Cast joins Nicolas Cage and Alain Moussi in Dimitri Logothetis’ ‘Jiu Jitsu’

Legendary martial artist Tony Jaa (The Ong-Bak franchise, Furious 7), Frank Grillo (Captain America, The Purge franchises, Kingdom and Wheelman), Rick Yune (Olympus Has FallenThe Fast and The Furious), Marie Avgeropoulos (“The 100,” 50/50) and JuJu Chan (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny, “Wu Assassins”) have joined Academy Award and Golden Globe winner Nicolas Cage (National TreasureBetween WorldsSnowden) and Alain Moussi (Kickboxer: Retaliation) in writer-producer and director Dimitri Logothetis’ martial arts action saga Jiu Jitsu.  Logothetis, and Martin Barab are producing based on the comic book of the same name, which Logothetis also penned along with Jim McGrath.  Highland Film Group (HFG) is handling worldwide sales.  Principal production is scheduled to begin on June 24th.

Every six years, an ancient order of expert Jiu Jitsu fighters faces a vicious alien in a battle to protect Earth. For thousands of years, the fighters that protect Earth have played by the rules…until now. When celebrated war hero Jake Barnes (Alain Moussi) is defeated by Brax, the Alien invader, the future of humanity hangs in the balance. Injured and suffering from amnesia, Jake is rescued by Wylie (Nicolas Cage), Keung (Tony Jaa), Harrigan (Frank Grillo) and his team of fellow Jiu Jitsu fighters. They must help Jake to regain his strength in order to band together and defeat Brax in an epic battle that will once again determine the fate of mankind.

Photo Credit Michael Selby

Tony Jaa is the most influential and exciting martial artist in film since Bruce Lee. When Quentin Tarantino brought cult hit OngBak to the US, Jaa’s unmatched skills breathed new life into the genre. He has previously appeared in xXx: Return of Xander Cage, Furious 7, and the Ong-bak franchise. He is currently in production on Paul W.S. Anderson’s Monster Hunter.

Grillo is fresh off the success of the brawl-thriller Donnybrook with Jamie Bell and Margaret Qualley that opened the Toronto Film Festival and debuted on IFC in February and has a slew of projects set to bow in 2019. First up is Point Blank, an action thriller featuring Grillo and Anthony Mackie that will be released by Netflix on July 12thInto The Ashes, which Grillo produced and stars in alongside Robert Taylor and James Badge Dale for RLJE Films, will follow a week later in theaters July 19thBoss Level, an action sci-fi thriller starring Grillo, Mel Gibson and Naomi Watts, will be released this Fall. All produced by his production company with director Joe Carnahan, Warparty.  He then has Screen Gems’ Black And Blue with Naomie Harris, Reid Scott, Beau Knapp and Tyrese Gibson opening October 25th, Wes Miller’s action/thriller Hell On The Border opposite Ron Perlman, the Lionsgate sequel The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard alongside Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson, Salma Hayek, Antonio Banderas and Morgan Freeman and Jason Blum’s The Night 3 Opened with Watts and Bobby Cannavale for Universal.  Up next for Grillo is No Man’s Land, a modern Western drama opposite for director Conor Allyn, Panama in which he portrays an ex-marine hired by a defense contractor to travel to Panama to complete an arms deal, Big Nickel, written and directed by Tom Chilcoat and opposite Luke Bracey and Britney Snow andThe Gateway, a neo-noir thriller from director Michele Civetta and writer Alexander Felix opposite Bruce Dern and Olivia Munn.

Yune has appeared in memorable lead roles in films such as: Twentieth Century Fox’s Alita: Battle Angel, Antoine Fuqua’s Olympus Has Fallen, Warner Bros.’ Ninja Assassin, MGM’s Golden Globe® nominatedDie Another Day and Universal Pictures’ The Fast and The Furious.

Since her breakout role in I Love You, Beth CooperAvgeropoulos starred in Tracers, Summit Entertainment’s 50/50 and Twentieth Century Fox’s Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.  She currently stars as Octavia Blake in The CW’s Emmy® nominated post-apocalyptic drama “The 100.”

Chan currently plays a central figure on Netflix’s upcoming Wu Assassins, as well as stars in the soon to be released Chinese action film The Invincible Dragon where she has featured fights against lead, Max Zhang. She previously starred in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny opposite Donnie Yen. Referred to as the “Female Bruce Lee”, prior to acting Chan was a Taekwondo medal-winning athlete, former Thai boxing champion, and Kung Fu star, having competed internationally on behalf of Hong Kong.

Discover more from At The Movies Online

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading