yayan ruhian

RUSH HOUR: A Word With ‘Blood Rush’ Writer/Director Ranjeet S. Marwa

Filmmaker Ranjeet S. Marwa is betting it all on his latest Indiegogo campaign these days to help make one of his biggest dreams come true with the new action thriller, Blood Rush. I first found out about this project and was astounded that a new name in the craft had emerged with such an ambitious talent roster on hand, featuring the incomparable Yayan Ruhian, Singaporean actor and action star Sunny Pang, and actor Zack Lee who has proven himself immensely as an actor capable of delivering a performance caliber worthy of audience praise. The Blood Rush campaign runs for about another month, and so I was compelled to help introduce this particular unknown director who has since continued to push his campaign in a series of videos on YouTube. For a more written record though, you’re welcome to acquaint yourselves with Marwa in the following exchange. Check it out, and […]

BLOOD RUSH: Ranjeet S. Marwa’s New Indonesian Action Thriller Launches On Indiegogo [EXCLUSIVE]

Lee B. Golden III

Indonesian action cinema will undoubtedly endure now that it’s found new life since 2009. Thus, with a new decade underway, a new era now gives rise to new, hopeful and emerging film talent as Blood Rush officially launches on Indiegogo. Ranjeet S. Marwa penned the script and will direct Blood Rush, starring Zack Lee (The Raid 2, Headshot, The Night Comes For Us) in the role of Max, a widower who has since dedicated his life to a secretive cult after witnessing the death of his wife. When his new “family” later decides they don’t want him to rest, Max’s greatest, most brutal fight is yet to come. Updates in the past few weeks have slowly been ramping up the project since Marwa, whose film credits extend to wearing multiple hats on a variety of projects in the last ten years, announced crowdfunding plans last month. And it’s as serious […]

BLOOD RUSH: ‘The Night Comes For Us’, ‘Headshot’, ‘John Wick 3’ Stars Reunite For Upcoming Indonesian Action Thriller

Lee B. Golden III

Director Ranjeet S. Marwa is ready to take the mantle to keep Indonesian action cinema relevant with Blood Rush. As City On Fire recently brought to light, he’s brought on Headshot cohorts Zack Lee and Singaporean actor Sunny Pang, and action sensation Yayan Ruhian to lead his cast. Marwa will direct from his own script starring Lee in the role of Max, a widower who, after witnessing the death of his wife and child sets out to rebuild himself in a secretive cult underworld. The sect he’s since dedicated his life to decides they don’t want him to rest, and he’ll soon be forced to take stand against his former “family”, as well as himself. “If you loved THE RAID, if you loved JOHN WICK then you’ll LOVE our next film titled BLOOD RUSH.” said Marwa in a statment on social media on Tuesday. “Our film stars all of those […]

WIRA: Hairul Azreen Brings The War Home In The Final Trailer For Adrian Teh’s MMA-Loaded Action Franchise Launchpad

Lee B. Golden III

“Your brother never told you never to threaten a man’s family?” As cheesy as the Fast franchise is to critics aplenty, that line is easily one of my favorites from Justin Lin’s Furious 6. Catching the newest trailer for director Adrian Teh’s new film, Wira, I was instantly drawn to that sentiment as it now pertains to the central story that unfolds in the new Malaysian action and martial arts thriller which opens locally on November 21. Hassan leaves home from a young age as he can no longer stand seeing his family and the people around him being pushed around by a man named Raja. He enlists in the military but after leaving it, he returns home to help his family and community. In order to settle the debt his younger brother Zain has incurred after losing an MMA fight organised by Raja, the two brothers team up for […]

MARIA 2: Yayan Ruhian And Cecep Arif Rahman Circling Cristine Reyes Action Sequel [EXCLUSIVE]

Lee B. Golden III

Director Pedring Lopez is setting up to return to the helm for Maria 2 with a spritely roster of Indonesian talent with Yayan Ruhian and Cecep Arif Rahman. The sequel brings lead actress Christine Reyes and director Pedring Lopez back into the fold once more for a late 2019 production start. Reyes penned a new chapter in her sixteen-year screen career with Maria from Viva Films, making her action-packed genre debut for local moviegoers back in March. The inaugural female-fronted thriller was written by Yz Carbonell and Rex Lopez, and stars Reyes as a former Black Rose cartel hitwoman forced back into the underworld to avenge her family with the help of her mentor, Sir Greg, played by Ronnie Lazaro. Character and plot details are otherwise pending for the sequel which currently stands midway of what Lopez cited, in a February interview with The Fanboy SEO, as a trilogy for […]

Adrian Teh’s WIRA Returns Yayan Ruhian To Martial Arts Villainy In The Official Launch Teaser

Lee B. Golden III

Malaysian outlet Astro Shaw officially unveiled its launch teaser for upcoming action thriller, Wira. It’s director Adrian Teh’s latest follow-up from hit military actioner, Paskal, which reportedly sparked his interest in another military-themed project after the 2018 movie became a local hit. As the logline dictates, Wira has actors Hairul Azreen and Henley Hii rejoining Teh for the story of “an ex-military force character who is fearless in fighting but chooses to deal with problems in his diplomatic ways. However, circumstances leave him with no choice but to fight his way to obtain justice for his family and community.” Wira, of course, also sees legendary action star feat, Yayan Ruhian, co-starring next to forthcoming appearances in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, and with Joe Taslim in June for Hit & Run. An official date remains pending, but the launch teaser remains all the more reason to keep a lookout.

HIT & RUN Looks Like It’ll Be A Blast In The Official Poster

Lee B. Golden III

Actor Joe Taslim‘s proliferation this week is at its most timely. His co-starring role kicks off on Cinemax with the Friday premiere of Bruce Lee-inspired series, Warrior, while the action star’s lead Indonesian theatrical debut in upcoming action comedy, Hit & Run, finally takes off this summer. Skakmat director Ody C. Harahap directs with Taslim front and center as Tegar, a celebrity cop whose mission to arrest a drug lord goes awry. Among the cast are Tatjana Saphira and Jefri Nichol while the pièce de résistance may well be the reunion of Taslim with Yayan Ruhian nearly a decade since tearing each other apart in director Gareth Evans’ blistering action pic, The Raid. Hit & Run also made a splash at Filmart with CJ Entertainment repping world sales rights, so with any luck we’ll see what comes of it. The film opens locally on June 4, as indicated on the […]

WIRA: ‘Paskal’ Director Lines Up Next Production

Lee B. Golden III

Malaysian director Adrian Teh is revving up his next military action adventure, Wira, according to an announcement from GSC Movies. Teh will be joined by actor and martial arts star Yayan Ruhian, in addition to reuniting with Hairul Azreen and Henley Hii since starring in Teh’s recent military action thriller, Paskal. As Mumtaj Begum’s coverage this week at Star2 Online reports, Wira centers on a pacifistic military man forced to cast diplomacy aside and apply his skillset once more to save his family. Ruhian is best known for raking up a decade of memorable killer roles in a raft of cult hits since Merantau, The Raid 1 & 2 and Beyond Skykine. The Indonesian actor and action director will next be seen opposite Keanu Reeves in John Wick: Chapter 3 on May 17. He is also set to appear later this year in director Syamsul Yusof’s Malay warrior biopic, Mat […]

HIT N RUN: ‘The Raid’ Stars Emerge In First Look Photos From ‘Skakmat’ Director’s New Indonesian Action Comedy

Lee B. Golden III

Following along on actor Joe Taslim‘s Instagram feed likely brought about some gems worth taking note of for his career post-Netflix’s release of The Night Comes For Us. With any luck, director Timo Tjahjanto’s world-building affairs from that the blood-drenched action thriller will continue onward, while Taslim persists with other projects – namely the new action comedy, Hit N Run, from director Ody C. Harahap. As The Jakarta Post notes, the new movie hails from Screenplay Films and signals Taslim’s big screen debut playing Tegar, “a heroic police officer who has to collaborate with his friends to take down an all-powerful crime lord”. Also starring are Tatjana Saphira and Jefri Nichol, as well as actor and martial arts star Yayan Ruhian in reunion with Taslim since their blistering fight performance in Gareth Huw Evans’ The Raid. This also plays into The Raid star Iko Uwais’ own proliferation as a renowned […]

WIRO SABLENG 212: Sweeping Action, Comedy And Adventure In The New Official Trailer

Lee B. Golden III

Vino G. Bastian stars in the latest adaptation of the long-standing action adventure novel series from author Bastian Tito!

Tiger Chen, Yayan Ruhian And Cecep Arif Rahman Join JOHN WICK: CHAPTER THREE

Lee B. Golden III

Right about now you’re waiting news over any and all pertaining to Chad Stahelski’s John Wick: Chapter Three which is still in production. This week, some of the best news to arise now sees word that Tiger Chen, Yayan Ruhian and Cecep Arif Rahman have all joined the production starring opposite Keanu Reeves who returns to star. A few photos have gone viral in recent weeks seeing Chen merely hinting a presence on set but this latest update is official. The three are said to play opposite Keanu Reeves according news over at The Hollywood Reporter with Chen back on set following a starring role in the 2014 kung fu spiritual drama, Man Of Tai Chi. It’s an update worth noting as it hopefully sets up for a larger Hollywood screen presence for all three martial arts stars who’ve seen their rise in all of the last nine years collectively, […]

WIRO SABLENG: A New Legend Is Born In The International Trailer For The New Martial Arts Fantasy Adaptation

Lee B. Golden III

Instantly, Friday’s campaign kick-off with the official teaser trailer for Angga D. Sasongko’s latest, Wiro Sableng, delivered hard and heavy courtesy of a certain merc-with-a-mouth. It’s certainly an inviting feat apart from what we now get with an official international teaser trailer for the masses abroad as starring actor Vino G. Bastian readies to hit screens this August from 20th Century Fox and Lifelike Pictures. Taken from the pages of the long celebrated action adventure novel saga from Bastian’s father, author Bastian Tito, the story itself is set in the 16th century and centered on the axe-wielding hero of legend who accrues a number of skills on his adventures. Folks familiar with the IP or the language might be a lot more keen on what sorts of story gems the teaser trailer hints at but the footage itself hints and something pretty spectacular. And even better: seeing Yayan Ruhian in […]

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Review: BEYOND SKYLINE Is The Sequel Sci-Fi Fandom Needs

Lee B. Golden III

The Greg and Colin Strause-directed, independent 2010 critical sci-fi flop, Skyline, left a huge enough dent in box office earnings to warrant some wiggle room for a sequel. Enter Liam O’Donnell, having worked his way up from VFX work on several projects, as well as co-scripting and producing the first film and now sets his sights with a sequel as his directorial debut in Beyond Skyline – a film that by some accounts probably wasn’t expected to happen or even supposed to. It had been four years since the first film and so no one would see an announcement up until 2014, surprising everyone curious and keen, and not for nothing either. The added touch of throwing in people like Iko Uwais and Yayan Ruhian would certainly pepper the hype up to a certain degree for fans fond of their work on Merantau, The Raid and it’s sequel; The mere […]

RAFIRA: Raja Ilya, Yayan Ruhian And Donny Alamsyah Cast In New Indonesian Action Thriller For 2018 Shoot

Lee B. Golden III

Singapore-based 108 Media and leading Southeast Asian entertainment banner, Aurora Media Holdings, have announced a co-production slate of several films for 2018. Buried in the Variety report is the existence of a new Indonesian action thriller, Rafira, which goes before cameras in the Spring in Indonesia and Malaysia. As Variety reported on Thursday, Rafira centers on a politician’s daughter who is kidnapped at her own wedding, and the violent fallout from a vengeful father. Actress Raja Ilya and The Raid franchise cohorts Donny Alamsyah, and Yayan Ruhian lead the cast of the film with no word yet on who will sit in the director’s chair. The film stand as one of ten to fifteen film and TV project that 108 and Aurora will acquire and develop, as well as finance, produce, distribute and license across genres annually for the global market. Other titles include Christian Hallman’s thriller, Paradise Lost, and […]

BEYOND SKYLINE: One Girl Is The Key To It All In The Latest Trailer

Lee B. Golden III

If last week’s trailer reveal for Liam O’Donnell’s new sci-fi, Beyond Skyline wasn’t enough, a second trailer has arrived for your viewing pleasure ahead of its upcoming releases. This one delves more into the story and crux of the character played by Frank Grillo who lands in Indonesia at somepoint amid the invasion. Among our characters, we meet the role played by actress Bojana Novakovic, as well as the image of a young girl who turns out to be the subject of the dialogue as some kind of “key”. This, next to the story of a cop trying to rescue his son from an alien ship just adds more stakes to take in…and from O’Donnell’s own script at that. Topping it all off course is some tasty action shots featuring Iko Uwais and Yayan Ruhian, adding further excitment to the film’s push. It comes out in November in Indonesia with […]

SAVAGE ATTACK: Photo Reveal For New Alexander Nevsky Heavily-Armed Action Thriller Filming In Asia This Fall

Lee B. Golden III

EXCLUSIVE: International action star Alexander Nevsky hit a personal career milestone this past Spring with the U.S. release of his murder mystery directorial debut, Black Rose. Onward, he still has at least two completed films coming down the pipeline, one of which includes Andrzej Bartkowiak’s upcoming action comedy, Maximum Impact, the latter which also has Mark Dacascos starring. The other, Showdown In Manila, which stars the two with Dacascos debuting as director, became a hit overseas in Russia with a script by Craig Hamann who last directed Dacascos’s 1998 direct-to-video action thriller, Boogie Boy. As things stand, Nevsky and Hamann are now poised to reunite once more for a new project that will set up in Asia with Savage Attack as principal photography readies for the Fall. We have included a first look photo of Nevsky from the film’s current development stage in his forthcoming return to the set. Hamann’s […]

SATRIA HEROES: REVENGE OF DARKNESS Lands A Trailer For Indonesian Tokusatsu Feature Film With Yayan Ruhian

Lee B. Golden III

Tokusatsu gained a foothold in Indonesia with the 2013 series run, Bima Satria Garuda. Since then, the show which centered on a young hero’s discovery of a power stone to take on the evil Vudo empire after a mysterious alien portal to Earth emerges, spawned a sequel series in 2015 and is now on deck for a full feature film expansion. That film now exists with the most recent Jakarta Toys and Comic Fair 2017 premiere of the first trailer for Satria Heroes: Revenge of Darkness well over a week ago. The film is directed by Kenzo Maihara and sees a cast that includes actors Christian Loho, Rayhan Febrian, Aditya Alkatiri and Fernando Surya, along with actor and martial arts star Yayan Ruhian. Available plot info is pretty thin to find but fans of the series might have a better idea about where this particular installation and where it will […]

Peep The Sales Art For Frank Grillo, Iko Uwais Sci-Fi, BEYOND SKYLINE

Lee B. Golden III

The internet may have been busy spoiling itself rotten with the footage tentatively available above and on other YouTube accounts as per its leak from last year’s X-Spatial event. In the meantime, director Liam O’Donnell’s new sci-fi, Beyond Skyline, is now here to accomadate with sales art currently available, and visible over at worldwide sales rep Red Sea Media’s official website. The artwork is part of the pitch for the film over at EFM in Berlin which finishes running its course later this week. The film follows-up the 2010 endeavor in the same narrative timeline wherein here, actor Frank Grillo plays a tough detective battling aliens amid an invasion while in search of his son. He’s joined by a cast that also includes Bojana Novakovic and Callan Mulvey, and notable Indonesian martial arts film stars Iko Uwais and Yayan Ruhian. The Brothers Strause – Greg and Colin, who directed the […]

Fox International, Lifelike Pictures Partner For Indonesian Martial Arts Adaptation, 212 WARRIOR

Lee B. Golden III

Photo: ‘212 Warrior’ Press Conference (via Twitter) You’ll be hearing a little bit from 20th Century Fox this month, so keep them in mind for a few updates in cinema, the first of which brings us to their local-language film production shingle Fox International Productions. Reports are now circulating that the company is currently partnering with Lifelike Pictures to develop its first feature film in Indonesia titled 212 Warrior, inspired by the 185-part series of martial arts novels from author Bastian Tito. The move marks the latest step for Fox International after its involvement on Korean productions such Na Hong-jin’s critically acclaimed sophomore action hit, The Yellow Sea, and his suspensful 2016 follow-up, The Wailing. Acclaimed director Angga D Sasongko, best known for Indonesian dramas, Cahaya Dari Timur: Beta Maluku (2013) and Surat Dari Praha (2016), has been tapped to direct the film starring Tito’s son, actor Vino G. Bastian, […]

Martial Arts Thirller, INSIGHT Looks Into The Future With An Action-Packed Teaser

Lee B. Golden III

Following her 2014 debut, Brush With Danger, director Livi Zheng is on track to release her next action movie endeavor, Insight, which recently had its press day earlier this month with a teaser poster. The plot itself is an extraordinary one, centered on a martial artist and clairvoyant on a mission of vengeance to uncover the truth behind the death of his long lost, equally-giftef brother with the help of a female detective. Livi’s own brother, martial artist and actor Ken Zhang leads the cast along with a roster of stunt talent coordinating the action, including – and not limited to – Koby Azarly (Maximum Ride), Ron Balicki (Daylight’s End) and Jeff Pruitt (Buffy: The Vampire Slayer series) with the venerable Yayan Ruhian (Merantau, The Raid, The Raid 2) lending his signature silat stylization into the mix. The film is officially poised for a premiere this December in the U.S. […]