiger Chen, Iko Uwais, Scott Adkins, Michael Jai White, and Jeeja Yanin doesn’t deem as lucrative in a market saturated by superhero movies coming out of its orifices. Still, you can’t deny that a marquee like this isn’t mouthwatering, if only for the fact that once upon a time, a film like this would have seen a nationwide release as big as James Cameron’s True Lies or John McTiernan’s The Predator. A one-night only […]

FIGHTING SPIRIT FILM FESTIVAL IV: ‘Triple Threat’ Quintuples With A Raft Of Four Winning FSFF Martial Arts Faves

Lee B. Golden III

We’re in the final week of the campaign ahead of the U.S. rollout for Jesse V. Johnson’s Triple Threat. The wait will be a little over a month though for folks in the UK as the Fighting Spirit Film Festival readies its April 28 event at the Mockingbird Cinema & Kitchen at Birmingham, and folks looking to attend can now take a gander at the line-up comprised of shortfilms from previous FSFF installments next to the premiere of Johnson’s new ensemble thriller. The line-up is pretty cool too as it apart from Triple Threat, it also includes Les Aventures de Tranh et Nowak (a.k.a. Tranh And Nowak), featuring Geneviève Doang and Quentin d’Hainaut in an astutely-made martial arts comedy short about two highly-skilled agents on a mission to retrieve pieces of government artwork from a Neo-Nazi, played by Simon Dubreucq. Godefroy Ryckewaert directs this gem to which I’ve ardently supported […]

TRIPLE TIME – Part IV: A Word With TRIPLE THREAT Star, Actress Jeeja Yanin

Lee B. Golden III

Martial arts star, actress Jeeja Yanin will be the forth and final entry into our interview series leading into next week’s sequential March 19/22 rollout of Jesse V. Johnson’s new ensemble action thriller, Triple Threat. It’s been five years since she and I traded Q’s and A’s and there was at least one area that I felt needed covering, so I’m especially pleased to have heard back from her as I did. It’s also worth noting that folks in the UK looking forward to seeing Jeeja in action among the heavy-hitting cast can watch the film at the Mockingbird Cinema Birmingham on April 28, courtesy of the Fighting Spirit Film Festival organization. Whether or not any cast attendance remains to be seen but for what it’s worth, the film will assuredly get its time on the big screen as Johnson wishes, and fans are more than welcome. Click the names […]

TRIPLE TIME – Part III: An Interview With TRIPLE THREAT Star Michael Jai White

Lee B. Golden III

Actor, martial artist and cult superstar Michael Jai White became endowed with a royal title at the top of the year. That’s just one topic that I felt I needed to cover going into this, my second interview with him in the years since our first interview leading up to the release of Ekchai Uekrongtham’s 2015 action thriller, Skin Trade. He’s since found his way back to Netflix in Thomas J. Churchill’s The Hard Way with Luke Goss, and will next be seen back on the big screen very soon for at least two thrillers already garnering praise – one being director Jesse V. Johnson’s newest ensemble pic, Triple Threat. Our interview marks the third in a small series of cast and crew interviews as we approach the film’s one-night select theatrical premiere on March 19 and subsequent VOD rollout on March 22; Fans in the UK are welcome to […]

TRIPLE TIME – Part II: An Interview With TRIPLE THREAT Star Tony Jaa

Lee B. Golden III

Martial arts action cinema fans are just weeks away from catching Jesse V. Johnson’s newest ensemble action adventure thriller, Triple Threat. Respective reviews will likely go out by the week of Friday, March 15, which is when we’ll proudly post ours. In the meantime, Thai action star Tony Jaa who broke out in 2003 with venerable cult hits like the Ong Bak trilogy and the Tom Yum Goong films, has kept himself favorably busy working with directors in China and Hollywood. He’s back with us for the first time in about five years touching base since we last exchanged in 2013, and I’m also pretty glad we cleared the air on a few items of mention. Read on for the rest, and be sure click here to catch up with our latest chat with Triple Threat director Jesse V. Johnson, and then get your tickets today! Jaa, it is an […]

TRIPLE TIME – Part I: An Interview With ‘Triple Threat’ Director Jesse V. Johnson

Lee B. Golden III

This week we’re starting the first in a series of interviews ahead of the release of the new Jesse Johnson action thriller, Triple Threat. Reviews from select sites remain pending, including ours, so fans can expect plenty of chatter from the press out and about here covering this film. We’ve especially doled out questions to send via e-mail courtesy of the film’s PR firm and handlers and for this, first and foremost is director Jesse V. Johnson in our second interview since the press rounds for Accident Man. He’s especially been the center of attention with Triple Threat after kicking so much on-screen butt in the last few years, and thankfully, we’ve had those hits (The Debut Collector, Accident Man, Savage Dog) to pass the time while post-production and distribution deals took the wheel behind the scenes following the 2017 comic-con trailer. Here’s our interview (photos courtesy of Jesse V. […]

Load Up! The Official TRIPLE THREAT Trailer Is Finally Here!

Load Up! The Official TRIPLE THREAT Trailer Is Finally Here!

Lee B. Golden III

For some of us, the last two years have been an eternity with the planned release of forthcoming ensemble actioner, Triple Threat. This one in particular is one in a bundle of productions that have jam-packed The Beautiful Ones director Jesse V. Johnson’s schedule since he resurfaced with his Pit Fighter co-star, Scott Adkins, for a quintet of projects to date beginning with Savage Dog in 2017. With Adkins’ Avengement still in the pipeline as well as Dominique Vandenberg starrer Legion Maxx over at Evolutionary Films, Triple Threat, long since its stasis as “Makeshift Squad”, can finally pick up some steam with the official trailer, and a wide one-night release March 19, and a select theatrical and VOD rollout on March 22. A hit contract is taken out on a billionaires daughter intent on bringing down a major crime syndicate. A down and out team of mercenaries must take on […]

TRIPLE THREAT: The Official Trailer Arrives Thursday

Lee B. Golden III

Well Go USA is still getting its campaign going for Furie on March 1 while the company isn’t waiting any longer to rev up on its forthcoming rollout, Triple Threat, which is also releasing next month. The action-packed ensemble had been in the works for a while then finally uniting Jesse Johnson with his all-star line-up with action heroes Tiger Chen, Iko Uwais and Tony Jaa front and center. An official trailer is now coming Thursday which further guarantees the wait will end VERY soon. Check out the SDCC trailer from 2017 and stay tuned!

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FIVE-A-DAY COUNTDOWN: Enter The Fat Dragon, Ip Man 4, Avengement, Abduction, and Triple Threat

Lee B. Golden III

Last week saw the first 25 titles to start the five-a-day countdown through December, and so here’s five more toward the goal of 100: Enter The Fat Dragon: Considered one of the biggest titles for buzz during the American Film Market as sales art was emblazoned on Screen International’s front page (the same artwork people cropped and called a “new poster” ?), Kenji Tanigaki’s directorial debut may be first on the menu for Donnie Yen fans. A titular homage to a Sammo Hung classic, Donnie Yen plays a Hong Kong top-cop whose personal romantic hang-ups compel him into massive, depression-induced food consumption. From what I’ve gathered, the fat dragon will enter theaters and gobbles up crime for its Hong Kong release beginning February 9, 2019. Ip Man 4: The journey continues into the 1960s when our titular Wing Chun grandmaster sets out to America to set things straight as once […]

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TRIPLE THREAT: Producer Mike Selby Talks Buddies, Monsters, Machines And The Pursuit Of Perfection

Lee B. Golden III

Photo: Mike Selby If all goes as expeditious as planned, stunt multi-hyphenate Jesse V. Johnson’s latest contribution with all-star Asian headliner, Triple Threat, should see a release midway this year. Post-production still remains pending completion for the new action thriller written by Joey O’Bryan and Paul Staheli, and filmed early last year and with fans pining for Johnson’s latest exciting follow-up to this week’s release of Accident Man, I managed to touch base with Mike Selby, manager to one of the film’s leads – action star Tony Jaa. It was Selby, who served as one of the producers as he did on Skin Trade, Jaa’s 2015 two-hander with action heavy-hitter Dolph Lundgren opposite Ron Perlman and Michael Jai White, who aided us in getting in touch with his client for an in-depth interview several years ago. At the time, he and I chatted and I made a passing mention about […]

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SAVAGE RESOLVE: An Interview With Stuntman And Filmmaker Jesse V. Johnson

Lee B. Golden III

From left to right: Scott Adkins, Jesse V. Johnson and Marko Zaror on the set of SAVAGE DOG (2017) Back in the early two-thousandsies, my DVD purchase of director Jesse V. Johnson’s Pit Fighter was certainly a blind-buy for me. What attracted me the most, of course, was the appearance of actor and martial artist Dominique Vandenberg on the cover and having especially noticed him delivering a barrage of kicks as the Outworld minion who gets smashed after Sub-Zero gives spectators the infamous “taste of things to come” in the 1995 feature, Mortal Kombat, I pretty much thought I’d give it a shot. The film’s delivery earned a mix of reviews on the now-defunct HKFlix.com whereas my own opinion of the film was half-and-half. My own tastes were evolving so I didn’t appreicate it as much as I probably would now if I gave it a rewatch…and I’m not just […]

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FIVE-A-DAY ROUND-UP XII: Proud Mary, Plan B, Mrs. K, Triple Threat, The Green Ghost

Lee B. Golden III

The bold and beautiful Taraji P. Henson leads this one with a look at Proud Mary which stands to gain amply as a milestone effort at the top of the new year, especially since we nary see a black female lead in an action vehicle. London Has Fallen helmer Babak Najafi directs this, the story of a hitwoman who crosses paths with a young boy after a hit job gone awry. January 12 is the date! We were the first to bring you a North American review of German martial arts action comedy, Plan B: Scheiss Auf Plan A, since its summer release and news of U.S. acquisition still awaits knowing. The film debuts German stunt, film and screenfighting design troupe, Reel Deal Action, center stage for the story of four friends caught in a dangerous game involving the search of an infamous safe hidden somewhere in Berlin. Martial arts […]

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

Lee B. Golden III

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), […]

TRIPLE THREAT Has Your Favorite Action Stars Beating The Hell Out Of Each Other In The Official Trailer

Lee B. Golden III

I could go on and on until I’m blue in the face about how excited I am for the new action thriller, Triple Threat. I won’t, but I will throw my hat in with some words for seasoned stuntman and filmmaker Jesse V. Johnson who, in the wake of a stagnant directing career salvaged by the appeal drawn from his latest release, Savage Dog, has risen above expectations in opportune fashion. It truly is something to be proud of… a succession accompanied, no less, by a line-up of some serious, prominent action starpower; Names like Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais and Tiger Chen as well as Scott Adkins, Michael Jai White, Michael Bisping and Jeeja Yanin are all but what one would dream of seeing in a single movie together on the big screen, which, at least until starting late last year, almost felt like an impossibility. Then again, there were […]

[UPDATED] 16 Seconds Of TRIPLE THREAT Will Make Your Day

Lee B. Golden III

Among all else at Comic-Con this summer at San Diego, Jesse V. Johnson’s new movie, Triple Threat, has to be one of the more hotly-anticipated titles from here on and especially if you are a martial arts fan. Timely, that’s what Well Go USA is here for and with no more than 16 seconds to stir your veins aplenty until a full teaser arrives publicly which won’t be for a little while longer, so take it all in. And then watch it again until you’ve looked at every quick edit and had your fill. Oh, and stay tuned for some sequel news as hinted over at Deadline

Scott Adkins Wants UNDISPUTED 5! There’s Only One Problem…

Lee B. Golden III

An exasperating wait, no less, for folks like myself who live in the U.S.. Still, it’s nice to know that a Blu-Ray/Digital HD release of the new tournament martial arts thriller, Boyka: Undisputed, is well on its way with an August release, while it’s even nicer to know that the film’s star, actor and martial artist Scott Adkins wants to do a fifth. He says so at around the 11:40 mark in his latest interview now online following his recent appearance at MCM Expo in London this week to discuss the role and the film as a whole – And not for nothing either as he continues to pound away at fans who enjoy his movies, but insist on stealing them online which will otherwise kill any chance of the film happening before 2030 if we’re lucky (my words, not his). Adkins also shares several new images from his latest, […]

Arclight Takes Ensemble Martial Arts Thriller, TRIPLE THREAT To Cannes

Lee B. Golden III

Director Jesse V. Johnson’s latest effort, Triple Threat, has entered the last stages of filming in time for its Cannes World Market Premiere this week from Arclight Films. The film certainly took sometime to evolve since late 2016 and evidently came together in the past several months in the course of building its remarkable cast and potential. TRIPLE THREAT is an adrenaline-fueled action film that brings together the three biggest new action Asian stars in one thrilling movie. The film is based on a hit contract taken out on a billionaire’s daughter intent on bringing down a major crime syndicate. A down and out team of mercenaries must take on a group of professional assassins and stop them before they kill their target. Hailing an ensemble English-language action thriller from a script by Joey O’Bryan and Paul Staheli is an Asian trio of leading stars Tony Jaa (Ong Bak Trilogy, […]

TRIPLE THREAT Casts Hong Kong Cinema Star Michael Wong

Lee B. Golden III

There are about two weeks or so left for the Thailand filming of Jesse Johnson’s new Asian action thriller, Triple Threat with Tony Jaa, Tiger Chen and Iko Uwais starring. For this, it’s only now that the production is making official the addition of actor Michael Wong (Cold War, Z Storm, Skiptrace) to the cast. The news was shared on the film’s current fanpage on Facebook via photo which you can view below with Wong featured between Chen and Jaa. The film sees our action hero line-up leading the film from a script by Joey O’Bryan centered on actress Celina Jade in the role of a a billionaire’s daughter who seeks protection from a murderous cartel with the help of a trio of badass mercenaries, one of whom has more vengeful intentions. Comprising our villain line-up are martial arts stars, actors Scott Adkins, Michael Jai White, Jeeja Yanin, Michael Bisping […]