Dolph Lundgren and Danny Trejo in 4Got10 coming in October

Cinedigm has announced the October release date for the DVD and Blu-Ray of their upcoming film, 4GOT10.
The venerable stars of awesome action movies, Dolph Lundgren (Rocky), Danny Trejo (Machete), Michael Paré (Streets Of Fire) and Vivica A. Fox (Kill Bill) team up in this hard bitten, kick ass action/crime movie.

According to Flickering Myth, the film is about a wounded man (Messner), who suddenly wakes up in the desert.
Surrounded by bodies, the mysterious stranger has no memory, but he comes loaded with three million dollars cash. On the run from the law and mob, the man with no name has to stay one step ahead from a ruthless DEA Agent (Lundgren), the Mexican Cartel Boss (Trejo) and the local sheriff (Paré). The amnesiac discovers that the more he remembers, the less he actually wants to know about who he really is.

Cinedigm says, Director Timothy Woodward Jr.’s vision created a modern, semi-western style which he’s described as “Django Unchained” meets “Memento”. In addition to his talent, Timothy is known for giving his actors the freedom to improvise, and encourages their creative input to help the scenes flow organically.

Woodward, Jr. explained how the concept came about,
"My team and I worked hard to create a stylized picture that captures the characters in this fascinating fictitious small town. The modernized western approach furthers our intention to encapsulate the grittiness of the world and the realness of the characters.”

Woodward adds, "Our use of practical effects (as opposed to CG) intensifies the grittiness of the world. When you use real effects - real fire, hot guns, true explosions - you throw the actors right into the middle of the situation, harvesting their most authentic reactions. This can be difference between a good action film and a great one.”

From us here at Dr.Action and the Kick Ass Kid we love our frequent doses of Lundgren and Trejo straight-to-video action. Yeah they can be a bit hit and miss but that only reminds us more of the heyday of video action films. The trailer and the talk from the director definitely has our interest piqued for this one.
After Skin Trade I hope Lundgren continues to pump out the interesting performances and the cool, ass kicking roles for a long time yet!

Check out the trailer below!

Busy Actress Natalie Burn joins the cast of Statham's Mechanic: Resurrection

Hot on the heels of us posting the AWAKEN trailer, it has been announced that quick, up and coming lady of action, Natalie Burn will co-star with Jason Statham, Tommy Lee Jones, Jessica Alba and Michelle Yeoh in the Dennis Gansel directed Mechanic Sequel, Mechanic: Resurrection.

Having done bit parts in action, B-Movie fare like In the Name of the King 2: Two Worlds, she headlined the aforementioned Awaken (and wrote and produced it), appeared in Expendables 3 as Conrad Stonebanks' (Mel Gibson) wife and is set to join the globe trotting production of Mechanic: Resurrection which has so far filmed in Thailand, Australia, Bulgaria and Rio.

Statham returns as hitman Arthur Bishop, who, after the love of his life is kidnapped, must complete three impossible assassinations. Burn will play a BBC reporter who is covering the killings.

William Chartoff and David Winkler are producing the sequel with John Thompson and Frank DeMartini, while Millennium’s Tommy Lee Jones, Jessica Alba is serving as executive producer.

The film is set for release on Jan. 22, 2016.

The Expendables 3 Teaser Trailer #2 and 16 Character Photos

So there it is, the second teaser trailer for The Expendables 3 which is due in August. I love the look, the cast and, of course, I'm excited, it's an Expendables film! but the marketing for it has been, so far, a little weak for my taste. In this teaser, for example, we have the Fast and the Furious font and the worrying 'One Last Ride' mention, which is odd as The Expendables 4 is already, supposedly casting and far from a sequel all about the new young members of the team, the latest news about Ex4 is that Pierce Brosnan has been cast! (We here at Action Inc headquarters would've preferred T-Dalt out of all the Bonds but Brosnan's not a bad pick.)

Anyway, whatever happens, in Sly we trust!

To complement this trailer, yesterday, they also released 16 individual cast photographs which are both cool but a little odd. Why do these pictures show lighting equipment? why are there no backdrops? why are they lazy? why are the lights in the photos not doing anything useful? How do these advertise an action film? I love the cast and the photos of the people directly are good but these look like out-take posters, it just makes me want to take these pics and make my own EX3 posters with them on photoshop! 

Maybe that's the point! 

Anyway, here they are, ENJOY!

Tell us what you think!

- The Kick Ass Kid

Statham finds his funny bone with Susan Cooper

Source: Variety
Jason Statham has finally signed on to appear in the Melissa McCarthy action spy comedy Susan Cooper which will be written and directed by McCarthy's frequent collaborator Paul Feig, the man behind Bridesmaids and The Heat.

There were rumours last year that Statham was circling the project and indeed he had indicated in interviews that he would like to tackle the action comedy or buddy cop genre that, in the 80s, spawned things like the Beverley Hills Cop and Lethal Weapon franchises.

McCarthy is riding high off the back of some high profile successes and I, personally, think the pair up could be an interesting one. Of course I'd also love to see Statham do a more traditional style buddy cop pairing too, with the emphasis on the action over the comedy, but until then I will be first in line to see Susan Cooper.

Statham has shown his comic chops in the Guy Ritchie films like Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and, of course, in the Crank films, so there is precedent. We here are, of course, huge fans of Statham and anything that continues his run of big screen ass kickery is all good by us.

What do you think? Let us know your thoughts!!

-The Kick Ass Kid

Darren Shahlavi to co-star in new Jean Claude Van Damme film 'Pound Of Flesh'

Source: Impact Online
One time guest of the show Darren Shahlavi will be squaring off against none other than Jean-Claude Van Damme in upcoming revenge action flick 'Pound Of Flesh'
Directed by previous Van Damme collaborator Ernie Barbarash (Assassination Games and Six Bullets), the action sees JCVD heading back to China playing
"a former military man forced to walk the road of vengeance when a chance encounter with a beautiful woman ends with him waking up in a bathtub full of ice... and the kidney he had planned to donate to the dying daughter of his estranged brother, on its way to the hands of the highest bidder."

The exciting news is that the high-impact fight choreography will be done by longtime Donnie Yen mainstay John Salvitt and that the main villain in the film will be played by our very own Britkicker, Darren Shahlavi!

Darren had this to say about the film:
"I've wanted to work with Jean-Claude Van Damme for so many years and I'm very excited to be finally getting to work with him on such a great project as Pound of Flesh. I love the script and the team that Director Ernie Barbarash and the Producers have put together for this film, including fight choreographer John Salvitti who I am also a huge fan of.
I look forward to working hard with everyone to make an awesome action thriller that will make the fans very happy and deliver on all levels.
I'd like to thank Mike Leeder for bringing me to the attention of Jean-Claude, Ernie and the rest of the Producers and pushing for me as always.'

The film will also feature John Ralston (Degrassi The Next Generation) as Van Damme's onscreen brother, William B Davis (cigarette smoking villain from the X-Files) as the mysterious Rants, Charlotte Peters as Anna and Kris Van Varenberg/Kris Van Damme as Marcello.
It starts shooting at the end of March.

You can hear our interview with Darren Shahlavi HERE

More on this as it comes in!
-The Kick Ass Kid

Tony Jaa's The Protector 2 NEW Poster

Directed by Prachya Pinkaew 

Starring Tony Jaa, RZA, Mum Jokmok, Marrese Crump, Jija Yanin Wismitanan, Ratha Pho-ngam, Kazu Patric Tang, Kalp Hongratanaporn and David Ismalone 

Boss Suchart is the influential owner of a major elephant camp. When he was murdered in his own home – the killer delivered three fatal blows on his body – all evidence points to KHAM (Tony Jaa), who was present at the crime scene and was seen with the victim the moment before he died. Kham is forced to run as the police launches a pursuit. Meanwhile, the twin nieces of Boss Suchart (Jija Yanin Wismitanan and Teerada Kittisiriprasert) are out for revenge. But luck is on Kham’s side when he runs into Sergeant MARK (Mum Jokmok), an Interpol agent sent to Thailand on a secret mission.

As Kham is hunted by several parties, he’s also desperately searching for KHON, his elephant, whose disappearance is involved with Boss Suchart’s death. In another twist, Kham is drawn into an underground fighting ring run by LC (RZA), a crime lord who’s obsessed with collecting top-class martial artists from around the world. LC’s fighters are branded only by numbers, such as the lethal, beautiful TWENTY (Ratha Pho-ngam) and the diabolical NO.2 (Marrese Crump). These fighters are ordered to defeat and capture Kham for a special mission that LC has in mind.

A sequel of the global smash-hit “Tom Yam Goong” (or “The Protector”), TYG2-3D is an extreme fight movie, an endlessly intense, nerve-racking film full of fists, elbows, kicks and daredevil stunt scenes and amazingly choreographed fighting moves that will pump hot blood through the body of all action fans. All in the in-your-face 3D spectacle!

For more info: Official Site: www.protector2.com 

Official Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Protector2TonyJaa

Original Gangstas 2 rolls into production!

Bargain Basement Productions posted this on their Facebook page earlier today:

"Fred "The Hammer" Williamson's Po' Boy Productions and Bargain Basement Productions are teaming up for OLD SCHOOL GANGSTAS, the follow-up to ORIGINAL GANGSTAS. This film will re-unite The Hammer, Jim Brown, Pam Grier, Richard Roundtree, and Robert Forster, plus adding Bernie Casey, Gloria Hendry, and Antonio Fargas to the mix. We launch the epic $1.2 million Kickstarter campaign this Sunday, December 15. Forget The Expendables, the old school is coming back! Are you ready?"

Are we ready? er... YES! the first one was a great, fun, entertaining and awesome, kick ass action flick and one of my favourites. Considering the inability of anyone in Hollywood to cast The Hammer, Jim Brown or Pam Grier in any of the new wave of action films, you have to respect that these titans of action cinema are doing it for themselves AGAIN.
It's been especially disappointing that Pam Grier has not been mentioned more prominently in the continued attempts to get The Expendabelles off the ground because when we think of tough, strong women, we think of Pam.
No matter though, they will all get to flex their muscles and crack some skulls in the upcoming Old School Gangstas!

So according to the statement there is a kickstarter campaign being launched for the film on December 15th and we will have the details of that on this site the moment we get them. We hope you'll all contribute because this film HAS to get made.

UPDATE: Support the KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN

There is a Twitter account for the film you can follow:
https://twitter.com/OriginalGsPart2
and here are some of the highlights of that Twitter feed so far:

Stick around action fans, we'll report more news as we get it!
- The Kick Ass Kid

Paul Walker R.I.P.

It is very sad news that Paul Walker, 40, star of The Fast & Furious franchise has passed away in a single, horrific car accident today.
An official statement on his Facebook page reads:

It is with a truly heavy heart that we must confirm that Paul Walker passed away today in a tragic car accident while attending a charity event for his organization Reach Out Worldwide. He was a passenger in a friend's car, in which both lost their lives. We appreciate your patience as we too are stunned and saddened beyond belief by this news. Thank you for keeping his family and friends in your prayers during this very difficult time. We will do our best to keep you apprised on where to send condolences. - #TeamPW

Readers of the site and listeners to our podcasts know that both the Doc and I are huge fans of the crime/racing/action films and long before the recent, high-profile, additions of The Rock, Kurt Russell and Jason Statham, Paul Walker WAS The Fast and Furious franchise, along with co-stars Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster.

Part 6 was a big hit this summer and Part 7, which was recently shooting is due out in 2014 with a Part 8 which had been tentatively planned already. Walker also has the drama film 'Hours' due for release on December 13 about a father struggling in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

His co-star in the Fast and Furious films, Ludacris said this:
Ludacris "Your humble spirit was felt from the start, wherever you blessed your presence you always left a mark, we were like brothers & our birthdays are only 1 day apart, now You will forever hold a place in all of our hearts @paulwalker legacy will live on forever. R.I.P."

Our thoughts are with his and the driver's friends and family. A tragic loss, too young.

Statham in talks to join Susan Cooper

You may remember, a while back, that we reported The Stath had registered some interest in possibly doing a buddy cop comedy type film or some sort of comedy partnership and had mentioned Will Ferrell's name. NOW we have news that the Britkicker is eyeing a role in Paul Feig's (Bridesmaids, The Heat) new comedy spy actioner "Susan Cooper" starring Melissa McCarthy.
Obviously it's not quite the testosterone filled 48 hours type action comedy we may have envisaged but it would be fun to see Statham handle something like this so different in tone. It's also a wise move as Melissa McCarthy is hugely popular right now and it could give JS an even bigger boost into the Hollywood stratosphere after The Expendables franchise and Fast 7.

As the film is designed to be a female James Bond type deal, the studio is even whispering about a possible franchise should it prove successful.
Bond comedy rip offs are tricky and the likes of Austin Powers, Johnny English and Get Smart have all sort of failed to maintain an audience past their initial run, could Statham and McCarthy have the right comedy chemistry to make this fly?
What do you think?
Statham showed great comedic skill in the Crank films and proved a worthy sidekick in The Expendables, there's also a long history of action stars doing comedy films (with varying degrees of success) do you think and/or like this possible pairing and direction for The Stath's career??
LET US KNOW in the COMMENTS BELOW!!

- The Kick Ass Kid

3 NEW Grudge Match Posters

Telling the story of two old boxers who come out of retirement for one more fight, Grudge Match stars, Rocky himself, Sylvester Stallone as Henry "Razor" Sharp and the Raging Bull, Robert De Niro as Billy "Kid" McDonnen.

Set for release on Christmas Day in the US, this week Warner Brothers released these awesome posters. Enjoy!

Official poster for Beyond Outrage

Thanks to our friends over at Magnet and Magnolia we have the poster for Takeshi Kitano's new action film Beyond Outrage, which premiered on Movies.com

Written and Directed by Takeshi Kitano

Starring Takeshi Kitano, Ryo Kase, Toshiyuki Nishida, Shun Sugata, Machiko Ono and Ken Mitsushi

The plot synopsis from the press release: With BEYOND OUTRAGE, action cinema master Takeshi Kitano returns to the hard boiled characters, black comedy and unflinching violence of his crime masterpiece OUTRAGE. This time, a manipulative police crackdown on organized crime has ignited a tricky power struggle in the yakuza underworld.

The Sanno crime family has grown into a massive organization dominated by young executives whose new approach to running the family is causing frustration and pent-up resentment with the old-guard members. This vulnerability in the Sanno hierarchy is exactly what anti-gang detective Kataoka has been looking for, as the police force prepares a full-scale crackdown.

Kataoka wants start a war between Sanno and the neighboring Hanabishi crime family in the hopes that they destroy each other. His trump card is Otomo (Kitano) – the rumored-dead boss of a defunct family that was destroyed by the Sanno, who has just been released from prison. Otomo wants to retire from a life of crime, but finds himself drawn back in through Kataoka’s manipulations as the Sanno and Hanabishi clans teeter on the brink of an all-out war.

Thankfully the film will be rated R

 For more info:

Official Site: http://www.magnetreleasing.com/beyondoutrage/

Official Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beyondoutrage

Magnolia Pictures will release BEYOND OUTRAGE on iTunes/On Demand November 28, 2013 and in theaters January 3, 2014.

Escape Plan videos

With Escape Plan coming to US Theatres on October 18th 2013 Sly and Arnie have been doing the rounds and giving some interviews. Here are those videos below!

EXPENDABLES 3 Update - Frasier Crane and near death for Statham

News has come through today that Kelsey Grammar, him of Cheers and Frasier fame, is joining the cast of The Expendables 3 instead of Nicolas Cage. He will, apparently, play the part, earmarked initially for Cage, of Bonaparte, an ex-mercanary who help the team out.

I give you a moment to let it sink in.

Now there are a few bizarre things about this news, not least of which has to be that Nic Cage actually turned down a film role! A periphery glance at his recent work on IMDB shows you how much of a rarity that is.

The other bizarre thing is the tons of action actors, yet to be put into a role, that could've done this and would've been better suited:
Steven Seagal, Kurt Russell, Roddy Piper, Jeff Speakman, Jeff Wincott, Billy Blanks, Pam Grier, Sigourney Weaver, Nick Nolte, Eddie Murphy, Danny Glover, Carl Weathers, Sho Kosugi, Gene Hackman, Timothy Dalton, Roger Moore, Don 'The Dragon' Wilson, Fred Williamson, Liam Neeson and even Grammer's old Cheers colleague, Woody Harrelson!
I think Grammer is a lot of fun in The Simpsons, 30 Rock and even Frasier back in the day and if he was narrating the film then it wouldn't be such a shock but as an old mercenary helping out these 80s action stars, I am not so sure.
Ex3, with all the weird news we've had so far, is going to have some surprises in store for certain, I think.

This announcement comes off the back of Robert Davi's surprise casting as well. Davi is more obvious, of course, with his James Bond bad guy heritage but let's hope that he doesn't turn Ex3 into another Bad Pack

The other news that emerged this week, from the cool and funny lips of Terry Crews no less, is the story that, the legend that is, Jason Statham narrowly avoided death, or at least injury, on the set of Expendables 3 when a truck he was driving failed to stop and plunged into the Black sea.
Terry Crews told the story to Jay Leno on The Tonight Show saying that Statham simply swam out from the truck, leaving it to sink into the water, and was back to work later that day.

This is the second water and Statham related stunt-gone-wrong incident on Expendables 3 that has been reported in as many months. I am not sure if they are the same story but the first one stated Statham did a pond based stunt, earmarked for a stunt man, and ended up going to hospital with water in his lungs but this telling of this, possible, second incident by Crews, seems to have the Britkicker seemingly strolling out of the water unharmed and heading back to work.
I believe the second story more, Statham, hasn't spent time in hospital in his life. He heals himself using man sweat and awesomeness.

- The Kick Ass Kid

win an AWESOME grindhouse action film with 

THE AFTER MOVIE DINER!

Homefront stills and release date

Source: USAToday

Today we were finally treated to some character information, some plot points and some snaps from Jason Statham's upcoming action drama Homefront, written and produced by Sylvester Stallone, directed by Gary Fleder (Things to do in Denver When You're Dead) and co-produced by the team behind Safe and The Expendables.

The story, based on Chuck Logan's novel, seems to be typical action fodder. Set in Louisiana, a local hood named, if you can believe it, Gator, played by James Franco who runs with ex-bikegang moll, Winona Ryder, goes after and up-against Statham's DEA/British Interpol agent.

Also in the mix are The Stath's daughter played by newcomer Izabela Vidovic and Kate Bosworth as Gator's junkie sister.

Although on the surface this looks and sounds as formulaic as they come, director Fleder, who comes from a history of tense dramas rather than action, and Our Man Stath both insist that like Safe and Hummingbird/Redemption before it, this will showcase Stath's lighter, more emotional side. I see Homefront, then as sort of Safe meets The Mechanic with a bit of Parker thrown in. Not bad. Not bad at all.

After Parker, Fast 6 and Redemption, both from 2013, this marks Statham's fourth release this year and that is a dizzying pace for him to keep up as a one-man action-drama machine. I am sure there are people out there with Statham fatigue, sad pathetic people with no excitement or sense of humour but we are not those people, we, personally, want 3 Statham films EVERY year from now on. We can't wait 12 months for the next one and, thankfully, we won't have to. Next year we already have Heat, Expendables 3 and Fast 7 and what 2015 holds yet? we don't know but as long as he keeps making them, we'll keep watching and raving about them.

Homefront is released on November 27th in the US and November 29th in the UK

You're name's Gator then Franco? Is that some sort of fuckin' joke?

Beetlejuice 2? Sure! I'm in!

Yep! In this one Statham rides a fuckin' horse. Nice!

- The Kick Ass Kid

First EXPENDABLES 3 On-Set Pictures

Comingsoon.net released exclusive onset photos from EXPENDABLES 3 today which started shooting in Varna, Bulgaria this week. Take a look!

-The Kick Ass Kid

Gibson and Banderas CONFIRMED as Expendable

After rumours back and forth, according to Entertainment Weekly and one of Stallone's reps Mel Gibson is officially signed on to play the villain in EX3 which could form part of a villainous comeback for Mel if Machete Kills is as damn good fun as it looks. It also means that mentioned story points about a younger, computer literate team being the villains maybe not happening now and we, personally, couldn't be happier about that.
The more oldies he adds, the better.
As for Mel's previous alcohol related troubles what do people think? do we care when we see him on the screen being enjoyable? Let us know!
In the same announcement, the man who Stallone calls "a consummate actor and a gentleman" Antonio Banderas, who has long been rumoured for a part in the franchise, has also been added, officially, to the cast.
So that's two more official members to the film and, personally, I am happy that they are some old, proper 80s and 90s action stars. That's what these films NEED. As long as they are not young computer nerds because that will surely make them the Scrappy Do of the film and was tried in Die Hard 4 where the only weak part was Olyphant's pathetic villain. I prefer the idea of the President kidnap scenario, sort of an Air Force One 2 with Ford as a kick ass Pres, Gibson as a hand ringing villain and Banderas as a member of the Expendables.
Whatever happens in Stallone we trust!

-The Kick Ass Kid

Harrison Ford Jonesing for some group action!

Stallone hit Twitter again today and proves that, not only are they still casting and, therefor, supposedly scripting EX3 right down to the wire (it's set to start filming this August) but also that this film will scoop up and include basically every single action star it possibly can.

His tweet about Ford read:
WILLIS OUT... HARRISON FORD IN !!!! GREAT NEWS !!!!! Been waiting years for this!!!!

and followed it up with

GREEDY AND LAZY ...... A SURE FORMULA FOR CAREER FAILURE

Now I don't know if that second Tweet is an inspirational comment or a dig at Willis but there is the news: Willis, who plays Mr. Church in the franchise (and whose character, to be fair, has sort of run its course), will not be returning and Harrison "Inidiana Jones" Ford will be joining the, already, mega star cast.

Some have speculated the cast is getting a bit ridiculous and it's going to be a mess but IN STALLONE WE TRUST. I personally think it's awesome news and they should continue adding people all the way up to day one. I love it.

UPDATE: it is now being reported by various outlets from sources inside the film that Willis was booted off for demanding $4million for 4 days work in Bulgaria after already being offered $3million!
Firstly that's not exactly the spirit of ensemble films like this (you know some folks who work EVERY day on the film aren't getting that much) and also it's just ridiculously greedy.

It seems like, from recent behaviour, that Willis is trying to torpedo any good will people had towards him and while we here at the blog are still very much 'hate the artist but not the art' it is a shame that this was the reason he backed out and I wish he would pay just a little bit of attention and put some effort in to how he comes across.

Stallone's camp would only confirm that the second tweet was aimed squarely at Willis. So that answers that then. I can only imagine how he feels, he wants his old mates around him and he wants the film to be as good as possible.

Ford, who is also known for being prickly or odd in interviews, clearly didn't make such demands and fan reaction seems to be positive, so good for him!

- The Kick Ass Kid