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It looks like Christmas might just have come early for martial arts fight film fanatics as Deadline is bringing word that the much delayed closing chapter in the Kickboxer reboot trilogy is finally looking to get a production start date going. Titled Kickboxer: Armageddon, it will see franchise star and reigning martial arts action hero Alain Moussi return as Kurt Sloan. Director Dimitri Logothetis, who helmed the second installment and produced both, is back in the directors chair as well.
Armageddon was put on the shelf a few years back as both Moussi and Logothetis went on to other projects like JIU-Jitsu which both men worked on together and Moussi recently filmed the graphic novel adaptation King of Killers with Frank Grillo which hits September 1st.
The script for Armageddon was written well before the writers strike and it’s being reported that the movie is actively seeking a SAG-AFTRA Interim Agreement with the goal being to launch production by this coming January.
The official synopsis for the third movie sees Sloan reeling as his wife and child are mercilessly killed by an explosion that was meant for him. Filled with wrath, Sloan runs a gauntlet through the Malaysian underground fight circuit to track down the man responsible who just happens to be Cesare, the brother of his trainer and good friend Master Durand played in the first two films by Jean-Claude Van Damme. JCVD, of course played Sloan in the original Kickboxer. Positively Shakespearean for a martial arts action movie plot if you ask me.
The Script was also penned by Logothetis along with Jim McGrath, who wrote the original reboot. Joel Shapiro and Rob Hickman will also once again join Logothetis as producers on the highly anticipated sequel. Reports are saying that Mine Tyson and genre icon Christopher Lambert could return but there is no mention of Van Damme or Sara Malakul, who played Sloan’s love interest, coming back. It would be a given that JCVD will return for the hat trick seeing that the villain is a twin brother of his character Durand so a showdown between Moussi and Van Damme would be a sure fire selling point.
I’ve actually written several articles on Kickboxer: Armageddon over the last few years (just Google the title on my site and there they will be) and spoke to Alain Moussi exclusively when the second movie came out and he gave me a sneak preview of what to expect. Basically, this one is going to blow viewers through their couches as it gets down and dirty and savage!
Oh, well with the third one, I have to tell you right now from reading the first draft of the script, this is by far the best script I’ve read for all three Kickboxer films just from the starting point. It amps up the action, it amps up the character which is really cool. Kurt Sloan’s journey is really interesting and it’s kind of like my journey as an actor because I still consider myself a total rookie. I’m learning as an actor all the time and I’m constantly training so I feel like the character is evolving like my evolution as an actor. The first film didn’t ask much of me in terms of performance. Dimitri told me that he wanted me to be as natural as possible. He said that he wanted to get as much of me into this role. Now with the second film, there’s a little more trauma. He’s thrown into jail in Thailand and there is more going on there. For me because of my experience and training, I can deliver more in the second film,”
He went on to say:
“Now in the third film, Kurt Sloan has to go deeper and darker. That’s where he is going right now and bad things happen and instead of being pulled into this world, he decides to go back into that world to put an end to it so that’s where the story is going. He’s going into a very dark place because he needs to put an end to all that has been done to him. I can’t tell exactly what it is (laughs) but that’s where the story is headed. He’s going on a rampage from one person to the next to find the people responsible and put an end to it. That’s why the look I have now is completely different. I’ve been growing my hair out and the beard and that’s all for Kickboxer 3. This movie is going to a totally different place than the last two which is great.” For the full interview for Kickboxer: Retaliation, click here!
You heard it here folks! Prepare yourselves for a more savage and deadly Kurt Sloan and hopefully the film will indeed roll cameras this January. Fingers crossed as we’ve been waiting on this one for a long time.
A teaser for the project dropped a few years back which highlighted Moussi’s new look in the film and was just enough TJ majecus salivate. Check out the initial tease below!
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