Lee B. Golden

Tony Jaa is taking China’s Youku streaming app to task with the November 8 release of Striking Rescue. Desperado helmer Cheng Siyi directs the international action star for the story of a harrowing descent into the criminal for a Muay Thai master out for vengeance after witnessing the brutal murders of his wife and daughter.

Daisy Ridley (the Star Wars franchise, Young Woman and the Sea, Magpie) will star in Dedication, a new action thriller from director Martin Campbell (Casino Royale, GoldenEye). Highland Film Group is co-financing the pic and handling international sales at the AFM in Las Vegas this week, as production readies for a Spring 2025 shoot in the Philippines and Europe.

Resident Evil franchise star Milla Jovovich is set to star in Protector, a new action thriller Rambo: Last Blood helmer from Adrian Grünberg. Production begins this winter in New Mexico and hails Highland Film Group which is co-financing and repping world sales at the AFM.

David Blue Garcia (Netflix and Legendary’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Tejano) is directing Mucho Mas Media’s upcoming horror-thriller, Zeus. Highland Film Group is handling worldwide rights to the horror-thriller and launching sales at the American Film Market.

Kyrgyzstan is one area of the world that that seldom gets coverage by sites like our for what we do. Alas, when a name like that of actor and influencer Shumkarbek Beishenaliev comes into the spotlight with a campaign for a local action comedy called The Ferryman, I’m keen to help draw some attention.

The campaign has officially begun for next year’s release of Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. Paramount and Skydance are releasing the film on May 23 and the first official teaser and poster have made their debut with none other than Tom Cruise front and center on the artwork, and in the requisite action that’s kept the franchise going since 1996.

It’s been close to twelve years since I restarted this journey a little more formally as a “news guy” – less so of a “review” guy as I was only just beginning to find my own rhythm. That search eventually evolved into something that implored me to be a little more responsible in how I watch movies, thusly calibrating a lot of my viewpoints into that of someone who some filmmakers won’t take kindly to. I’m okay with that, frankly, as I would rather be a critic and enjoy what I do than someone’s proverbial cat’s paw, and be a little more honest with my perceptions on film. Especially when it comes to action.

Remember news of a potential remake development for 2005’s A Bittersweet Life? Well, that is a thing yet again. The word now from Deadline’s Matt Grobar has it that Kevin McMullin is penning the script for a production to be overseen by Netflix, and by Chernin Entertainment’s Alex Jackson.

Cameras are now rolling as of this weeks in Bogota, Colombia for survival thriller, Coyote, from director Colin Minihan (What Keeps You Alive, Grave Encounters) as announced by Capstone Studios’ CEO Christian Mercuri. Cast includes Justin Long (Barbarian) and Kate Bosworth (Superman Returns, 21, Remember the Titans) with a script storied by by Daniel Meersand & Nick Simon (The Pyramid, The Girl in the Photographs) and Tad Daggerhart (The Expendables 4, Black Lotus), and written by Daggerhart and Simon.

I’m really fond of where my interest in film has taken me since I started this journey. I credit festivals for helping me open my eyes a little more, and now I can’t get enough of seeing classic kung fu, crime, and action out of boutiques like Arrow Video and even Film Movement which has been brimming its library up these days with throwbacks out of Japan.