(Left) Matt Dillon in ‘The House That Jack Built’. Photo: TrustNordisk. (Right) Stephan James in ‘Race’. Photo: Entertainment One Films.
Preview:
Matt Dillon and Stephan James are boarding new drama ‘I Play Rocky’.
Anthony Ippolito is playing Sylvester Stallone in the movie.
Peter Farrelly is in the director’s chair.
A little over a month since we learned that director Peter Farrelly had picked Anthony Ippolito to play Sylvester Stallone in the tumultuous making-of story of one of the classic sports movies –– that would be ‘Rocky’ –– we now know two of the names joining him in ‘I Play Rocky.’
(L to R) Sylvester Stallone and Carl Weathers in ‘Rocky’. Photo: United Artists.
Peter Gamble (‘Office Uprising’) wrote the script for this one, which follows a struggling actor with a partially paralyzed face and a speech impediment writes a script that a big movie studio wants to buy, but he refuses to sell it unless he gets to play the lead.
Turning down an offer of life-changing money, he instead works for pennies to get the movie made with himself in the starring role.
The movie became the biggest box office hit of 1976, notching 10 Oscar nominations and winning Best Picture.
A cultural touchstone that established Stallone as a Hollywood legend, the ‘Rocky’ franchise, distributed by United Artists and later MGM, remains one of the most iconic and financially successful sports film franchises of all time, with $1.7 billion in grosses between the original films and their ‘Creed’ spin-offs.
Where else can we see Matt Dillon and Stephan James?
Matt Dillon in ‘High Desert,’ now streaming on Apple TV.
Anthony Ippolito has landed the starring role as Sylvester Stallone in ‘ I Play Rocky’.
Peter Farrelly is directing.
It’ll chronicle the making of ‘Rocky’.
It’s been more than a year since we reported on Peter Farrelly agreeing to direct based-on-truth, behind-the-scenes movie ‘I Play Rocky’, which chronicles Sylvester Stallone’s efforts to land the lead in the boxing classic he set up.
This marks the second time Ippolito will play an iconic Italian-American actor, as his most notable previous credit was as Al Pacino in Paramount+ series ‘The Offer’, itself a look at the difficult production of ‘The Godfather’.
(L to R) Sylvester Stallone and Carl Weathers in ‘Rocky’. Photo: United Artists.
The new movie, set up at Amazon MGM Studios and written by Peter Gamble, chronicles the true Hollywood story about an unknown actor with an unshakable belief that he wasn’t just meant to write Rocky — he was meant to be Rocky Balboa.
Told “no” at every turn, Stallone bets everything on himself, holding the line on playing the lead against seemingly impossible odds. The result is the ultimate underdog story behind the ultimate underdog movie.
Ippolito had a similar approach to his own role –– when he learned the movie was being made, he created and sent in his own audition tape directly to the producers, landing the role in the process.
Toby Emmerich, the former Warner Bros. Motion Picture chief, is one of the main producers and had this to say:
“I’ve been a fan of Peter Farrelly as both a filmmaker and a person since getting to work with him on the music for ‘Dumb and Dumber’. But it was ‘Green Book’ that made me think of Pete for this inspiring screenplay. Christian Baha and I feel blessed to have Pete at the helm for this movie. And like the unknown Stallone starring in Rocky, Pete will be conducting a worldwide search to discover another actor who just needs one shot — in ‘I Play Rocky’ — to show the world what he can do.”
Well, now they have that actor!
When will ‘I Play Rocky’ be on screens?
While Amazon MGM Studios has yet to confirm a release date, we do know this one is currently being set as a theatrical movie.
Sylvester Stallone in ‘Rocky’. Photo: United Artists.
(Left) Noah Centineo stars in ‘The Recruit.’ (Right) Sylvester Stallone in ‘First Blood’. Photo: Orion Pictures.
Preview:
Noah Centineo has landed the lead in ‘John Rambo’.
He’ll play the character made famous by Sylvester Stallone.
Jalmari Helander is directing.
You might recall that back in May, word arrived that Millennium Media was looking to turn back the clock on the story of John Rambo –– the troubled action character famously played by Sylvester Stallone –– for a new prequel pic called ‘John Rambo’.
As for Stallone? The trade site reports that he’s aware of the new development, and Centineo’s attachment, but hasn’t yet decided to be involved in any capacity.
What we do know is that Jalmari Helander, who made 2022’s action thriller ‘Sisu’, will be handling the movie, with a shoot set to kick off early next year in Thailand.
Sylvester Stallone in ‘First Blood’. Photo: Orion Pictures.
It’s worth remembering here that the character didn’t originate on the screen; Rambo was created by David Morell in his 1972 novel ‘First Blood.’
The 1982 adaptation featured a script by Michael Kozoll, William Sackheim and Stallone, with Ted Kotcheff in the director’s chair, calling the shots (and explosions).
Stallone starred as veteran Green Beret who is forced by a cruel sheriff and his deputies to flee into the mountains and wage an escalating one-man war against his pursuers.
It was a gritty, stripped-down and smaller-scale entry compared to what the franchise evolved into with 1985’s ‘Rambo: First Blood Part II’ which blew things up into a much more blockbuster action level.
That one saw Rambo returning to the jungles of Vietnam on a mission to infiltrate an enemy base-camp and rescue the American POWs still held captive there.
The five movies in the franchise have generated more than $800 million worldwide. The most recent update, 2019’s ‘Rambo: Last Blood,’ produced by Millennium and Stallone’s Balboa company, made $92 million at the box office.
As for the plot of the new one? It’ll focus on Rambo’s Vietnam days, but the specific story isn’t yet known beyond the team developing it, which includes ‘Black Adam’ writers Rory Haines and Sohrab Noshirvani.
And Centineo? His pertinent recent experience would be this year’s based-on-truth ‘Warfare’ co-directed by Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza, which chronicled a traumatic battle for Navy SEALS in Iraq.
When will ‘John Rambo’ be on screens?
The movie hasn’t yet landed a distributor, but Deadline’s report mentions that Lionsgate is he front-runner, having released the most recent two Rambo pics and worked with Helander on ‘Sisu’.
Sylvester Stallone in ‘First Blood’. Photo: Orion Pictures.
Taika Waititi is putting a ‘Judge Dredd’ movie together.
Drew Pearce is attached to write the script.
The package is out to studios.
UK comics icon Judge Dredd –– the muscular, gruff dystopian lawman who rides a hulking bike and dishes out justice while calling perps “creeps” –– is no stranger to movie screens, having been adapted twice before.
(L to R) Diane Lane and Sylvester Stallone in ‘Judge Dredd’. Photo: Buena Vista Pictures Distribution.
Created in the late 1970s by writer John Wagner and artist Carlos Ezquerra, the character of Dredd debuted in the pages of weekly British anthology 2000 AD.
He is a police officer in the bleak future metropolis of Mega-City One, part of a law enforcement corps that empowers officers to be judge, jury, and executioner.
The character and his stories were a satire on a judicial system taken to the extreme. Dredd proved hugely popular, engendering several more comics and comics strips, video and board games, books, and even postage stamps in the United Kingdom.
Given what’s happening on America’s streets right now, the concept feels less like satire and more like documentary, but it’s also certainly rich territory for Waititi, who has put his own stamp on even the MCU.
As mentioned above, if it goes through this would represent the third produced version of the character, following the big-budget 1995 adaptation ‘Judge Dredd’ starring Sylvester Stallone that was harshly judged by critics and audiences.
There are few official details for how Waititi and Pearce’s version will differ, but they apparently both grew up on the comics. Dredd might be more of a risk, though, as Waititi has tried to tackle classic sci-fi in the past, with ‘Akira’ slipping through his fingers.
Waititi has been a little quieter of late since 2023’s soccer comedy drama ‘Next Goal Wins’, but he has new movie ‘Klara and the Sun’ on the way this year.
‘Tulsa King’ follows New York mafia capo Dwight (Stallone), just after he is released from prison after 25 years and unceremoniously exiled by his boss to set up shop in Tulsa, Okla.
Realizing that his mob family may not have his best interests in mind, Dwight slowly builds a “crew” from a group of unlikely characters to help him establish a new criminal empire in a place that to him might as well be another planet.
Production on Season 3 of ‘Tulsa King’ has been underway in Atlanta and Oklahoma for a couple of months. Jackson is expected to film his episodes in July, with production on ‘NOLA King’ eying a February start.
The series’ second season debut set a Paramount+ record for most watched global premiere at the time with a reported 21.1 million global streaming viewers.
Dave Erickson, who is showrunner and head writer on both ‘Tulsa King’ and another Sheridan show, ‘Mayor of Kingstown’ (that one stars Jeremy Renner), will stay aboard ‘Kingstown’ but swap his showrunner duties on ‘Tulsa King’ for ‘NOLA King as that gears up to start production.
The new show apparently sprang from an idea by Chris McCarthy, President and CEO of Showtime and MTV Entertainment Studios, looking to expand the world of ‘Tulsa King’ the way Sheridan’s ‘Yellowstone’ has spawned multiple offshoots.
Given his prolific career, it might be easier to talk about what he isn’t working on, but Jackson is as ever, busy.
He’s part of the cast for apocalyptic pic ‘Afterburn,’ which is based on the Red 5 Comics graphic novel by Scott Chitwood, Paul Ens and artist Wayne Nichols, and set 10 years after a solar flare has wiped out technology across the globe.
Dave Bautista will play ex-soldier Jake, who works as a treasure hunter recovering valuable objects from the old world for powerful clients. His latest mission is to team with freedom fighter Drea to recover the Mona Lisa before an unhinged warlord gets there first –– all while avoiding mutated creatures that roam the territory.
Jackson will play the supporting role of freedom fighter Valentine. Despite the starry cast, that movie appears to be in something of a release limbo for now.
And then there’s Renny Harlin’s new action thriller ‘The Beast,’ in which Jackson’s U.S. President, in response to an armed coup, must rely on the extensive defensive capabilities of the titular presidential vehicle.
Trivia note: in 2023, the Guinness Book of World Records declared Jackson the actor with the highest-grossing collective box office of all time, with his films (including the ‘Avengers’ franchise and hits like ‘Pulp Fiction’ — for which he was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor — and ‘Jurassic Park’) bringing more than a cumulative $7 billion. All told, Jackson has appeared in more than 150 films.
When will ‘NOLA King’ be on screens?
Given that Jackson still has to film his scenes on ‘Tulsa King’ to set up the new show and ‘NOLA King’ doesn’t even kick off production until early next year, our best guess for a premiere date at this point is later in 2026.
Sylvester Stallone in ‘First Blood’. Photo: Orion Pictures.
Preview:
A ‘Rambo’/‘First Blood’ prequel is in the works.
It’ll follow John Rambo’s days in Vietnam.
‘Sisu’s Jalmari Helander is aboard to direct.
We’ve reached a point where almost any major franchise is being looked at as something that needs all its narrative nooks and crannies filled in. And yes, there have been famous examples of prequels that added useful layers to movies that had gone before –– ‘The Godfather Part II’ is just one of them, and ‘Star Wars’Disney+ series ‘Andor’ has done some immaculate work filling in the gaps before what we saw in 2016’s ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.’
Word, however, via Deadline, arrives that the Rambo series kicked off by ‘First Blood’ in 1982, is in line for its own story of what happened before, makes us wonder whether the reasoning is truly to expand the story or simply to mine new potential profit from an existing franchise.
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Especially since the new development comes from Millennium Media, which has rarely found an action premise it didn’t want to spin into a multi-movie story from ‘Olympus Has Fallen’ to the ‘The Expendables.’
Still, it is going forward, with Millennium hiring Rory Haines and (who worked on ‘Black Adam’) figuring out the script and ‘Sisu’ director Jalmari Helander gearing up to bring what is currently called ‘John Rambo’ to screens, with a shoot aimed for October in Thailand.
Here’s what Millennium President Jonathan Yunger had to say about the new development:
“We are thrilled to introduce a fresh new chapter to the ‘Rambo’ legacy. This project is a tribute to one of the best franchises in movie history that will appeal to both longtime fans and new audiences alike. With Jalmari Helander at the helm — a filmmaker of exceptional vision and energy — we’ve found the perfect director to deliver a high-concept action-packed experience.”
And here’s Helander:
“I have been the biggest fan of Rambo since the age of 11. It is so surreal to be in a situation where I can actually make my own ‘Rambo’ movie. The chain of events that got me here makes, in a fantastic way, my whole childhood make sense. I can’t wait to bring the greatest action hero back to the big screen where he belongs.”
Sylvester Stallone in ‘First Blood’. Photo: Orion Pictures.
It’s worth remembering here that the character didn’t originate on the screen; Rambo was created by David Morell in his 1972 novel ‘First Blood.’
The 1982 adaptation featured a script by Michael Kozoll, William Sackheim and Sylvester Stallone, with Ted Kotcheff in the director’s chair, calling the shots (and explosions).
Stallone also starred as veteran Green Beret who is forced by a cruel sheriff and his deputies to flee into the mountains and wage an escalating one-man war against his pursuers.
It was a gritty, stripped-down and smaller-scale entry compared to what the franchise evolved into with 1985’s ‘Rambo: First Blood Part II,’ which blew things up into a much more blockbuster action level.
That one saw Rambo returning to the jungles of Vietnam on a mission to infiltrate an enemy base-camp and rescue the American POWs still held captive there.
The five movies in the franchise have generated more than $800 million worldwide. The most recent update, 2019’s ‘Rambo: Last Blood,’ produced by Millennium and Stallone’s Balboa company, made $92 million at the box office.
What would the story be for ‘John Rambo’?
Filmmaker Jalmari Helander. Photo: Golden Globes Website.
Little is known about specifics yet; beyond that it’ll follow the origin story of a young John Rambo during the Vietnam War. We know that some serious stuff went down for Rambo, so expecting to be both action-packed and traumatic for whoever gets the lead role.
As to that question, no-one has been cast yet; the idea of someone trying to strap on Sly’s bandana is not an easy one. Plus, reactions to big prequels such as this are always mixed –– unless you get it right, it’s usually seen as a wasted opportunity.
Helander at least feels like a solid pair of hands: ‘Sisu’ was very effective and he can clearly orchestrate action that also blends in emotion.
Haines and Noshirvani are more of a concern, but they did also write the likes of 2021’s ‘The Mauritanian’ and worked on Prime Video series ‘The Informer.’
And if you’re wondering whether the most recognizable person of the ‘Rambo’ movies –– Stallone –– is involved, Deadline’s story includes mention that he’s been made aware of the new development, but is not yet involved. The producers are reportedly hoping he might at least cameo, but don’t hold your breath.
When will ‘John Rambo’ be in theaters?
Millennium has the rights to the movie available at this year’s Cannes Market, and while we can certainly imagine interest in it, there is no distributor attached yet so no release date to report.
Sylvester Stallone in ‘First Blood’. Photo: Orion Pictures.
Michael B. Jordan announces ‘Creed’ spin-off ‘Delphi’ at the Amazon Upfront on May 13th, 2025. Photo: Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images for Amazon
Preview:
Michael B. Jordan is developing a ‘Creed’ TV spin-off.
‘Delphi’ would be set in the movies’ boxing gym.
Marco Ramirez is aboard to run the show.
With the success of the ‘Creed’ movies so far –– as kicked off back in 2015 with Ryan Coogler co-writing and directing the original –– it was only a matter of time before we got to see it expand beyond the big screen.
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Leading man (and executive producer) Michael B. Jordan made no secret of the fact that he wanted the ‘Creed’ universe to keep on developing –– around the release of ‘Creed III,’ which Jordan stepped up to also direct, he made mention of ruminating future plans.
Those have become reality with Jordan announcing at the Amazon Upfronts that a new spin-off TV series called ‘Delphi’ is in the works for Prime Video. So we can expect plenty more pugilism in our small screen future.
(L to R) Michael B. Jordan as Adonis Creed, Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa in ‘Creed II.’ Photo: MGM.
The ‘Creed’ story begins with that original movie, itself a spin-off from the iconic ‘Rocky’ franchise, and introducing us to Adonis “Donnie” Creed (Jordan), the illegitimate son of the late fighter Apollo Creed (played in the original films by Carl Weathers).
Reconnecting with his legacy, Adonis starts training to box in more advanced matches, and ends up working with Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) himself.
Donnie also forges a relationship with musician Bianca (Tessa Thompson), who has her own challenges, including a worsening hearing issue.
Through the movies, Donnie faces various challenges (and challengers), including in ‘Creed II,’ the formidable son of Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren reprising his iconic role from ‘Rocky IV’) and, in ‘Creed III,’ old neighborhood friend Damian Anderson (Jonathan Majors), who went to prison years ago and has returned burning with a vengeful spirit.
The Delphi Boxing Academy is the Los Angeles-based boxing gym founded by Tony “Duke” Evers where Apollo Creed trained for many years.
Now run by Evers’ son, Tony “Little Duke” Evers (played by Wood Harris in the movies), the Delphi gym is home to Adonis.
Here’s what Jordan had to say about the show at the Amazon Upfront:
“The series that takes us back to where it all began. What I love about this story is that it stays true to what the ‘Rocky’ and ‘Creed’ franchise is all about: hard work, determination, fighting for something bigger than yourself. It’s about family, the ones we’re born into and the ones that we created. We’re building something special here, and I’m excited to introduce you to new fighters that will walk into the Delphi. As always, in ‘Creed’ we say, one step, one round, one punch at a time.”
Marco Ramirez will serve as showrunner and executive producer on the series. He’s no stranger to the world of boxing, as he recently created and served as showrunner on the Hulu boxing drama ‘La Máquina’ starring Gael Garcia Bernal, Diego Luna and Eiza González.
Jordan will executive produce under his Outlier Society banner along with Liz Raposo. Winkler Films’ Irwin Winkler, David Winkler, and Charles Winkler also executive produce.
Whether Jordan shows up as Adonis on screen remains to be seen, but we’d bet good money that he’ll at least grace the show in the pilot to kick things off.
And notable by his absence? Stallone, who has increasingly moved away from the ‘Creed’ franchise and doesn’t seem to want to be as closely connected as he once was.
He’s currently in movie theaters leading Coogler’s ‘Sinners,’ which has been doing great business at the box office. The story of twin brothers (both played by Jordan) who look to start a juke joint in their old home town in 1930s Mississippi, only to discover a lurking threat from some fanged fiends.
‘Sinners’ has so far earned more than $280 million at the worldwide box office, and has been showing incredible staying power, especially for an original movie.
The actor/filmmaker has several projects in development, including a ‘Rainbow Six’ film that will see him return as special forces operative John Clark.
He’s also, to no-one’s surprise working up a fourth ‘Creed’ movie, which he’s expressed a desire to direct following his success with the third.
Before that, though, he’s preparing to direct a new take on 1968 heist movie ‘The Thomas Crown Affair,’ which he’ll also lead and appear opposite Taylor Russell.
Jordan told Variety last year that he felt like he had plenty of work still to do:
“I still feel like an underdog. I feel like I just got here, like I’ve just arrived, and I have the tools and the things around me to really be on the offensive a little bit.”
When will ‘Delphi’ be on our screens?
Prime Video has yet to announce a premiere date for the show. Since we have zero casting details or anything else on it yet, we’d be shocked if it arrived on the service much before 2026, and likely later in that year as it stands.
Ford and Wayne. Scorsese and De Niro. Burton and Depp. Ayer and Statham. Well, okay, that last one doesn’t quite fit with the others, but there’s no question that director David Ayer and action star Jason Statham – working together for the second movie in a row after 2024’s surprise hit ‘The Beekeeper’ – have an intense creative connection, at least when it comes to making numbing, sadistically violent thrillers that fully embrace Ayer’s retrograde macho tendencies and Statham’s stoic, limited-range acting and admirably intense physicality.
In fact, with a few tweaks to the screenplay (co-written by Ayer and, of all people, Sylvester Stallone, from the novel ‘Levon’s Trade’ by Chuck Dixon), ‘A Working Man’ could almost be ‘The Beekeeper 2.’ But it’s not: while ‘The Beekeeper’ was smart enough amid its overall dopiness to deploy a unique villain – those phishing robocallers who bilk unsuspecting grandmas and grandpas out of their life savings – that genuinely touched a nerve with viewers, ‘A Working Man’ falls back on two of the most overused action movie tropes of recent years: Russian gangsters and human trafficking, with a light seasoning of ‘John Wick’-style weirdness to make you think it’s more interesting than it looks. But guess what: it’s not.
Story and Direction
‘A Working Man’ director and co-writer David Ayer.
That’s not to say we weren’t entertained by ‘A Working Man’; like ‘The Beekeeper,’ there’s something about the simplistic nature of its plot and protagonist – at least at first – that sucks us in, helped enormously by Statham’s oddball charisma and the sense that he’s playing the straight man inside his own cinematic joke. This time out, he’s former Royal Marines commando Levon Cade, whose origin story is sketched out under the opening credits: he’s done a lot of tough, sometimes bad stuff in all the world’s hot spots.
After 22 years of service, Levon now works as a foreman for a family-owned Chicago construction company, where the owners treat him like a member of their clan. But Levon can’t quite get the rest of his life together: he’s living in his car and fighting his ex-father-in-law – who views him as dangerous — for custody of his daughter (Isla Gie), following the suicide of his wife.
It’s because he’s trying to put that part of his life behind him that Levon is initially hesitant when his devastated boss Joe (Michael Peña) informs him that Joe’s teen daughter Jenny (Arianna Rivas) has been kidnapped during a night out with her friends and begs Levon to find her.
Levon’s reluctance lasts about three minutes, however: after a quick check-in with his former commando buddy, Gunny (David Harbour), who’s blind and now lives out in the woods with a convenient closetful of arms (“I am your weapons sommelier,” Harbour cracks), Levon gets to work. He quickly learns that Jenny has been snatched by members of a Russian crime cartel who plan to traffic her to high-paying customers with perverted tastes.
The rest of the movie follows a now well-worn formula as Levon blitzes his way through the Russian mob, from its foot soldiers to its captains to the boss’s sons. Also facing Levon’s wrath are a biker gang that deals drugs, a handful of rogue cops, and some genuine freaks brought in by the Russians to put Levon down (Ayer may have failed with his one superhero movie, ‘Suicide Squad,’ but his villains are getting more and more comic-booky).
As is standard, every single bullet fired at Levon misses, while he cuts the opposition down with ruthless machine-like efficiency and barely gets roughed up or scratched. Even one sequence when he finds himself at the mercy of two foppish Russians who wear matching outfits in different colors (“It’s our brand,” one explains) lasts only for a few moments. Levon frees himself and turns them into pulp in one of the film’s best sequences, an exciting brawl in the narrow confines of a careening van that pays tribute to the classic train fight from the James Bond film ‘From Russia with Love.’
But the deeper Levon wades into the world of ‘A Working Man,’ the less interesting it becomes. As we said earlier, the Russian villains and trafficking scheme are overused already, and Ayer’s attempts to make it weirder – such as the main Russian gangster being an almost Dracula-like figure, or the final battle taking place at a hidden casino/brothel where the oligarchal clientele dresses in finery and capes – are more head-scratching than anything else, just like the absurdly large, cartoonish moon that hovers over the film’s closing scenes.
Still, if you’re here to just see Statham kicking butt for the better part of two hours, ‘A Working Man’ remains your jam. Despite the more generic nature of the enemy, the repetitive structure of the screenplay, and the almost callous glee Ayer seems to take in having Statham execute people in some horrible ways (the rationale, we presume, is just how gross these folks are to begin with), this is the kind of mind-free crowd-pleaser that the star has cornered the market on. When you can see it, that is: Shawn White’s cinematographer is often dark and murky, especially during the climactic battles, while the editing tends to get a little spasmodic as well during the action set pieces.
Sure, there’s a cast here and it even includes some name players, but Jason Statham is front and center as always – even if Levon, for all his problems, has no discernible character arc. Like Adam Clay from ‘The Beekeeper,’ he’s outraged by injustice and loyal to a fault, but once he’s committed to his mission, there are no longer any doubts or conflicts and he more or less finishes the film in the same place he started it.
Statham is a little more stone-faced here than he was in ‘The Beekeeper,’ although we do actually get to see him smile once or twice, particularly in the scenes with Levon’s daughter. About that, though: while Statham can kick the crap out of people convincingly all day long, he just doesn’t have the bandwidth to generate true fatherly warmth, as hard as he tries.
As for everyone else, the reliably quirky David Harbour and Michael Peña are wasted in too-brief appearances, with the latter disappearing after the first act and only showing up again briefly at the end (there’s also something vaguely racist with Ayer’s portrayal of Peña’s extended Latino family, who all seem to live in the same house together).
A potentially fun reunion between Statham and his ‘Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels’ mate Jason Flemyng is also woefully cut short, as Statham has many more members of the Russian crime world to plow through. Arianna Rivas’ Jenny explains in some helpful early exposition that her uncle taught her how to fight, so at least she does get to refreshingly push back against her captors. As for those captors, and the armies of Russian mafia soldiers that seem to endlessly crawl out of the woodwork, they range from “over-the-top” to “automaton,” with all of them having the personalities of characters in a first-person shooter.
In a way, ‘A Working Man’ is the cinematic equivalent of a first-person shooter, except you can see your avatar and it looks just like Jason Statham. And while the game can be fun while you’re playing it, you forget all about it as soon as you turn the machine off.
‘A Working Man’ (and other Statham movies) are just like that: a cathartic way to watch hordes of bad guys get killed, only with a slight seasoning of vague social commentary and the notion that Levon Cade or Adam Clay or whatever Statham is called this time has righteousness on his side. In David Ayer, he’s found the perfect partner to get the job done.
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What is the plot of ‘A Working Man’?
Levon Cade (Jason Statham), an ex-Royal Marines commando, leads a peaceful life as a construction worker in Chicago. However, Levon is forced to use his old set of skills to find his boss’s teenaged daughter Jenny (Arianna Rivas), who had been kidnapped by human traffickers, and soon uncovers a conspiracy of corruption and government agents’ involvement in human trafficking.
Scott Eastwood as “Joe” in the action crime thriller ‘Alarum’, a Lionsgate release. Photo courtesy of Lionsgate.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Scott Eastwood about his work on ‘Alarum’, his first reaction to the screenplay, his character’s marriage, working with Mike Colter and their characters’ unlikely alliance, what he learned from working with the legendary Sylvester Stallone, and collaborating with the stunt team on the action sequences, as well as the future of the ‘Fast & Furious‘ franchise.
You can watch the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch the interview.
Scott Eastwood as “Joe” in the action crime thriller ‘Alarum’, a Lionsgate release. Photo courtesy of Lionsgate.
Moviefone: To begin with, what was your first reaction this screenplay, your character, and exploring the spy world?
Scott Eastwood: Well, to be honest, I really liked the writing. I think Stallone gravitated to the writing. The way that the characters spoke it reminded me of old movies from the ’80s or ’90s. Just the writing was interesting. I will say though, this movie was supposed to take place on a tropical island and at a tropical resort. We were going to make it at the end of 2023, and I don’t know if you remember, but the economy was tight and the film market was tight, and so trying to get it made for the right budget to go and do it was a huge feat. So, the thing got switched last second to make it in a state that would give us some tax rebate and we could go and make it. So, it wasn’t exactly the way it was written, but we made it work and we changed it to Eastern Europe.
MF: Michael Caine has said publically that he picks projects based on where they are filming. Is that something you do as well, and how disappointed were you when the production changed locations?
SE: Oh yeah. Big time. I like warm movies. I think this movie would’ve been interesting, hot, sweaty, and sexy, but it is what it is. If you want to make a movie, sometimes you got to just roll with the punches.
MF: In a lot of ways, ‘Alarum’ is a love story. Can you talk about that, the dynamics of Joe’s marriage to Laura, and working with Willa Fitzgerald?
SE: It’s about their complicated relationship, right? You marry a spy and things are going to get complicated. She’s great. By the way, she’s super physical. I think she was a dancer, so she has a real control over her body. She’s just great. She’s a cool person. She’s fun.
Willa Fitzgerald as “Lara” in the action crime thriller ‘Alarum’, a Lionsgate release. Photo courtesy of Lionsgate.
MF: Did you know Sylvester Stallone before working with him on this movie?
SE: I believe we’d met in passing many years ago, but he was on my list. He was on the rolling list of guys I really want to work with.
MF: What did you learn from working with him?
SE: He’s an action icon and getting to work with a guy like that, with an iconography of that kind of body of work, it’s cool. He’s a legend, so just getting to work with him is good enough for me.
MF: In addition to being a legendary actor, Stallone is also a very accomplished writer and director. Do you see that side of his brain working while he is acting on set?
SE: So, people ask what kind of questions I asked him, and they were less fanfare questions and more writing and understanding material questions because he has such a good grasp of material and what makes good material versus mediocre material. You really can (see that in his work). I was telling people that the reason that his show (‘Tulsa King’) I think is so successful is because he really understands his character and his iconography, who he is, what age he is, how he should play that guy that he plays, and he makes it light, hard and fun. I think because he writes on those shows that they’re very interesting because of that.
(L to R) Scott Eastwood as “Joe” and Sylvester Stallone as “Chester” in the action crime thriller ‘Alarum’, a Lionsgate release. Photo courtesy of Lionsgate.
MF: Have you seen your process as an actor change because of working with Stallone?
SE: I think every chance you work on a film is a good learning experience. Right? Do you pick up something? Do you pick up the way a director does something, the way an actor approaches material? There’s always learning experiences.
MF: Can you talk about the relationship between Joe and Chester? Was Chester a mentor to Joe at one point?
SE: Yeah, a former mentor, they did missions together, and then the spy world is full of betrayal, which I love. You never know who is going to betray who, so I thought that was interesting.
MF: Can you talk about the unlikely alliance that Joe makes with Mike Colter’s character?
SE: I mean look, they make an alliance I think, out of necessity. Not because they wanted to, but they got to do it. They need to stick together.
Mike Colter as “Orlin” in the action crime thriller ‘Alarum’, a Lionsgate release. Photo courtesy of Lionsgate.
MF: Joe has a military background, and you have appeared in other movies where your character has a similar background and you’ve prepared for those roles with weapons and military training. Since you’ve done that training in the past for other movies, do you go through that training again for each role, or does that training stay with you from movie to movie?
SE: A lot of that stuff sort of sticks once you know it. I’ve gone through a few immersion training programs, especially with weapons and close-quarter combat training and stuff that’s stuck in my mind. It’s like once you ride a bike you know how to do it. You might need to brush up if you’re going to do a scene that’s dynamic, you might want to brush up like the day before work with somebody again just to refresh, but it comes back quick.
MF: Can you talk about the action sequences and working on those with the stunt team? Was there any sequence that you found particularly difficult to execute?
SE: I think it’s just always making it look good and that’s the challenge. We had a very short schedule. This movie was made in a tough economical time, so we had a very short schedule and to try to get the action to look cool and make sure it was believable and good is always tough when you have less time to do it. When you have more time to do it, you have a longer schedule, you can dial it in, you can shoot it from a lot of different angles, you have more time to tell that story and make it look cool. The pressure cooker is on the stunt guys, on the stunt team, on my stunt double, and on me. All those things we’re running and gunning and we’re trying to make it look good.
MF: Do you like working like that, or are you more comfortable on a bigger movie where there is more time and money to get the action sequences right?
SE: Yeah, there’s a fine line. I think you get on the ‘Fast & Furious’ sometimes and they become so disconnected from the action because you have a full second unit that could be as big as most first-unit movies and I think I like it somewhere in between. I like typically a 40-day schedule to 45-day schedule for a movie. I think it gives you enough time, but also keeps the actors connected to the action, which I think makes it look better and more realistic sometimes.
(Clockwise, from left) Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), Han (Sung Kang), Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel), Dom (Vin Diesel), Little Brian (Leo Abelo Perry), Abuelita (Rita Moreno), Mia (Jordana Brewster), Tej (Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges, back to camera) and Roman (Tyrese Gibson, back to camera) in ‘Fast X,’ directed by Louis Leterrier.
MF: Finally, what has it been like for you to join the ‘Fast & Furious’ family and are you excited to start shooting ‘Fast X: Part 2’?
SE: It’s always a great time getting to work with Vin (Diesel), Tyrese (Gibson), Ludacris and all the foes, including Jason (Momoa). It’s always fun because it is like a big family and so it’s fun to jump in and get your rounds in the ring.
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What is the plot of ‘Alarum’?
Two spies (Scott Eastwood and Willa Fitzgerald) go rogue so that they can get married, but their remote cabin comes under attack from various intelligence agencies, each looking for a stolen hard drive.
(L to R) Sylvester Stallone as “Chester,” Willa Fitzgerald as “Lara” and Scott Eastwood as “Joe” in the action crime thriller ‘Alarum’, a Lionsgate release. Photo courtesy of Lionsgate.
Yet as these things always seem to do, the project has since evolved back into more of a reboot, with Stallone dropping out (hopefully not down a giant cliff) and the storyline switching to characters played by Lily James and Pierce Brosnan.
And there have also been some changes behind the camera, too.
What’s the story of this new ‘Cliffhanger’?
Lily James on the set of ‘Cliffhanger’. Photo: Rocket Science.
The first change beyond the stars for the movie is in the script, which is based on a story by Ana Lily Amirpour (who was involved with the film back in another incarnation in 2019). Variety has heard it described as a father-daughter take on ‘Die Hard.’
Brosnan will play seasoned mountaineer Ray Cooper, who operates a luxury chalet in the Dolomites with daughter Sydney.
During a weekend trip with a billionaire’s son, they are targeted by a gang of kidnappers. Ray’s other daughter Naomi (James), still haunted by a past climbing accident, witnesses the attack and escapes. To save her family, she must confront her fears and fight for survival.
While Ric Roman Waugh was aboard to direct the film when Sly was still aboard, the reins have now passed to ‘Non-Stop’s Jaume Collet-Serra, with the producing team of Rocket Science still aboard after all these different iterations.
Collet-Serra is busy rolling cameras on the movie now in Austria and offered up this statement:
“Shooting our movie on location in the Dolomites using large format cameras was imperative for us to show the scope and scale of the story we’re telling. We’re going to bring the audience a truly thrilling and visceral, premium theatrical experience. Lily in particular has gone above and beyond for the role, putting in real training and learning to climb. Her dedication has allowed us to capture some incredible shots we couldn’t have achieved otherwise, and the whole crew is blown away by her commitment.”
When will the new ‘Cliffhanger’ dangle into theaters?
Rocket Science will be offering domestic distribution rights to the movie, with CAA Media selling international.
Which is a longwinded way of saying that there is no studio aboard yet, so we’ll have to wait for any release date details. But the fact remains that the movie shooting at all is a big step forward.
(L to R) Lily James and Richard Madden in ‘Cinderella’. Photo: Walt Disney Studios.
