EXCLUSIVE: John Salvitti knows how to throw a punch – but now he’ll be swapping ‘bruises’ for ‘cuts!’ with his debut as a director… with ‘Ambush‘...
American martial artist John Salvitti has repeatedly proven himself as a warrior in the ring, on the mats and on the screen, learning his craft as a screen fighter and choreographer working with Donnie Yen and Yuen Woo-ping on Line of Duty 4 and Tiger Cage 2, and honing his skills on such projects s Der Puma, Flashpoint and Special ID. Salvitti also served s fight and stunt choreographer for Jean-Claude Van Damme’s Pound of Flesh, and the upcoming Hooligans Squad project.
With funding now secured, we can now reveal that Salvitti will be directing his first martial arts film – with the working title of Ambush. Audiences will finally have a chance to see what John Salvitti can do. Like many other fight choreographers he has often spoken out about the issues of action directing and laying down fight choreography, only to be denied the chance to oversee the vision through the edit and into the final cut. Not any more.
“In the vein of Lone Wolf and Cub, Sword of Vengeance meets John Wick. I finally got a script that is ballsy, intense and HARD HITTING enough to satisfy not only the fight fans, but also the working stunt-folk who are constantly calling me out to make a full-blooded fight film!” he explains.
Having witnessed first hand the intensity of Salvitti’s choreography over the years, I think we have a lot to be excited about and we look forward to more updates from John with regards to cast and crew as the film gears up for production in the months to come.
And out of the vaults Salvitti first Donnie Yen in their first cinematic clash:
