Tag: Tony Jaa

Posted on in Film News, News

‘Expendables’: Next Installment Recruits Megan Fox, 50 Cent & Tony Jaa

The Expendable franchise sort of hit a wall with The Expendables 3, when Lionsgate/Millennium Media saw dollar signs by pivoting from a mature R-rating to a kid-friendly PG-13. However, this wasn’t the big money-maker the studio had hoped and it ended up becoming the least successful installment. I guess children weren’t terribly interested in seeing disgraced actor Mel Gibson and Sly Stallone going at in action film.

Seven years later and they are finally moving forward with another film, however, aren’t calling it Expendables 4.

The Hollywood Reporter confirms that the untitled pic will see franchise stars Sly Stallone, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, and Randy Couture return. The new recruits will include Megan Fox (Rogue, Transformers, Jennifer’s Body), 50 Cent (Escape Plan, Den of Thieves), and Thai martial artist Ton Jaa (Fast & Furious 7).

Previously, the film had been talked-up as a solo project for Statham’s character Lee Christmas and wouldn’t have as much of Stallone’s Barney Ross in the film as fans might expect. Stallone had recently referred to the project as a “spinoff” with the working title Christmas Story.

Sources say in this outing Statham will be the one with the biggest gun. Fox is the female lead.

Scott Waugh (Need For Speed) will direct from a script penned by Spenser Cohen with revisions by Max Adams and John Joseph Connolly.

As previously mentioned by Stallone, production is aiming to begin in October.

Stallone is coming off James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad and Statham was recently seen in Guy Ritchie’s Wrath of Man and David Leitch’s Hobbs & Shaw.

We should expect a release date in 2022.

THE EXPENDABLES 3 – Years ago, Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone) co-founded the Expendables with Conrad Stonebanks (Mel Gibson). After Stonebanks became an arms dealer, Ross was forced to kill him — or so he thought. Now, Stonebanks is back and he’s on a mission to end the Expendables. Ross decides that the way to fight old blood is with new blood, so he assembles a team of younger, faster, more tech-savvy recruits. The battle to topple Stonebanks becomes a clash of old-school methods vs. high-tech expertise.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in Film News

‘Monster Hunter’: A Scene That References Racist Nursery Rhyme Gets Movie Pulled From Theaters In China

Deadline and other outlets reported that the release of Paul W.S. Anderson’s (Resident Evil, Event Horizon, Soldier, AVP) latest video game adaptation Monster Hunter, met with some angry Chinese audiences as the movie released there and it included a racist 10-second scene referencing the offensive nursery rhyme “Chinese, Japanese, dirty knees”.

Leading Monster Hunter to be pulled from the screens.

The 10-second scene that has generated an outcry features Asian-American rapper/actor Jin Au-Yeung (aka MC Jin), who at one point riffs to his scene partner, “Look at my knees. What kind of knees are these? Chinese.” This is being linked to a racist playground rhyme used to mock children of Asian origin. Upset, we understand, has further been sown by the scene’s local subtitles.

There are expectations the scene will be removed but it’s unknown if the government will allow Monster Hunter to return to local screens. It’s also possible the backlash will have done enough damage there that big dollars expected from China while most theaters around the world are closed aren’t likely going to be as massive as the studio first imagined.

It’s a little disheartening because the film is an adaption of Japanese-based Capcom’s video game franchise with Chinese-based distribution company Tencent working on the film as well. Monster Hunter also had a very impressive international trailer marketed towards the Chinese audience that was miles better than the domestic cut trailer.

However, this does seem to highlight that extra care needed to make sure that you’re not offending entire countries or a race of people with outdated humor or references.

I think it’s worth pointing out this even isn’t the only 2020 film from a British director to reference the rhyme. Guy Ritchie’s most recent film The Gentlemen has Hugh Grant’s character Fletcher also play with the racist rhyme when Fletcher is referencing Henry Golding’s character Dry Eye and his Asian heritage.

FLETCHER: “I talk Raymondo of Dry Eye. Oh Dry Eye, what is he? Chinese, Japanese, Pekingese, get on your fucking knees. Dirty dragon filth. Yellow is the colour, gambling is the game.”

It seems like Hollywood still needs to do better when attempting humor and making sure they’re not returning to racist tropes we thought that were over decades ago.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News

Watch The First Trailer For ‘Monster Hunter’ Trailer – Milla Jovovich Returns To Secure Her Crown As The Queen of Video Game Adaptations

MONSTER HUNTER – Behind our world, there is another: a world of dangerous and powerful monsters that rule their domain with deadly ferocity. When an unexpected sandstorm transports Captain Artemis (Milla Jovovich) and her unit (TI Harris, Meagan Good, Diego Boneta) to a new world, the soldiers are shocked to discover that this hostile and unknown environment is home to enormous and terrifying monsters immune to their firepower. In their desperate battle for survival, the unit encounters the mysterious Hunter (Tony Jaa), whose unique skills allow him to stay one step ahead of the powerful creatures. As Artemis and Hunter slowly build trust, she discovers that he is part of a team led by the Admiral (Ron Perlman). Facing a danger so great it could threaten to destroy their world, the brave warriors combine their unique abilities to band together for the ultimate showdown.

Sony Screen Gems has released the first Monster Hunter trailer which stars Milla Jovovich and martial arts star Tony Jaa from Resident Evil franchise director Paul W.S. Anderson (Soldier, Event Horizon, Alien vs. Predator).

The film looks to be a hybrid homage of Transformers meets Reign of Fire meets Jurassic Park that certainly has it having a lot more scale than the Resident Evil films alongside what looks like could be quality VFX (at least in this trailer). Hopefully, it’s a little more accessible and coherent than the previous Resident Evil films given that it’s an entirely new video game franchise it could allow for something a little more interesting.

Also from Capcom, the Monster Hunter video games skew more into the realm of fantasy adventure.

In an unnamed high fantasy setting, humans and other sentient races have set their eyes on the New World, a separate continent from the populated Old World. The New World is an untamed wilderness where many powerful monsters roam, and where researchers have been drawn to uncover new mysteries. Players take the role of a Hunter that serves to help protect a village or help research the large monsters that roam the various areas near the village.

Milla Jovovich has established herself as one of the few actresses that consistently does genre action gaining an international following from playing both Leeloo from The Fifth Element and Alice in the Resident Evil films.

Earlier this month it was revealed that Monster Hunter’s theatrical release date got bumped-up from April 23rd, 2021 to December 30th. I guess we’ll have to wait and see if that date sticks.

Sony Screen Gems also released a new domestic poster.

SOURCE: SONY