Well I wasn’t a particular fan of the news when I heard that a studio in america was planning on doing a remake of Gareth Evans’s smash hit The Raid, that news has come out today that Screen Gems have delayed production for the film and the apparent hold up is due to casting.

Sources have told Variety that the remake was to begin shooting in September but has been halted, aiming now to begin shooting in the early months of 2015.

Names that have been linked with the project range from Luke Evans, Anthony Mackie, Frank Grillo and Ethan Hawke but the sources say no casting decisions have been made and no offers were sent out.

Patrick Hughes (The Expendables 3) is still tied to direct and talked about the project with Joblo.com stating the following:

It’s a really exciting project. Actually, I had the pleasure of catching up with Gareth [Evans, director of the original film] the other night in L.A., who’s EP [Executive Producer] on it. This one is a little more broader canvas. It’s a very different film, very different style of filmmaking. It centers around a DEA FAST (Foreign-Deployed Advisory and Support Team) Team that was formed during the Bush administration when the crossover between terrorism and the narcotics trade were so closely intertwined that they created a task force – I believe there are six teams that operate – they’re sort of like Navy SEALS but they operate in the world of narcotics. And, these teams work across borders so it centers around a team that goes across the border and, y’know, all hell breaks loose. One thing that blew me away with THE RAID, along with everyone else, was – you know, what was phenomenal – it wasn’t cut up, y’know. You could clearly tell that there weren’t stunt doubles involved because you weren’t cutting around the action, it was done in “oners” and that comes down to rigorous training and having incredible fight choreography play out. We’re just in the middle of casting right now.

I’m very much not liking the news about an american version of The Raid remake, especially with the actors linked, as good as they are (actually, Frank Grillo could work in for me the more I think about it), but essentially it wasn’t just the story that people have gone and watched the Raid/Raid 2 films for (though they help) it was the amazing fight choreography and the way that Evans shot them. No doubt i’ll probably be in the cinema when it eventually gets released but right now I just don’t like the idea as I love the originals so much. Also it sounds like the premise will be more expand like The Raid 2 was than The Raid.