If you’re one of the many people who bemoan the current
state of cinema where each and every movie gets remade, even if it’s only a few
years old. Back in 2011, Gareth Evans’ The Raid kicked the
action movie world in the face, and because American audiences are too lazy to
read subtitles, an English-language remake has been in the works ever since.
But, thankfully, it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen any time soon as it
lost its director, star, and distributor.
According to the Tracking Board the American The Raid has lost Taylor Kitsch (Battleship), who was
set to star. Patrick Hughes (The Expendables 3, Red
Hill), who was on board to direct, has also walked away. And if that
isn’t enough of a death blow to a production, Screen Gems, which was going to
distribute the film, has stepped back, thrown up their hands, and said, “Naw,
we’re not going to do that.”
So, while this may not be the final bell tolling for the
death of The Raid USA, it’s certainly not good for producers
XYZ Films.
The only good thing about The Raid remake
was the involvement of Frank Grillo, who has picked up the grim, grizzled
action star banner in recent years. He’s one of the few actors working on the
fringes of the mainstream that could pull off the physicality necessary for the
role, and idea of him being involved in a brutal story of a SWAT team trying to
invade a high-rise slum ruled by a vicious drug lord is promising, no matter
what.
The original introduced the world at large to the glory that
is Iko Uwais, who is finally starting to get his due on the international stage,
and features some of the greatest, craziest action sequences in recent memory.
And even with Grillo in play, the remake was never going to hold a candle to
the source.
For now The Raid remake appears to be in
limbo, but hopefully it will die on the vine and Hollywood, for once, can leave
well enough alone. That’s probably not going to happen, of course, but we can
dream, right?
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