'The Raid: Redemption' U.S. Remake Update, Rumors And Speculations: Casting and Other Details

By Andrian Darylle Torralba Oct 08, 2014 04:00 AM EDT

'The Raid: Redemption' U.S. Remake Update, Rumors And Speculations: Casting and Other Details

Back in 2011, movie goers were treated to a pleasant surprise. An Indonesian martial arts action film has taken the world by storm. "The Raid: Redemption" is a cleverly put together martial arts action flick, which blends high-octane action with ingenious camera angles.

The same could be said for its 2014 sequel, "The Raid 2: Berandal," which gave much more depth to the main protagonist, Rama's backstory, and offered a much more fluid direction, in terms of storytelling.

According to SBS, critics have praised director Gareth Evans for pushing the boundaries of what a martial arts action flick should feel like and quite possibly have redefined the way action movies are shot, which is evident in the most recent movies that have come out.

Now, for over a year, there have been talks of making a U.S. remake, and it seems that bits and pieces of information have been hitting the web. From casting choices to movie plots, it seems that they are really thinking this one through. Especially the choice of Western artists that will be involved as they are essential on how the remake will work and capture the approval of the fans of the original movie.

Just last June, Cinema Blend reported that, "The Purge: Anarchy" actor, Frank Grillo hinted on joining the 12 central character ensemble. He mentioned, "What people don't know is that I'm a blackbelt in jujitsu, which I've been for 20 years, and I've been boxing since I've been 15 years old - those are things that come natural to me. Believe it or not, I just got hired to do [the remake of] The Raid...I loved [the original]...we've got to do this justice. It's a fanboy favorite."

"The Raid: Redemption" remake, will be directed by "The Expendables 3" director, Patrick Hughes, and Jon and Erich Hoeber will pen the script. Gareth Evans, who was the director of the first and second Raid movies, will be the executive producer of the upcoming U.S. remake.

Even before the casting of Grillo, reports have been circulating that both Chris and Liam Hemsworth are being eyed for roles by Screen Gems Studio. And just recently "Battleships" and "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" actor Taylor Kitsch is rumored to have been offered the lead role, although there is still no official comment from Taylor's camp about accepting the role.

XYZ Films will again produce the remake, making sure that they don't stray far from the original.