Film producer and former Steven Seagal cohort Julius R. Nasso is looking to step back into the martial arts film foray once more with the forthcoming production of Darc, a new thriller to be directed by Damian Lee with actor and former Karate champion and multi-award-winning martial artist Tony Schiena starring. News of the production comes just sixteen years after Nasso met Schiena in London, where the actor also ran his own international security agency. Quoted in a new interview at the LA Times, Nasso says of Schiena, “I met martial artists all over the world during my tenure with Seagal. He’s the real McCoy. He’s got the credentials.”.
Set for a budget of ten million dollars, the screenplay was written by Schiena and based on his personal fight against sex trafficking. To date, Schiena‘s extensive resume includes him as, among other things, a highly decorated, multifaceted liason to law enforcement officials and leaders of various international crimefighting organizations, hosting seminars on unarmed combat and counterterrorism. “I can draw from so much of what I’ve done,” says the actor. “It’ll definitely translate into the movie.”. Nasso is best known for his lucrative collaborations with Seagal on several major Hollywood productions including Marked For Death, Out For Justice, Under Siege 2: Dark Territory and On Deadly Ground, before the producer was arrested in 2002 on federal charges of extortion. Nasso reportedly won a settlement from Seagal in 2008 after nearly serving a year in jail.
Schiena‘s most notable credits include recently starring in director Daniel Zirilli’s 2010 films, Locked Down with actor Vinnie Jones, and MMA thriller Circle Of Pain with an appearance by Kimbo Slice, as well as the 2004 direct-to-video action thriller, Wake Of Death starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. Production on Darc is set to begin this summer.
Stay tuned for more info.
H/T: Staten Island Live