5/28/2014

Anthony Mackie, Ethan Hawke, Luke Evans Sought for Delayed Remake of 'The Raid'


Talk to any fan of action flicks and they'll likely tell you that Gareth Evans' The Raid and The Raid 2: Berendal are two modern day classics of the fight genre, with nothing else really coming close to matching their intensity. And Hollywood, always looking to cash-in on the next big thing, ordered up a remake some time ago, recently attaching Patrick Hughes (The Expendables 3) to direct it and Brad Inglesby (Out of the Furnace) to come up with an Americanized version of the straight-forward story. And while recent reports of the Hemsworth brothers being looked at as potential stars appear to have been false, the inability to find a big name lead is hurting the production.

Variety reports that filming on The Raid remake, which was to begin this September, has been punted down to early 2015. The reason suggested is that producers at Screen Gems are still on the hunt for bigger names to lead the film, and have been seeking out Anthony Mackie, Luke Evans, Ethan Hawke, and Frank Grillo for roles.

Those are certainly talented actors but keep in mind that none of them are experienced in the art of pencak silat combat, meaning this will be a very different version of the film than Evans' original. We saw what Americanizing a film like District B13 did for the terrible remake, Brick Mansions, and chances are fans of The Raid see the same thing happening here.