RLJ Entertainment Acquires "Kickboxer: Vengeance"

[JamesG]

Double Impact: Jean-Claude Van Damme’s Kickboxer & Bloodsport Set for Dueling Reboots
by JEN YAMATO
Wednesday July 24, 2013


More than two decades after Jean-Claude Van Damme split-kicked his way onto the scene, the legacy of the Muscles from Brussels is making a double impact on Hollywood’s action game.

Radar Pictures (The Last Samurai, Riddick) has a new vision for Van Damme’s 1989 martial arts actioner Kickboxer, one of two Van Damme reboots in the works around town.



The original Bangkok-set pic from Kings Road Entertainment starred Van Damme as Westerner Kurt Sloane, a cornerman who trains in Muay Thai to avenge his brother’s crippling at the hands of a brutal Thai kickboxing champ.

Kickboxer arrived a year after Van Damme’s breakthrough in Bloodsport sparking fan debate for decades over which pic is the better JCVD vehicle.

(For its money Kickboxer boasted a memorable baddie in Tong Po, the villain who popped up in two of four subsequent sequels.)







Now Radar Pictures aims to reboot the franchise with Hong Kong director Stephen Fung at the helm. Fung’s hot festival run at Venice and Toronto this year landed him representation with Paradigm after his Tai Chi Zero opened atop the Chinese box office.

The actor-writer-director is also repped by Principato-Young and is a partner in Diversion Pictures with Hong Kong star Daniel Wu. Jim McGrath and Dimitri Logothetis (Air America) will pen the Kickboxer script, with Logothetis producing alongside Ted Field and Nick Celozzi.

Mike Weber and Peter Meyer will exec produce. Casting is underway now eyeing a fall or possible early 2014 start.







Meanwhile, Van Damme’s Bloodsport is getting the remake treatment over at Relativity. V for Vendetta‘s James McTeigue will direct the update with a plot that deviates from the the 1988 original.

In that pic Van Damme played American Army officer Frank Dux, whose training in the art of ninjutsu helps him battle Chong Li (Bolo Yeung) in the underground Hong Kong tournament known as the Kumite.



Relativity’s version will instead focus on the morally-conflicted life of 21st century mercenaries who clash with the underground world of Brazilian Vale Tudo, the martial arts style used by Donald Gibb’s character in the original film.

Robert Kamen wrote the script from a story by Kamen and Phillip Noyce which Craig Rosenberg will rewrite under McTeigue’s guidance. Relativity is producing alongside Edward R. Pressman, Chris Brown, Alberto Lensi, Pictures in Paradises and Trans-American Films International.

McTeigue is repped by CAA.

http://www.deadline.com/2013/07/jean...dsport-reboot/

[irehtman]

I just don't understand why are they making Van Damme playing bad guy roles for no reason at all right now?

[JamesG]

Originally Posted by irehtman

I just don't understand why are they making Van Damme playing bad guy roles for no reason at all right now?

You're not making any sense.

[irehtman]

Van Damme played good guy characters in Kickboxer and Bloodsport movies. But I don't understand why he has to play bad guy characters in these movies for no reason at all?:

* Replicant
* Expendables 2
* Universal Soldier: Day Of Reckoning

[JamesG]

He played a bad guy before Bloodsport in No Retreat, No Surrender.

[irehtman]

That's too much of playing bad guy characters for Van Damme!

[Tubehead]

Jackie Chan can play the lead actor

[isiahthomas]

There's nothing wrong with Van Damme playing a bad guy. He doesn't have to be a good guy all the time. Bruce Willis has played a bad guy before several times and Jason Statham has been a bad guy before a few times. It's called acting and when you're a actor, you gotta play different characters. You can't play the same characters all the time. I never thought Denzel Washington would play a bad guy but he has a couple of times in Training Day and American Gangster. I've never seen Van Damme's No Retreat No Surrender JamesG. Is it good?

[robyrob]

Originally Posted by Tubehead

Jackie Chan can play the lead actor

i think Jackie Chan is getting too old for that sort of role at 59...

Jason Statham might not be bad - as long as he doesn't have to have JCVD's goofy accent.

[JamesG]

isiahthomas, no name calling allowed.

[isiahthomas]

Is No Retreat No Surrender any good JamesG? I haven't seen it. What is it about?

[JamesG]

Originally Posted by isiahthomas

Is No Retreat No Surrender any good JamesG? I haven't seen it. What is it about?

It's not really that good. It's been called a "poor man's Karate Kid".

It's basically about a guy who gets trained by Bruce Lee's ghost to defend his dojo against organized crime. Van Damme plays a Russian goon.

[JamesG]

Jean-Claude Van Damme Joins Kickboxer
by Nancy Tartaglione
12/3/14


The Muscles from Brussels, Jean-Claude Van Damme, is stepping into Kickboxer, taking over the role of Master Chow originally set to be played by Ong-Bak’s Tony Jaa.

Ted Field of Radar Films is producing with Dimitri Logothetis and Nick Celozzi. Mike Weber and Peter Meyer are exec producing.

The Exchange is selling Kickboxer worldwide.





The remake of the 1989 cult classic started production this week. The film is shooting in New Orleans and Thailand.

Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy), Georges St. Pierre (Captain America: The Winter Soldier) and Alain Moussi (X-Men: Days of Future Past) also star.

http://deadline.com/2014/12/jean-cla...ne-1201306814/

[JamesG]

RLJ Entertainment Acquires Kickboxer: Vengeance for Theatrical, VOD Release Later This Year
by Jonathon Dornbush
3/15/16







RLJ Entertainment has announced that it acquired Kickboxer: Vengeance, a revival of the Kickboxer franchise that sees the return of Van Damme, now in a mentoring role, alongside a number of athletes starring in the film, including Dave Bautista, Alain Moussi, Gina Carano, Georges St-Pierre, and Cain Velasquez.

Vegeance offers a reboot of the original film and focuses on Moussi’s Kurt Sloane who journeys to Thailand to challenge Tong Po (Bautista), who killed his brother. Kurt trains under the tutelage of Van Damme’s Master Durand.





Written by Dimitri Logothetis (Sleepwalkers) and Jim McGrath, and directed by Blue Crush’s John Stockwell, Vengeance is set to hit theaters and Video on Demand services later this year.

The 1989 original Kickboxer featured Michael Qissi as Tong Po and Van Damme as Kurt Sloane, allowing the action star to both show off his fighting and dancing moves. Kurt trained under Xian Chow (Dennis Chan) in the original film to fight Tong Pon and seek revenge for his brother.

http://www.ew.com/article/2016/03/15...vengeance-jcvd

[Torgo]

RLJ has distributed some really cool movies lately- Bone Tomahawk, Dark Was The Night, The Houses October Built, A Christmas Horror Story, The Town That Dreaded Sundown (2014), Digging Up The Marrow, Wolfcop, Cabin Fever: Patient Zero.