This week, following the departure of Audience network series Kingdom star, Frank Grillo, since his addition to the cast last year, there are a few updates aside from the fact that the remake is not entirely dead but still on the table. Out Of The Furnace scribe Brad Inglesby and even the original film’s director, Gareth Huw Evans have partaken in its script development while the film’s original fight choreography team and star, Iko Uwais, paved the way in pre-vizualizing the action. Unfortunately though, its attached director, Patrick Hughes has since parted ways from the production along with Sony branch, Screen Gems, according to a report from the Tracking Board.
Actor Taylor Kitsch was once a candidate late last year to star while trying to find a way around scheduling with his starring role in this year’s second season of the HBO series, True Detective. This, coupled with challenges in finding the right actors to emulate the energy of the original film for its signature martial arts action sequences have equally been hurdles burdening the production as a whole.
Production company XYZ Films, credited between the first film and last year’s sequel in addition to the international rights holders of the Indonesian franchise, are currently the sole producers while in search of a new director to replace Hughes. In the meantime, Hughes is tentatively tapped to direct other projects in the coming months, including Millenium Films’s High Value Target and upcoming drama, The Storm Warning.
Grillo and Uwais can be seen soon in Liam O’Donnell’s sci-fi sequel, Beyond Skyline, while Uwais forges onward with Peter Berg’s Mile 22 for STX, and as of later this month, The Mo Brothers’ newest action thriller, Headshot, slated for festivals next year.