The Raid: Redemption Remake Is “In The Vein Of Black Hawk Down And Zero Dark Thirty”

Though The Expendables 3 shot blanks at the box office last weekend, only mustering a weak $16.2 million, that threequel’s director Patrick Hughes is already moving onto hopefully bigger and better things by heading up Screen Gems’ remake of The Raid. It seems a little strange that an American remake would be thought necessary for a three-year-old Indonesian martial arts actioner that has already been widely embraced across the world, but here we are. And recently, Hughes provided more details on what we can expect from this new Raid.

In a Grantland article about The Expendables 3, Hughes briefly mentioned The Raid, revealing that the remake will boast twelve leads (one of whom is The Purge: Anarchy star Frank Grillo):

Stallone’s endorsement is already paying off for Hughes. As The Expendables 3 rolls into theaters, the director is prepping his next blockbuster: a remake of the 2011 Indonesian fight film The Raid: Redemption. He describes his version as being in the vein of Black Hawk Down and Zero Dark Thirty, signaling major departures. He’s casting the 12 integral roles of the film’s ensemble, with sights on shooting early next year. “After that, I’m pretty sure I won’t do a movie with ensembles, camouflage, and guns for a while.”

That description makes this remake sound like a far cry from Gareth Edwards’ original film, which was in no way an ensemble flick. Perhaps the changes in tone and set-up will be for the better, allowing fans of The Raid: Redemption to distance this remake enough to enjoy it on its own terms.

Hughes previously spoke about his desire to use the original film as a jumping-off point, not attempting to replicate it step-by-step. The director said of his plot:

Certainly, we’re not there to recreate that film beat for beat, with the set up we’re following a DEA task team, which was implemented by the Bush administration after September 11th when they realized that terrorism and the drug trade were so closely aligned. So they set up a DEA task team that’s six units and they work across borders and sort of act like Navy SEALS. You never read about it, you never hear about it, but they go on these missions. So that’s a really interesting take and a really nice premise and also what’s interesting on this take on it is the clash of cultures and the clash of martial arts, the fighting styles, which is something that’s going to be a lot of fun when we’ve really started pre-vizzing stuff.

The Raid remake is still figuring out its cast, with Taylor Kitsch, Chris Hemsworth and his brother Liam all having been rumored for starring roles over the past few months. But in lieu of an official cast, what are your thoughts on The Raid remake? Let us know below!