Gareth Evans’ The Raid: Redemption is an action and martial arts masterwork that appeared out of nowhere back in 2011. Evans, a Brit who resides in Indonesia, started his directing career by filming a documentary about the Indonesian fighting style of Pencak Silat — a weapons-heavy martial art. He became so intrigued with the system that he wrote and directed the low-budget The Raid, which became an international hit.
Evans’ successes with The Raid and its 2014 sequel, The Raid 2, led to directing and writing opportunities on DC’s Justice League Dark (he passed on this) and Deathstroke (still up-in-the-air). Evans is now working on a new TV project called Gangs of London, for Cinemax and Sky.
Related – The Raid Director In Talks To Direct Deathstroke Movie Starring Joe Manganiello
According to The Tracking Board, Gangs of London is a big-budget, contemporary drama about a growing street war between international gangs following the assassination of a prominent gang leader. Sounds a bit like the plot of Walter Hill’s The Warriors (1979), doesn’t it? If you’re going to remake or pay homage to any action film, this is a great place to start. Given Evans’ demonstrated skills coordinating hand-to-hand combat — fists, feet, knees, knives, and firearms — Gangs of London is an intriguing concept (even if it is derivative).
It’s an open question whether Evans can translate the low-budget, gritty, and visceral action of The Raid to the small screen. However, the energy and invention shown in the two Raid films is unlike anything else in Hollywood these days — the Raid films are throwbacks to the early Jackie Chan and Jet Li martial arts movies, albeit with a LOT more graphic violence. Evans is an exciting filmmaker, I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do with a larger budget and a longer runway.
Gangs of London is set to debut on Cinemax and Sky in 2019.
Do you think Gareth Evans can bring the action and violence from The Raid to TV? Let us know in the comments down below!
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SOURCE: The Tracking Board
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