Iko Uwais And Two Other Badasses From THE RAID Films Join STAR WARS THE FORCE AWAKENS

TwitchFilm has reported that three actors from the Raid franchise have joined Star Wars The Force Awakens. They include breakout star Iko Uwais along with fellow badasses Yayan Ruhian and Cecep Arif Rahman. All three are heavily trained in martial arts and acrobatics, perfect for a franchise like Star Wars.

I'll be interested to know if they're playing sith, jedi or something completely different. There is also the chance they could be doing the actual fight-work for the characters in the film, but I feel like that would be a waste of their on-screen talents. We've been hearing for ages the film will do it's best to reduce the use of CGI, and we could see Abrams hiring fighters instead of digital artists.

The franchise hasn't had really any noteworthy Asian cast members, so it would be nice to see a bit more diversity as well. Trade Federation, the villains of the prequels were said to be influenced by the Japanese of WWII (Empire/Storm Troopers in the original trilogy were inspired by the Nazis), while the prequel villains came-off racist as fuck. Among other aspects of the prequels being extremely insensitive to other cultures.

Lucas being known for this type of shit which we saw in Temple of Doom when exploring Indian culture and most notably cuisine. Eating snakes, bugs, eyeballs and monkey brains in a country mostly known for being vegetarian.



SOURCE: TWITCH

RAID Director Gareth Evans Wants To Make R-Rated IRON FIST Movie

Gareth Evans seemingly has blown everyone away with his sequel to the Raid, which premiered at this year's Sundance Film Festival. Evans has stated previously that he would be interested in making a feature film focusing on Marvel's Iron Fist. The character is getting a live-action adaptation on television for Marvel's Netflix series, while there had been a film in development for ages. Gareth continues to mention his desire to TotalFilm, but brings up the rating restrictions that would need to be removed for it to work for him. Stating the project would need to be rated-R for it to look real enough for him.

Totally, yeah. I'm not averse to it. My big thing right now is figuring out how to do that action style - and would someone like Marvel let me do a R-rated movie?

This isn't me going against PG-13 movies, it's just that the way I shoot action, it doesn't need to be bloody or aggressive or 'stabby stabby' with knives, but it's about when someone swings a punch and there's a connection there, I'm not going to hide that with a camera. I get involved with the guys in that choreography design so I can understand the intricacies of what they've done, so that when I shoot it, what the camera angles should be and the editing should be, it's doing justice to all the work they've put into it.

In PG-13 action, you hide the chaos and fill it with sound. That's something I can't do. So [if I made a comic book movie], it'd have to be an R.

Gareth is easily the most interesting new action director working today, and even more rare is that he specializes in martial arts flicks. The Raid trilogy is quickly amping up expectations, as has apparently succeeded the first film with Berandal. A rather large feat to accomplish, as Redemption was one intense ride. He's yet to be tossed into the Hollywood machine, which might be attractive to Marvel since they seem to hire outsider directors for their projects.

Taking on a Marvel project and being enthused about it, seems to be a running theme lately with recent directors like Edgar Wright (Ant-Man), James Gunn (Guardians of The Galaxy) and Russo Brothers (Winter Soldier). Seeing the studio hire passionate directors might become a regular thing. Scouting talent or finding hired guns, hasn't always worked out for them. While the Thor films are interesting and entertaining, you can tell Kenneth Branagh and Alan Taylor weren't exactly passionate about the characters or the MCU. I doubt they really even knew about the comics before being approached to direct. Having someone like Evans who loves genre and actual knows a C-Level Marvel character like Iron Fist, shows that he could end up just as excited about the material as Wright or Gunn.

Ray Park (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, X-Men) was once attached to play Danny Rand years back, but it's unknown if he'll be asked to return for either the Netflix series or a future film. Having a an actual fighter in the lead might be a solid way to attract an amazing action director like Evans, who wants to see actual blows take place in camera. If we're talking about an action actor that is able to read lines, while also kicking-ass on a high-level, Scott Adkins would be Marvel's man for the job.

 He's already been apart of the Marvel universe, doing the stunt work for Fox's controversial take on Deadpool in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. When Zack Snyder was casting the new Batman for Batman Vs Superman, Scott was called-in to audition for the role, thanks in-part to an online campaign. Even if Scott doesn't land the role of Danny Rand, he needs to be at least considered for Orson Randall (since he also has lots of weapons training as well). He's also the type of actor that would be available to take on both the Netflix series and film.

They could also look at regular actors to lead the series and film. Marvel has been looking at bigger names lately for roles, landing folks like Robert Redford, Michael Douglas and Bradley Cooper to take-on MCU characters. I can see the studio aiming for big names in the future, since Disney is able to help wrangle high-profile talent. I wouldn't be shocked to see a former Disney star be considered, Ryan Gosling has been a fan favorite for the role of Danny. It doesn't hurt that Ryan had some fight training for Only God Forgives, giving him an edge when it comes to the fight scenes. Ryan has been vocal about never wanting to do a superhero film, but that could change if they land an interesting director like Evans. Other fan favorites for the role include Charlie Hunnam and Garrett Hedlund.

SOURCE: TOTALFILM

Gareth Evans Is Open To Making Marvel Film In The Future, Let's Hope It's HEROES FOR HIRE

Indonesian director Gareth Evans is clearly making a name for himself in the action world. His debut feature The Raid captured everyone in love with both action and martial arts films. He's currently filming it's sequel and was recently asked by FlicksAndTheCity if he'd consider making a superhero film. More specifically a Marvel one and his answer is interesting.

"It's tough. The thing is right now, where I am, the kind of things that I'm doing, I don't know if I fit the superhero mold yet. It's something I need to learn at some point but I don't know if I can deliver a PG-13 movie. I don't know how to do that yet. I should learn but yeah, I'm not sure. Maybe a darker, superhero [film] from Marvel."

The one Marvel project that comes to mind that would be perfect for Evans would be Heroes For Hire. A while back Marvel's Joseph Loeb let slip they were developing a Heroes For Hire film. Likely, setting up a ground level Marvel team that would include Luke Cage and Iron Fist. Two characters that have had their own solo films in development for ages. Combining them into one movie would solve issues of their crowded release rollout.

"Just like we just announced Guardians of the Galaxy, we are certainly looking at the Heroes for Hire franchise which is Luke Cage and Iron Fist."

The film should also include characters such as Moon Knight and The Punisher. Which could finally solve the problem of how to make a movie with Frank Castle that people will actually pay to see. Along with the possibility of throwing rebooted versions of Blade and Daredevil into the mix as well. All of them street level heroes based in New York City and since the rights are back at Marvel they might as well use them.

While they could be decent solo features a bigger team-up adventure would be a great way to introduce a great deal of Marvel heroes leading up the rumored Civil War/Thanos battle in Avengers 3. We have some idea of what the Phase Three lineup will look like. Ant-Man, Doctor Strange and possibly features such as Black Panther, Inhumans and a new Hulk film. A Heroes For Hire film would seemingly grab the attention of the action driven audiences who fork all of their money to see films like Fast And The Furious. Imagine setting a Marvel team film in the world crime and throwing in actual superheroes and super villains in there, it could be something very unique. Gareth brings a lot of style and validity to the table. Similar to when Marvel hired Game of Thrones' Alan Taylor to make Thor: The Dark World. So having him involved could also help gain a little more attention to the project.

Irdis Elba has been meeting with Marvel for a while now about playing a second role in the MCU. His wish-list of roles includes Black Panther, Blade and Luke Cage. Considering Marvel's interest in Legendary Pictures' Godzilla main cast Aaron Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen for Avengers: Age of Ultron. It wouldn't be a stretch to see them also looking at cast members in Legendary international smash Pacific Rim as well. Elba as Luke Cage makes a whole lot of sense with his gritty roles on shows such as The Wire and Luther. Charlie Hunnam has equally as much background in street level themes with his series Sons of Anarchy. Plus, he showed off some impressive fighting abilities in Pacific Rim. Which could be amped up ten-fold by Gareth's stunt team and fight trainers. Hunnam was actually in the mix for Thor and Captain America at one point. So having him play Danny Rand could be just as exciting.

'THE RAID' Director Gareth Evans Could Make 'BREAKING THE BANK' For Universal

Deadline reports that Universal is developing a 'true life' crime thriller set in the sports world titled Breaking The Bank. It's is based on the life of former UFC fighter “Lightning” Lee Murray, a mixed martial arts street brawler who masterminded the largest cash heist in history in England in 2006. The most recent draft of the screenplay was written by Kerry Williamson. They've tapped British director Gareth Evans who broke out last year for his festival smash-hit The Raid to possibly helm the thriller. Darren Aronofsky had been wanted for the project before he dropped it to pursue production on Noah.