The Raid: Redemption Remake Loses Star, Director, and Studio

JaredJones

New member
Jun 8, 2015
452
0
0
The Raid: Redemption Remake Loses Star, Director, and Studio


This might be one of those rare cases where "sometimes, dead is better."

There is perhaps no martial arts movie released in the modern era that has received more praise than The Raid: Redemption.

Released in 2011, The Raid is 101 glorious minutes of blood-soaked, balls-to-the-wall violence so beautiful choreographed that it should've won a Tony award above all else. The same can be said for its 2014 sequel, Berandal, which has been dubbed as "The Godfather of martial arts films" by those who have seen it. (If you don't believe them, just check out the fight scene above and tell me that they're wrong.)

But there is one problem with The Raid: It's Indonesian! Yes, despite having approximately 20 lines of dialogue in the entire movie, the idea of giving a foreign movie with subtitles the wide release it deserves here in the States is just too far a bridge to cross for most studios, which is why an American remake of The Raid was announced in 2012.

Little was revealed about the remake in the years that followed, other than that original director Gareth Evans would be signing on as an executive producer and that Taylor Kitsch had been cast in the lead role. The film was set to begin production in January of 2015, but due to several undisclosed delays, Kitsch eventually dropped out of the project entirely.

Which brings us to today, when The Raid remake received another pair of blows in the form of its backing studio and its director, who have both backed out of the film. (via Tracking Board [http://www.tracking-board.com/exclusive-patrick-hughes-exits-the-raid-remake-along-with-screen-gems/]):

Sources have confirmed to the Tracking Board that Expendables 3 helmer Patrick Hughes is out as director of The Raid remake. In addition, we're hearing that the project is no longer at Screen Gems, and that XYZ Films is now the sole production company on the film.

With Screen Gems-and therefore Sony-out of the picture, producers are no doubt seeking a new distributor for the film. XYZ Films has taken over sole production duties, with Aram Tertzakian, Nate Bolotin and Nick Spencer producing, while Kyle Franke oversees for the shingle.

The lone bit of good news to come out of this story is that Warrior and Purge 2 star Frank Grillo, who was previously attached to star in the remake before Kitsch got involved, is back in as the film's lead. While he obviously doesn't bring the kind of martial arts expertise to the role that original star Iko Uwais did, Grillo's previous roles in action-heavy fare offers a little more hope that he'll be able to pull it off than, say, John Carter.

Then again, I'd have no objections if this remake never saw the light of day, especially considering that we already get what was basically a remake of The Raid with 2012's Dredd.

Source: Tracking Board [http://www.tracking-board.com/exclusive-patrick-hughes-exits-the-raid-remake-along-with-screen-gems/]

Permalink
 

Fappy

\[T]/
Jan 4, 2010
12,010
0
41
Country
United States
There already is an English version of the Raid: Redemption... it's called Dredd.

Go fuck yourself Hollywood. Who thought it was a good idea to remake a goddamn martial arts movie???!
 

Ftaghn To You Too

New member
Nov 25, 2009
489
0
0
I will fight you all to defend the honor of Dredd, since its script came first. The Raid is a remake of Dredd, a movie that did not exist at the time. That somehow works, damn you.
 

K12

New member
Dec 28, 2012
943
0
0
You can translate the dialogue but can you find any American as accomplished in pencak silat as Iko Uwais?

Which of these do you think is more important for this film? It's like making a sign language version of a Musical!
 

Tireseas_v1legacy

Plop plop plop
Sep 28, 2009
2,419
0
0
Can't some Hollywood studio just take the cheep way out and just dub over the original for the 4 people who will watch it without subtitles?
 

fix-the-spade

New member
Feb 25, 2008
8,639
0
0
America, repainting the Mona Lisa since 1776.

I have to second the opinion that Dredd is the western The Raid, especially since it takes a western approach to violence of just shooting up everything.

I also wonder why The Raid got the subtitle over here, it really doesn't need anymore in the title than it's title, which is just The Raid.
 

devilmore

New member
Nov 18, 2009
65
0
0
What? There are english dubs for both raid movies. They aren't terribly good, but wouldn't making a better dub be cheaper than remaking the entire movie?
 

Pyrian

Hat Man
Legacy
Jul 8, 2011
1,399
8
13
San Diego, CA
Country
US
Gender
Male
Remaking the movie essentially removes the one good thing about it: the martial arts. How can anyone expect to get a hit just out of mimicking its stupid plot? (Or perhaps it's the name they were banking on?) And no, it's not Dredd, which may have also been set in an apartment building fighting against drug lords, but is otherwise completely distinct, with a much better script.
 

Scarim Coral

Jumped the ship
Legacy
Oct 29, 2010
18,157
2
3
Country
UK
I thought The Raid did get release to the West? Even then I had no problem watching it with English subtitles.

Also Hollywood should learn by now that western remake of asian films are nowhere near superior to the original source-

Old Boy
My Sassy Girl
Il Mare/ The Lake House
Ring
 
Mar 26, 2008
3,429
0
0
Good. Leave it alone. If you can't handle the subtitles with a movie that's pretty much all action you need to take a long, hard look at yourself.
 

The Rogue Wolf

Stealthy Carnivore
Legacy
Nov 25, 2007
16,302
8,779
118
Stalking the Digital Tundra
Gender
✅
The Gentleman said:
Can't some Hollywood studio just take the cheep way out and just dub over the original for the 4 people who will watch it without subtitles?
Nope! America's got to have a white-bread American in the lead position or we just can't "get into" it.
 

PunkRex

New member
Feb 19, 2010
2,533
0
0
Ftaghn To You Too said:
I will fight you all to defend the honor of Dredd, since its script came first. The Raid is a remake of Dredd, a movie that did not exist at the time. That somehow works, damn you.
Honestly, both films were glorious for different reasons and they were released too close to each other for one to have 'ripped off' the other without some sort of insider knowledge, which seems unlikely given one of the films was Indonesian.

OT: Good, it's healthy for people to get outside their comfort zone. Peeps wanna see Rama kill a dude with a broken door, they gotta be willing to put in the effort, which isn't much considering all you gotta do is read a hand full of freaking lines!

devilmore said:
What? There are english dubs for both raid movies. They aren't terribly good, but wouldn't making a better dub be cheaper than remaking the entire movie?
Scarim Coral said:
I thought The Raid did get release to the West? Even then I had no problem watching it with English subtitles.
It got a release here in the UK but only in select cinemas, I saw it at the 'artsy' Odeon down in Covent Garden after I saw MovieBob's review. Saw that trailer and I knew I had to get my brother and myself to see it.
 

devilmore

New member
Nov 18, 2009
65
0
0
PunkRex said:
devilmore said:
What? There are english dubs for both raid movies. They aren't terribly good, but wouldn't making a better dub be cheaper than remaking the entire movie?
Scarim Coral said:
I thought The Raid did get release to the West? Even then I had no problem watching it with English subtitles.
It got a release here in the UK but only in select cinemas, I saw it at the 'artsy' Odeon down in Covent Garden after I saw MovieBob's review. Saw that trailer and I knew I had to get my brother and myself to see it.
Ah. Silly me, assuming that americans could just watch an english dub, of course they need their own version.
 

Shiftygiant

New member
Apr 12, 2011
433
0
0
First thought: Wait, but we already have an English version of The Raid; Dredd.

Second thought: Are people really so hostile to the idea of watching a foreign films they need them to be remade in English?
 

omega 616

Elite Member
May 1, 2009
5,883
1
43
Dredd? I can see the similarities, big block of flats run by a criminal and a goody brings it down but other than that not even close. Raid had amazing fight scenes, dredd had a good gun scene with machine guns.

Dredd is only getting love 'cos he has been around longer.

Wish the guy who did Raid, does the new star wars films ... always thought they lacked good fight scenes, even they make the Bane VS Batman fights look jaw dropping.
 

Ihateregistering1

New member
Mar 30, 2011
2,034
0
0
This may be the only smart career decision that Taylor Kitsch has made since "Friday Night Lights" ended.

Anyway, loved both Raid movies (saw them both in theaters) and I agree, the idea of doing a Western remake (especially considering how ludicrously simple Raid's plot is) is just plain dumb, but Christ, the butt-hurt over this is hysterical.

Bollywood remakes Hollywood movies so frequently it's become something of a running gag, but I don't hear anyone saying "hurr durr, Indians don't wanna read subtitles and can't stand to see non-Indian actors in their movies, they are so dumb, hurr durr".
 

Remus

Reprogrammed Spambot
Nov 24, 2012
1,698
0
0

Even though I hate foreign films - don't like reading when I'm trying to watch a movie - in this case I think it's best we leave this one alone. Americas/Europe don't have the abundance of martial arts stars that we had in the 80s and 90s and a film like this really deserves actors with a talent for kicking ass.
 

Secondhand Revenant

Recycle, Reduce, Redead
Legacy
Oct 29, 2014
2,564
139
68
Baator
Country
The Nine Hells
Gender
Male
Ihateregistering1 said:
This may be the only smart career decision that Taylor Kitsch has made since "Friday Night Lights" ended.

Anyway, loved both Raid movies (saw them both in theaters) and I agree, the idea of doing a Western remake (especially considering how ludicrously simple Raid's plot is) is just plain dumb, but Christ, the butt-hurt over this is hysterical.

Bollywood remakes Hollywood movies so frequently it's become something of a running gag, but I don't hear anyone saying "hurr durr, Indians don't wanna read subtitles and can't stand to see non-Indian actors in their movies, they are so dumb, hurr durr".
Did it ever cross your mind that it might be because we don't see them here? It's not like those Bollywood movies are being made for us in the US. The other is. Which do you really think we'd be aware of to say anything about or even have much reason to comment on? The one marketed to our countries or the one marketed to India?