We’ve taken a look at Tony Jaa’s breakout hit Ong Bak in an episode of our Reel Action series that’s available on the JoBlo Originals Channel on YouTube. Since his first few Thai films, in which he was heavily involved in the action creation, Jaa would inevitably branch out into international films. Movies like Furious 7, xXx: The Return of Xander Cage, Skin Trade, Triple Threat and KillZone 2 would utilize him, but the Thai star wouldn’t quite reach the kind of showmanship that he displayed in his earlier movies.
The upcoming movie Striking Rescue may just be the return to form. And The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that the film has been acquired by frequent martial arts film distributor Well Go USA for the North American distribution rights. Per THR, “Directed by Cheng Siyi, the action revenge movie follows An Bai (Jaa), a veteran Muay Thai expert who goes on a take-no-prisoners mission of revenge after his wife and daughter are brutally murdered by mysterious forces. The film co-stars Chinese actors Hong Junjia and Shi Yanneng.”
The movie is an original production from the Chinese streaming service, Youku, which will be releasing the film to its subscribers in China on Friday. Striking Rescue will also be the first Youku original that has secured U.S. distribution, and the company is planning to make this the jumping-off point to expand their content and theatrical productions into the international markets. The hard-hitting action film was being shopped to international buyers at this week’s American Film Market by the sales outfit Blossoms Entertainment, which is based out of Beijing.
Additionally, a deal is also in place for the distribution by Shinesaeng Ad.Venture, which will see a theatrical release of Stiking Rescue in Jaa’s native country of Thailand. The film is scheduled to start screening in Thai movie theaters on December 5, followed by North American theaters on December 6.
Are you excited to see Jaa back in an elbow-striking, knee-flying starring role? Have you enjoyed the other movies in his filmography? Sound off below!
Last year, it was announced that the 1987 cult classic horror comedy Street Trash (buy it HERE) would be getting a remake from Ryan Kruger, the director of the 2020 body horror film Fried Barry! Kruger’s take on the concept, which moves the story from Brooklyn to South Africa, is now ready to make its way out into the world, as a premiere screening was held last month at the New Beverly Cinema. Cineverse holds the North American distribution rights and they’re planning to release the film through the Screambox streaming service on November 19th. The Street Trash remake will also receive a digital release on the same date.
The original Street Trash was directed by J. Michael Muro from a screenplay by Roy Frumkes. Fourteen years ago, Frumkes said he was working on the script for Street Trash 2… but that sequel never made it into production. Thankfully, Muro and Frumkes are both involved with the remake. They served as executive producers alongside Bad Dragon and Vinegar Syndrome.
The Street Trash remake follows a group of homeless misfits as they fight for survival when they discover a plot to exterminate every homeless person in the city. Variety assured that this new take on the concept “stays true to the original plot — which chronicles the disgusting decay of New York wanderers after ingesting bottles of toxic alcohol — but expounds the gore to create a metaphor for something much larger.”
When the project was first announced, Kruger provided the following statement: “Our reimagining of Street Trash takes place in Cape Town, South Africa where the growing divide between rich and poor has changed the world as we know it. I was a huge fan of the original Street Trash when I was a kid, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to introduce a whole new generation to the melted gonzo goodness that made the original such a classic. While our reimagining features new, exciting plot elements that give the film many bizarre twists and turns, the core of the film lies with our diverse and unique cast of characters. As a director, I am very character centric and I can’t wait to see our strange and hilarious ensemble on screen together as they navigate the hostile streets of Cape Town. Our version of Street Trash will be raw, hilarious, packed with vibrant characters and multi-colored explosions of gooey greatness.“
Fans of the Shudder series The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs might point out the fact that Fried Barry and the original Street Trash have both been screened on that show – and it’s no coincidence, as the Street Trash remake is being produced by The Last Drive-In producers Justin Martell and Matt Manjourides of Not the Funeral Home. Cineverse’s Chris McGurk, Brandon Hill, Brad Miska, and Yolanda Macias also serve as executive producers. Production in South Africa was handled by Protagonist Studios and Stage Five Films.
Are you looking forward to watching the Street Trash remake later this month? Will you be catching it on Screambox or checking out the digital release? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
Grand Theft Auto 6 is easily the most anticipated video game release of 2025. The open-world game is likely to push consoles hard, which is why some fans have been nervous about the game’s performance on Xbox Series S. But according to the boss of Rockstar Games’ parent company Take-Two Interactive, he’s not worried…
Grand Theft Auto 6 is easily the most anticipated video game release of 2025. The open-world game is likely to push consoles hard, which is why some fans have been nervous about the game’s performance on Xbox Series S. But according to the boss of Rockstar Games’ parent company Take-Two Interactive, he’s not worried…
PLOT: A single father and two women venture from the safety of their homes to face monstrous creatures to save the life of a young boy.
REVIEW: Post-apocalyptic movies seem to have a little more credence to them after the mess we went through in 2020. It’s become much easier to imagine the collapse of society and filmmakers have taken advantage of this to tap into viewers’ fears. Elevation brings the concept of monstrous creatures taking over Earth and gives them an intriguing limitation: they can’t go above 8000 feet. So rather than the broken-down urban landscapes and destruction of standard post-apocalyptic cinema, our setting is decidedly more heavenly mountaintops. But will the humans that have survived the invasion, ever be able to return below the line ever again? Or will the monster eventually get them all?
Elevation picks up three years after the initial invasion and follows Anthony Mackie‘s Will as he has to go into the danger zone in order to save his son’s life. The ticking time bomb of his son’s medication means the stakes could not be higher. Either Will dies on his mission and his son perishes from his illness, or he stays and his son passes anyway. The only way to keep his son alive is to take the massive risk of entering the city of Boulder. Joining him on his trip are fellow survivors, Nina and Katie. Nina is a hardened scientist who is insistent on finding a way to kill the monsters. And Katie is struggling with the idea of this life being the only thing she knows/experiences.
I tend to like Anthony Mackie but admittedly Will is a bit of a dull character. He has devotion for his son but is pretty one-dimensional. The dialogue isn’t doing him any favors, especially with the exposition he has to expound. But Morena Baccarin‘s Nina manages to keep things interesting. There’s a lot of nuance to her character, even if she seems like a walking stereotype at first. Loved seeing Baccarin in a role like this. Maddie Hasson‘s Katie is tragic, with her mostly just trying to find her purpose in this new world. She has to contend with her feelings for Will while still wanting to respect her deceased best friend and Will’s wife. But as you can tell, this isn’t the most entertaining group to hang out with for 90 minutes. It’s mostly just arguing and being mad about their situation.
The biggest issue with Elevation is that its story feels very chopped up and derivative. This almost feels like it could have spread out throughout an entire season. And that’s not to even say that there’s a ton going on within the narrative. But the things that do happen, require so much more room to breathe than what we’re given. Because of this, nearly everything needs to be wrapped up so quickly, that big events come together a little too quickly for my liking. There’s a reason that A Quiet Place ended with an implication of a widespread solution, not the actual application of it.
I have to give the filmmakers credit for filming on location in the Colorado Mountains. This makes for some absolutely stunning visuals. With plenty of beautiful mountain vistas, a working mine, and even a ski lift, anyone who’s been to Boulder will get a kick out of seeing these sights on film. But there’s one moment of action involving the ski lift that is pretty brutal in its execution. Given how good other visual FX turn out, it makes the bad green screen stick out like a sore thumb and it really took me out of it.
The monsters are a bit generic, looking like some bipedal transformers. The digital FX are handled well I like the concept of the monsters being unable to go above a certain elevation, but there’s no payoff to the rule. I was hoping they would subvert it for drama or take away their safe haven but it never happens. And they seem to target humans based on their CO2 output, yet completely ignore animals. Given that living creatures are invisible to the monsters except when exhaling CO2, I’m not sure how the monsters would differentiate animals from humans. Seems like the filmmakers were just trying to make a point regarding humans destroying the planet, but it just makes the monsters’ motivations more convoluted.
One of the more baffling elements of Elevation is its R rating. To say that this could have been PG-13 would be the understatement of the century. I have no idea why they would kneecap their box office so much by making it R, especially when it’s not needed for the story they’re telling. It just results in Baccarin swearing a bunch and could have easily been looped over without much notice. Even when things get violent, the events are relatively bloodless. I really can’t understand why they went this route as it doesn’t add anything to the story. With how much Elevation feels like a PG-13 rollercoaster versus a more hopeless journey, the rating makes less and less sense.
Overall, I ended up being very disappointed by Elevation. It’s clear the filmmakers took A Quiet Place as some sort of inspiration but failed to execute an intriguing story in the same way. This world isn’t set up very well and the stakes feel very wishy-washy. While the story should end up feeling triumphant, its quick desire for a resolution, neatly tied up like a bowtie, just makes it feel pointless. While the actors are all decent, they inhabit characters that don’t really stand out.
ELEVATION IS PLAYING EXCLUSIVELY IN THEATERS ON NOVEMBER 8TH, 2024.
There was a time when we thought director Fede Álvarez’s contribution to the Alien franchise, Alien: Romulus (read our review HERE), was going to receive a straight-to-Hulu streaming release, just like the Predator movie Prey did. But it ended up getting a theatrical release back in August, with a digital release following in October. Now, Deadline has been able to confirm exactly when Alien: Romulus is going to start streaming on Hulu, and it’s a date that is very close: November 21st. The 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD physical media release will follow on December 3rd.
It has been said that the story Álvarez and co-writer Rodo Sayagues crafted for Alien: Romulus is not directly connected to the other films in the Alien franchise (which isn’t exactly true), but it’s not ignoring any of the other entries, either. Álvarez has been clear about the fact that his story takes place within the established franchise continuity. In fact, it slots right in between the events of Alien and Aliens. It has the following official logline: The sci-fi/horror-thriller takes the phenomenally successful “Alien” franchise back to its roots: While scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station, a group of young space colonizers come face to face with the most terrifying life form in the universe.
The cast includes Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla), Isabela Merced (Madame Web), David Jonsson (Industry), Archie Renaux (Shadow and Bone), Spike Fearn (The Batman), and Aileen Wu (Away from Home).
Speaking with Variety a while back, Álvarez said that the initial Hulu plan was “a reaction to theaters being completely gone” in the wake of the pandemic. “That decision was not made at the point where theaters were healthy. [But] it was always going to be an ambitious movie for [a streaming] platform.” The studio made the choice to push for a theatrical release as production got underway, and Álvarez said, “I remember making an announcement to everybody that this movie was going to in theaters, and there was a big cheer. I was like, wow, even the gaffer cares that this goes into theaters!“
Now the time has come for the Hulu release. Will you be watching Alien: Romulus on Hulu? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
Another week, another ho-hum weekend at the box office. When the studios were figuring out their release schedules for 2024, it seems they deliberately left the pre-and-post election period empty, with the notion being that people would be too distracted to go to movies. That’s pretty bad news for exhibitors, as typically the first full weekend in November kinda kicks off the late fall period. Usually, it’s a big weekend for the MCU, with The Marvels (well, that wasn’t so big) opening last year and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in 2022. I guess next weekend we’re getting Red One, but does anyone expect that to do well? I have my doubts.
As such, this weekend seems slow, with the general consensus among all being that it should be an easy weekend for Venom: The Last Dance to win. It had an impressively light week-to-week decline in week 2 (after an underwhelming opening) and should gross around $14 or so million this weekend. A24’s horror flick Heretic, starring Hugh Grant and Sophie Thatcher, should make about $10 million, with it lacking the hook recent horror hits had but boasting strong reviews out of TIFF (read ours here).
In third place, we’ll likely find the faith-based release, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. This one seems primed to have a better opening than usual, with it based on a beloved book, and also having director Dallas Jenkins (The Chosen) at the helm, along with his large following. The film is also said to play fairly well to a non-religious audience as well, with it fairly subtle for the genre, and given the holiday theme, it should make at least $8 million (if it doesn’t end up beating Heretic).
The Wild Robotshould nab fourth place (after increasing its audience last weekend), with about $5 million, while Smile 2 should make about $4 million or so. Expect Focus Features’s Conclave and A24’s breakout word-of-mouth sleeper We Live in Time to not be too far behind.
Here are my predictions:
Venom: The Last Dance: $14 million
Heretic: $10 million
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever: $8 million
The Wild Robot: $5 million
Smile 2: $4 million
What are you seeing this weekend? Let us know in the comments!
It’s been nearly four decades since Dragon Quest III first landed and it rapidly became one of the most adored RPGs out there. Whether you’ve played the highly-praised original or want to dive into the game for the first time, you’re in luck! Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake brings the experience to modern hardware with…
Years after the cross-save revolution began sweeping across gaming, No Man’s Sky is finally joining the party. The space exploration sim is getting cloud saves that will let players take their bases, ships, resources, and progress to any platform they want.
It’s been nearly four decades since Dragon Quest III first landed and it rapidly became one of the most adored RPGs out there. Whether you’ve played the highly-praised original or want to dive into the game for the first time, you’re in luck! Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake brings the experience to modern hardware with…
