'Mortal Kombat' Casts 'The Raid' Actor Joe Taslim As Sub-Zero

With Mortal Kombat 11 the hottest fighting game around right now, it's a good time for James Wan's new movie adaptation to start casting up. And what better way to do that than by casting arguably the most popular character in the long-running and ultra-violent franchise with an actor from the greatest action movie in recent memory: The Raid.

THR reports Joe Taslim has been cast as Sub-Zero in the live-action Mortal Kombat movie which Wan is producing. Sub-Zero is the ice cold ninja known for freezing his enemies and either knocking their heads off, literally, or breaking them into little shiny pieces of ice. He's just one of many combatants from different realms summoned to Outworld to take part in a brutal tournament.

An accomplished martial artist, Taslim has kept busy since The Raid, appearing in films such as Fast & Furious 6 and Star Trek Beyond. He also has a recurring role on Cinemax's Bruce Lee-inspired series, Warrior.

I'd be perfectly happy if they cast others from The Raid in this film, as long as they reach out to Ronda Rousey to play Sonya Blade as she does in the video game.

Filming on Mortal Kombat begins later this year with Simon McQuoid directing from a script by Greg Russo.

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'Warrior' Trailer: Justin Lin Brings Bruce Lee's Vision To Cinemax

Hard to imagine now that any project pitched by Bruce Lee would've been rejected, but that's basically what happened in 1971 with his idea for a TV series titled Warrior. The Kung Fu-esque series would've followed a martial artist as he makes his way through the American frontier, but nothing ever came of it and with Lee's passing there was little hope of it ever happening. Enter Justin Lin.

The Fast & Furious director took it upon himself to make Warrior a reality. Four years ago he and Cinemax joined forces to develop a series based on Lee's original concept, and now the trailer for it has arrived. Andrew Koji takes on the role Lee would've played himself, and while nobody could hope to compare to the legendary fighter, Koji does look quite capable. Koji plays Ah Sahm, a martial artist who has immigrated to San Francisco from China and gets mixed up in the brutal Tong Wars of the late 19th-century.

The series is co-created by Jonathan Tropper (This Is Where I Leave You) and co-stars The Raid's Joe Taslim, Olivia Cheng, Jason Tobin, Dianne Doan, Kieran Bew, Dean S. Jagger, Joanna Vanderham, Tom Weston-Jones, Hoon Lee as Wang Chao, Langley Kirkwood, Christian McKay, Perry Yung, Arthur Falko, Rich Ting, and Dustin Nguyen.

Warrior debuts on Cinemax later this year.

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'The Night Comes For Us' Trailer: Iko Uwais & Joe Taslim From 'The Raid' Reunite For Gang Warfare

So Gareth Evans may not be giving us The Raid 3 anymore, but thank God there's still a Timo Tjahjanto out there. He's the director of fellow Indonesian action flicks Killers and Headshot, both of which are very much in the Evans mold and feature many of the same actors. Now Tjahjanto is back with The Night Comes For Us, and he's bringing The Raid stars Joe Taslim and Iko Uwais along with him.

Taslim and Uwais find themselves on opposing sides this time, as they battle over the life of a young girl. It's Taslim on the heroic side as Ito, a former Triad enforcer who leaves his old life behind after rescuing the girl. That puts him at odds with his old gang and its leader, Arian (Uwais), but not before fighting through waves and waves of enemies.

The buzz after its Fantastic Fest premiere is some of the best I've heard since The Raid years ago, so you better believe I'm looking forward to this one.  The Night Comes For Us hits Netflix on October 19th.

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Joe Taslim of 'The Raid' joins Cast of 'Star Trek Beyond'

Indonesian actor Joe Taslim has been part of two of the top action films of the last few years...and died in both of them. He showed off his impressive martial arts skills in The Raid, and then battled Paul Walker and Vin Diesel in Fast & Furious 6. Now he's ready to kick more butt on a totally different planet by joining the cast of Star Trek Beyond. Hopefully this one his character will survive.

Taslim is said to have a key role in the currently-filming sequel directed by Justin Lin. He'll be closely associated with Idris Elba's character, previously revealed to be a villain. Sofia Boutella (Kingsman: The Secret Service) also has a role that is being kept under wraps.

Starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, co-writer Simon Pegg, Karl Urban, John Cho, and Anton Yelchin, Star Trek Beyond has set a course for July 8th 2016. [THR]

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DVD Review: 'Dead Mine' starring Joe Taslim and Sam Hazeldine

Samurais are cool, right? And zombies are also pretty cool and kinda popular right now. But what about zombie samurai warriors? That would, logically, be amazingly cool, wouldn't it? Well, maybe if they were in any other movie besides Dead Mine, a lethargic, generic action film that wastes the genuinely intriguing mystery of Yamashita's Gold.

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Review: 'Fast & Furious 6', starring Vin Diesel and Paul Walker

There's an interesting contrast between the two major films due out this week: The Hangover Part III and Fast & Furious 6. Both are essentially homegrown franchises that the studios perhaps didn't expect much from, but have grown to become box office lynchpins and true success stories. But whereas The Hangover has failed to sustain the heights of the first film, Fast & Furious has only gotten stronger, and that's with more than its share of adversity. Vin Diesel stepped aside essentially for two movies, appearing at the back end of the sorely underrated Tokyo Drift, and that Justin Lin-directed cameo was like the Mets flipping on their rally caps. Through Lin's four movies, the franchise has only gotten bigger, better, and 'Furious 6' may be the best yet.

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Joe Taslim of 'The Raid' joins 'Fast and Furious 6'

With yesterday's announcement that model Clara Paget had joined the cast of Fast Six, today comes word that another relatively new face face will coming aboard. Joe Taslim, who played Sgt. Jaka in the awesome martial arts flick, The Raid, will be putting his skills to the test squaring off against Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, and Paul Walker.

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