The last five years have seen filmmaker Liam O’Donnell riding high as he pressed on with Skyline sequel, Beyond Skyline in 2017, and ultimately prepping a third. By the time of its release though, the freshman sci-fi filmmaker also had his eye on another concept, The Last Savage, which he took and pitched to IFFAM in Macao late that year.
O’Donnell shot Beyond Skyline at Mike Wiluan’s Infinite Studios in Batam, and in the jungles and temples of Yogyakarta the year prior, where he fell in love with the country and people of Indonesia. His own director’s statement alluded to his inspiration by the “fierce spirit” of Indonesians and their “fight to preserve its unique wildlife and habitats”, thus describing The Last Savage as “a cinematic love letter to the pulp adventures of Tarzan, the post-apocalyptic world of Mad Max, and the vicious beauty of the martial art Silat.”
The Last Savage centers on a young boy who survives a cataclysm and is raised by a family of tigers on a remote island into becoming Buas, a lethal savage. Buas is then violently captured and taken to The Rig where he is forced to fight against surgically enhanced gladiators in a deadly arena. His only way toward vengeance and escape will be to train hard, and fight his way to freedom.
O’Donnell unveiled at least one piece of preliminary artwork which we shared back in March of 2018, and the filmmaker recently took to The Action Elite‘s own Matthew Essary in an interview partly disclosing at least one small update on the project.
“That’s my ‘white whale’ that I’m chasing.” said O’Donnell. “That’s the post-apocalyptic martial arts gladiator film set in Indonesia after a cataclysm that Derek Kolstad, screenwriter of the ‘John Wick’ movies did the latest draft of with me.”
I contacted O’Donnell over last weekend about the project and in response, we’ve been allowed to share two other pieces of conceptual artwork for the film which you can view in the gallery below. The posters definitely hint at some choice casting ideas if you can eye them for yourself. Take a look!
“My goal is to synthethize these influences into a riveting adventure with heart that explores the depths and endurance of the human spirit.” O’Donnell said in 2017. “It is my greatest hope that the character of Buas becomes an international action icon for years to come.”
Next to reupping the Skyline franchise for a fourth outing at some point with the return of actor Frank Grillo, O’Donnell is also pushing forward with Abomination, which he also described to Essary as “an arctic survival creature horror film in World War II setting”. That pic is written Bragi Schut who penned Sylvester Stallone’s upcoming superhero movie, Samaritan, Adam Robitel’s Escape Room, and Dominic Sena’s 2011 pic, Season of the Witch.
Additionally, O’Donnell will serve as a consultant on Indonesia’s currently burgeoning Bumilangit Cinematic Universe following the release of Gundala and the production pact between SK Global and Screenplay Bumilangit last month.
The director’s latest interstellar action sci-fi, Skylines, is now available on VoD and Digital. Read our review, and feel free to check out our own recent interview.