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By: John M Jerva
One of my favorite action stars from the 90’s, the new millenium and today for that matter has to be French kickboxing legend Olivier Gruner who starred in a host of butt kicking films like Angel Town, Mercenary, Nemesis, Savate and, of course, The Circuit which bred three films. The story of one man drawn back into the world of illegal underground street fighting featured some of Gruner’s best fight sequences and I’m happy to report that he’s back and better than ever.
A new TV series based on The Circuit films has been in production for sometime now and I have been curiously following updates on Gruner’s social media and now we have a brand new teaser for the show which showcases Gruner doing what he does best. Check out the new footage below!
Plot details are not available right now but we do know that Jalal Merhi, another staple of 90’s action, is involved and is serving as director. Merhi helmed all three films and was also a star of 90’s action back in the day and had a role in the film as well. The cast is a great who’s who of action proven talent like the great Eric Roberts, Richard Tyson and The Sandman himself Patrick Kilpatrick. I also caught a glimpse of The Horde’s Paul Logan as well which is always welcome. We also see martial arts and action director legend Art Camacho which certainly puts a stamp of action authenticity to the project.
The original series of films had Gruner starring as Dirk Longstreet, who was the champion of an illegal fighting circuit. When Longstreet walked away from that life, he was eventually pulled back in by nefarious individuals to compete once again. The original also starred another favorite of mine in Bryan Genesse and although he diden’t engage in any fistiuffs, he still played a decent villain. Martial Arts star Loren Avedon (King Of The Kickboxers) also had a supporing role.
The subsequent sequel, The Circuit 2: The Final Punch, had Longstreet going undercover in a prison to stop a fighting ring and also starred the great Lorenzo Lamas who did throwdown a little. The third and final film, The Circuit 3: Street Monk (AKA The Circuit 3: Final Flight), wasn’t officially released in North America but it continued the adventures of Gruner’s Longstreet and saw DVD releases overseas.
We are assuming that Gruner is reprising his role of Dirk Longstreet and that Roberts is responsible in some way, shape or form for drawing him back into a life of violence.
Film One is producing the series which will contain 13 hour long episodes and from the new teaser just released, there looks like there will be no shortage of extreme empty handed fight action.
The teaser does announce a 2020 release so lets hope it finds a home somewhere so we all can get our VHS martial arts action fix once again as this show has a distinct throwback vibe to all the great chop socky flicks from that era.
I’m all over this project and as soon as we know more, you will know more so keep it locked and loaded right here for more to come on The Circuit and in the meantime, indulge in the teaser below!
Check out the trailers for the three films below and if you can, seek them out if you’re a lover of DTV martial arts action!
About The Author: John M Jerva is the owner and editor-in-chief of Action-Flix.com and is a DIE HARD fan of everyhting Action! From the glorious past to the thrilling future, John lives and breathes action!
[…] out my initial article I wrote up last winter which features some BTS Images and more along with a promo teaser that […]
[…] out my initial article I wrote up a few year back which features some BTS Images and more along with a promo teaser that […]