CAST BOARDS HIGHLY ANTICIPATED MARTIAL ARTS FEATURE “JIU JITSU” FROM DIMITRI LOGOTHETIS
Tony Jaa, Frank Grillo, Rick Yune, Marie Avgeropoulos and JuJu Chan Join Nicolas Cage and Alain Moussi for Highland Film Group
LOS ANGELES (June 6, 2019) – 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 Fallen, The 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 Treasure, Between Worlds, Snowden) 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.
Tony Jaa is the most influential and exciting martial artist in film since Bruce Lee. When Quentin Tarantino brought cult hit Ong Bak 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 12th. Into 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 19th. Boss 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 and The 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® nominated Die Another Day and Universal Pictures’ The Fast and The Furious.
Since her breakout role in I Love You, Beth Cooper, Avgeropoulos 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.
Jaa is represented by The Gersh Agency, Michael Selby and Craig Baumgarten/Mark Holder at Zero Gravity and Attorney Dave Feldman. Grillo is represented by CAA and Management 360. Yune is repped by Paradigm Talent Agency. Avgeropoulos is repped by UTA. Chan is repped by The Gersh Agency and Patrick Knapp at Goodman Schenkman & Brecheen LLP. Cage is repped by WME, Stride Management and Patrick Knapp at Goodman Schenkman & Brecheen LLP. Moussi is represented by The Characters Talent Agency and Peter Meyer Management. Logothetis is represented by Peter Meyer Management and Patrick Knapp at Goodman Schenkman & Brecheen LLP.
In Cannes earlier this month, HFG sales titles included: Persephone starring Mary-Louise Parker and Brianna Hildebrand; David Stassen’s Happy Life starring Evangeline Lilly and Ike Barinholtz; the Simon Pegg and Lulu Wilson starrer Becky; Karen Maine’s Yes God Yes; Tim Hunter’s Smiley Face Killers, written by Bret Easton Ellis; John Krokidas’ Tunnels starring Susan Sarandon and Finn Wolfhard; Vaughn Stein’s Inheritance starring Lily Collins and Simon Pegg; Marc Meyer’s thriller We Summon the Darkness starring Johnny Knoxville and Alexandra Daddario; Trauma Center starring Bruce Willis; Michael Polish’s Axis Sally starring Al Pacino; Southland starring Bella Thorne and Jake Manley; Skylines, the third chapter of the successful franchise, starring Lindsey Morgan; and Ghosts of War starring Brenton Thwaites, Theo Rossi and Skylar Astin.
About Highland Film Group
Led by founding partners Arianne Fraser and Delphine Perrier, Highland Film Group (HFG) is an independent worldwide sales, production and film financing company. Launched in 2010, HFG has had success across a wide range of film genres and platforms, building a reputation for handling high-octane films in the action/horror/thriller space, focusing on cast, director, film maker driven content.
HFG’s diversified production and sales slate includes: Joe Carnahan’s Boss Level starring Naomi Watts and Mel Gibson; Michael Cristofer’s The Night Clerk starring Tye Sheridan, Ana de Armas and Helen Hunt; Shawn Ku’s A Score to Settle starring Nicolas Cage; Berlin, I Love You with Helen Mirren, Keira Knightley, Jim Sturgess, Mickey Rourke, Diego Luna, and Jenna Dewan Tatum; Lin Oeding’s thriller Braven starring Jason Momoa; Steven C. Miller’s action thriller Escape Plan 2: Hades starring Sylvester Stallone and Dave Bautista.
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