It's ten years since the original District 13/Banlieu 13 directed by Pierre Morel from a script by Luc Besson and Bibi Naceri� , hit the screen. We described the movie which starred Cyril Rafaelli and David Belle as a combination of 'Ong Bak meets Escape from New York', and the English language remake entitled Brick Mansions retains the plot and some of the cast for its make over. With Robert Mark Kamen from The Transporter�working with Besson and Naceri on the English language script.
Camille Delamarre makes his directorial debut with the film which is transposed from the Paris ghettos to the Chicago subarbs of the near future. Nobody has control over the area known as 'Brick Mansions'. Damian (Paul Walker) an undercover cop must undertake his most dangerous assignment when it is revealed that a weapon of mass destruction has been stolen by Tremaine (RZA), the most powerful druglord in the city and Damian must infiltrate the gang to gain access to and defuse the bomb.
He'll need help from someone who knows the area and the gangs too well, Lino (David Velle) an expert at getting in and out of trouble with his incredible physical agility. Lino has had problems with the police in the past, but with his sister being held captive by Tremaine, he needs to join forces with Damian... and the two of them will need all their skills, and quite a bit of luck to bring down Tremaine and defuse the bomb.
Brick Mansions hits the big screen in North America on April 25th this year, with its international release set to follow shortly.� RZA can currently be seen on screen in Tom Yum Goong 2 and is about to begin shooting the 2nd Man with the Iron Fists movie, as leading actor and script writer while Roel Reinne (Death Race 2 & 3) is at the helm, Brick Mansions marks the English language acting debut of David Belle, while the late Paul Walker will also be seen in Fast & Furious 7 currently rescheduled while the project is reworked to work around the tragedy of his death during production.
The US poster for the remake also harkens back to the original's explosive poster. We'll see the results in April...
