The shooting has started on the latest high impact action thriller starring Impact’s original cover star Jean-Claude Van Damme, which began shooting in China in the last few days, The film is directed by Ernie Barbarash (Six Bullets, Assassination Games) with fight choreography by Special ID’s John Salvitti (Line of Duty 4, Flashpoint), and produced by Kirk Shaw, Henry Luk, JJ Dubois and Impact’s own Mike Leeder.
The film follows Deacon (JCVD), a former soldier turned 'K&R' kidnap-and-rescue specialist who arrives in South East Asia ready to donate his kidney to his estranged brother's severely ill daughter...only for things to take a turn for the worst when what begins as a quiet drink in the hotel bar, leads to Deacon waking up in a bath-tub recovering from an impromptu operation that has taken the kidney he was supposed to donate. Don't you just hate it when that happens?
With time running out for his neice, Deacon must draw upon his dark past to save her life and perhaps finally find the redemption he has been looking for for so many years as the 'Merchant of Vengeance' seeks his Pound of Flesh!
The film also features Aki Aleong who previously mentored Jean-Claude’s character in The Quest, along with Charlotte Peters, John Ralston, Marsha Yuan and Darren Shahlavi from Ip Man 2 & Mortal Kombat Legacy.
The film's action team is headed by longtime Donnie Yen mainstay and Special ID choreographer John Salvitii, Brahim Acchabakhe from Man of Tai Chi, and Arena of the Streetfighter’s Mike Moeller, while Bruce Law and his team from The Raid 2, Extreme Crisis etc provide some vehicular mayhem for the project.
annnnnnd...the Impact editorial team and quite possibly much of our readership will get to enjoy the sight of me on the receiving end of some high impact Van Dammage. After so many years of writing about young Mr Van Damme and working with him behind the scenes, it's been a hell of an eye opener working in front of the camera with him and getting to fight JCVD onscreen in a cool scene is... well, one signed off the bucket list.
The film is currently shooting on locations in Southern China and we’ll be reporting back about the production with interviews with cast and crew over the next few months.
This year will also see the release of Swelter, which could be described as Reservoir Dogs meets Banshee meets End of Violence styled thriller with a mismatched group of crooks tracking down their former accomplice who vanished with their ill gotten gains some years before, only to find he’s now the sheriff of a small town with no apparent memory of his former identity or activities. The film directed by Keith Parme , also stars Lennie James, Alfred Molina and Josh Henderson has been picked up for North American distribution by WellgoUSA, who have also announced their intention to move into film production as well as distribution...
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