A remake of The Raid that’s been circling a start for years is finally going ahead at Netflix, the streamer aggressive in scoring a package with Michael Bay on board as producer.
Set to direct and co-write the film is Aussie helmer Patrick Hughes, whose credits include The Expendables 3, The Hitman’s Bodyguard, and its sequel, The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard. Writing the script with Hughes is fellow Aussie, James Beaufort. Bay and XYZ Films will be producing the picture with Gareth Evans, director and writer of the original Raid and its phenomenal sequel, attached as executive producer.
The kick-ass 2011 Indonesian-language actioner saw a S.W.A.T. team tasked with infiltrating a high-rise building run by a ruthless drug lord in the slums of Jakarta. Unfortunately for the bad guys, this S.W.A.T team happens to have one hell of a rookie, Rama (a breakout role for Iko Uwais).
The remake, as reported by Deadline (the outlet that broke the news), will be “set in Philadelphia’s drug-infested ‘Badlands,’ where an elite undercover DEA task force climbs a ladder of cartel informants to catch an elusive kingpin”.
Director Joe Carnahan (The Grey, Smokin’ Aces) had been attached to direct a Raid remake with Frank Grillo set to star. That failed to get off the ground, and when the rights lapsed, WME reps for both Bay and Hughes reportedly suggested that the two take it on. Word is that Bay and Hughes got along immediately and Hughes provided a pitch that attracted both Bay and Evans. The package was shopped around, Netflix swooped in, negotiations began, and voila.
Before we see what Hughes delivers with his Raid, we’ll see what he has in store with Kevin Hart and Woody Harrelson action-comedy The Man from Toronto, set for release in August.