Joe Carnahan and Frank Grillo Partner With XYZ Films on ‘Raid’ Reimagining
Joe Carnahan and Frank Grillo’s WarParty production banner and XYZ Films have announced that they will partner on the reimagining of the hit Indonesian action film “The Raid,” which Carnahan will direct and write, and Grillo will star in.
The film will be produced by WarParty and XYZ. Gareth Evans, the martial arts auteur who directed the original “The Raid” pic, will executive produce.
Premiering in 2011 at the Toronto International Film Festival, the Indonesian martial-arts movie garnered widespread critical praise, rocketing to cult film status. The movie captured audiences with its inventive choreography and a lightning-paced narrative where a lone, isolated SWAT team is trapped by a ruthless mobster and his army of killers and thugs inside a tenement block, and they have to fight through to the top.
“I am extremely excited about Frank and I boarding this property and hopefully doing something fresh and inventive with it,” says Carnahan. “The original is masterful, so we’ve given ourselves a pretty big mountain to summit. But I have great faith in the story and approach to the material that we’ve taken.”
Produced by PT. Merantau Films and XYZ Films, the franchise has garnered success since its release, producing a sequel in 2014.
“Joe and Frank are ideal creative partners for this film,” XYZ added. “They want to pay homage to THE RAID, not do a paint-by-numbers remake.”
Screen Gems had been developing a reboot for sometime, but when the right package couldn’t be put together, the rights on the remake lapsed, leading to WarParty to step in and secure the rights.
WarParty is a newly launched production company helmed by Carnahan and Grillo. Formed in August 2016, it will look to option and develop material from all sources including books, magazines, and screenplays under a first look agreement. The company is expected to produce between 3 and 5 films per year including titles with franchise potential, with the first film expected to be available for sales by EFM 2017.
First up for the shingle is “Wheelman,” which was launched and sold worldwide to Netflix at the Cannes Market 2016 and looks to debut later this year. The high-concept action thriller, currently in post-production, was written and directed by Jeremy Rush and stars Grillo in the title role.
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