He couldn't say anything publicly when we talked to him last week and it's apparently not 100% a done-deal, but now it looks as if the news is out: Scott Adkins is being lined up to appear in the much-anticipated 3D remake of the 1989 Jean-Claude Van Damme cult classic Kickboxer. In fact, as we reported back in July, it also looks as if another martial-arts mainstay, Ong Bak star Tony Jaa, WILL also be formally joining him.
The film, first formally announced at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, will apparently showcase up to twenty different martial-art disciplines on show and was already boasting the likes of Guardians of the Galaxy star and WWE wrestler Dave Bautista, martial artist Alain Moussi and UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre with Tai Chi Hero's Stephen Fung being courted to direct
Adkins - veteran of The Expendables 2, the Ninja and Undisputed films and currently appearing in The Legend of Hercules - will play accomplished martial-artist David Sloan who is lured to Hong Kong by a fight promoter. Moussi plays Kurt who advises his brother against going and then finds out he's mysteriously died at the hands of fighter Tung Po (Bautista). He heads to Thailand to find out the truth and face his own challenges. Jaa looks set to play the Muay Thai master who takes on the task of training Kurt to beat Tong Po in a final confrontation...
"Kickboxer will display a style of acrobatic, rapid-fire martial arts action that Scott Adkins is increasingly becoming synonymous with," Producer Brian O'Shea said in a statement that seemed to confirm details. "Along with Tony Jaa, Kickboxer has compiled a talented cast to push the boundaries of the martial arts form."