Frank Grillo has opened up about the long-stalled Hollywood remake of The Raid, a project he was attached to during its development.
In a recent interview with Kristian Harloff, Grillo detailed the challenges the team faced in trying to reimagine Gareth Evans’ 2011 Indonesian action thriller – a modern classic in the action genre.
“We got the option on the script from Sony,” Grillo shared. “I was supposed to do The Raid with Taylor Kitsch and Anthony Mackie when it was at Sony, but it fell apart—I don’t remember why.” Grillo explained that the rights eventually shifted to XYZ Films, which reignited the project. He brought the idea to frequent collaborator Joe Carnahan (The Grey, Boss Level, Copshop), but the two ultimately couldn’t make it work. “We just couldn’t get the script right,” he admitted. “That original Raid is such a singular movie; it’s a tough movie to remake.”
Directed by Welsh filmmaker Gareth Evans, The Raid follows an Indonesian police tactical team trapped in a Jakarta apartment complex controlled by a ruthless drug lord. The squad must fight their way out, facing increasingly brutal combat. Starring Iko Uwais, Joe Taslim, and Yayan Ruhian, the film earned international acclaim for its jaw-dropping fight choreography and relentless pace, solidifying its status as a genre-defining action thriller.
Grillo, a fan of the original film, expressed that he was sceptical about remaking it in the first place. “Personally, I don’t need to see The Raid remade, you know – not with American people.”
Efforts to adapt The Raid have been ongoing since Sony acquired the North American distribution rights in 2011. Sony subsidiary Screen Gems initially brought Gareth Evans on board as an executive producer, with plans to involve the original film’s choreographers. In 2014, Aussie filmmaker Patrick Hughes (The Expendables 3, The Hitman’s Bodyguard) was announced as the director, and Chris and Liam Hemsworth were reportedly considered for roles. Grillo officially joined the project that year, but production delays and creative hurdles led to its collapse.
A later version, led by Carnahan with Grillo still attached, also failed to materialise. “We brought in Byron Balasco, who wrote [MMA drama series] Kingdom, to help with the script, but it was just never there,” Grillo said. “We could have made a version of it, but we were like, ‘People aren’t going to like this.’”
The most recent attempt at a remake surfaced in January 2022, with Netflix announcing plans to develop a new version directed by Hughes, produced by Michael Bay, and executive produced by Evans. Updates on that iteration have been scarce, leaving the project’s status uncertain.
Reflecting on the repeated challenges of remaking The Raid, Grillo remarked, “If something is that difficult to recreate, I think it’s telling you something. The movie’s telling you something.”
