Foreign cinema fans groaned when the news broke that THE RAID would be getting the American remake treatment. Currently in development and to be directed by THE EXPENDABLES 3 director Patrick Hughes, the film is another in the long line of foreign films that have broken through to mainstream audiences. Rather than just being happy that that film has performed well studios inevitably throw money at an English language version of the film, because we all know that us Brits/Americans can’t read right?
One person not getting his knickers in a twist though is the originals director Gareth Evans. In fact he is welcoming the project as it gives him time to focus on other projects before having the make THE RAID 3. Speaking to Digital Spy he remarked that where it not for the remake there wouldn’t have been any money for a sequel. He was also quite open to the new film deviating from his work stating that as long as the 5-10 minutes of ‘plot’ at the start were the same then Hughes was welcome to do whatever he wanted:
“For me there are two good reasons why I think the remake could work. Firstly, let’s just get this one out of the way, the remake helped pay for me to make THE RAID 2 it’s very beneficial to us in terms of being able to secure the funding on THE RAID 2.
Also, THE RAID is not plot dependent. Once you get past the first 10 minutes, it’s more about the adrenaline rush, and it’s more about the experience. There is a plot but it’s not hard to deviate from and come up with new ideas.
So I feel like when it comes to the remake of The Raid, they can keep the opening setup, the first 5-10 minutes can be the same. After that they can branch off, they can do whatever they want. They can restructure the building to be completely different to the structure that I had for it. They can do a completely different architectural design and layout, and different gangs, different weapons, completely different style, different martial arts. They have the flexibility to deviate, and so that’s a remake that’s one of those things where, OK, the remake isn’t such a bad option, and it’s not such a bad idea after all.”
He went on to share that it could be a few years before we see the third film as he wants to explore other parts of the action film realm, ones that aren’t reliant on martial arts.
If the originals director is on-board I guess we the audience should suck it up and give Hughes a chance. Production on Hughes’ remake was pushed back earlier this year with a cast currently being sought. At the moment it seems highly likely that Taylor Kitsch and Frank Grillo are in line for some of the higher profile characters.
Source: Digital Spy
