The Hollywood Reporter‘s Borys Kit has the exclusive with Jailbreak: Round 2, the current working title for the new sequel in development from Kongchak Pictures and director Jimmy Henderson. Shooting in 2021, John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum actors Yayan Ruhian and Cecep Arif Rahman are set to join the sequel as villains, with Henderson back at the helm from a script by Kai Miller.
The first film, Jailbreak, a multi-award winning hit from Henderson during Fantasia Festival in 2017, starred Jean Paul Ly, Dara Our, and former MMA athlete Tharoth Sam as members of an elite transport unit forced to protect a key witness while fighting tooth and nail through swarms of convicts in a compromised prison facility. Ly, Our and Sam are expected to return to their roles, joining Rahman and Ruhian for a story that “sees Cambodia’s ragtag, renegade team of martial arts commandos band to defeat a fugitive crime lord ‘lodged atop 30 floors of hell'”.
Loy Te is back and producing the film, backed by Kongchak Pictures with additional financing from Westec Media with Song Te and Michael Chai exec producing.
The first installment was a prolific success for Ly who, apart from a resumé that also includes films from Marvel and Disney, has worked on a number of action thrillers for the niche. He also served as choreographer for Henderson’s The Prey which starred Gu Shangwei, with whom he will also appear in a small role in Henderson’s other upcoming actioner, The Guardian, which also stars Andy On.
Ly also stars in Nightshooters from Marc Price, and apart from other projects in development, will also appear in Black Site and Black Ops director Tom Paton’s 400 Bullets. Actress and martial artist Sam appeared in Angelina Jolie’s First They Killed My Father, as well as Mark Bochsler martial arts documentary, Surviving Bokator.
Ruhian and Rahman, two premier names in Indonesian martial arts cinema dating back to The Raid and The Raid 2, have aligned themselves amply with directors now on deck to shoot upcoming projects, one being a sequel to Pedring Lopez’s hit thriller, Maria, and Ranjeet Marwa’s ensemble actioner, Blood Rush.