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FIRST LOOK

Gareth Evans' 'The Raid 2' Begins Production with First Look Photos

by Alex Billington
February 1, 2013
Source: Collider

It has begun. Production is now underway on a sequel to the 2011 Indonesian action instant cult classic The Raid: Redemption, as it ended up being named in the U.S. Yesterday, January 31st, it marked the first official day of production on the sequel, titled The Raid 2, or Berandal, or The Raid 2: Berandal, or The Raid: Retaliation, or whatever you want to call it. In addition to a press release with a few details on the "over 100 days" shoot, Collider rounded up a few of the first look photos from "Day 1" showing badass actor Iko Uwais back as Rama in the sequel. Don't worry, they just started shooting, they can't spoil much.

Here's a few of the first photos of The Raid 2 they released, click to see more from Collider with a few extra:

PT Merantau Films and XYZ Films announce the start of production for The Raid 2, the sequel to the wildly popular international hit The Raid. The film reunites writer & director Gareth Huw Evans with actor Iko Uwais, who will be reprising his starring role. Ario Sagantoro is producing for PT Merantau Films, along with Nate Bolotin, Nick Spicer, Aram Tertzakian and Todd Brown for XYZ Films. Executive producing are Rangga Maya Barack-Evans and Irwan D. Mussry. In addition to Uwais, the international cast includes Tio Pakusadewo, Putra Arifin Scheunamann, Julie Estelle, Alex Abbad and Roy Marten. The film is currently lensing in Jakarta, Indonesia and is scheduled to shoot for over 100 days. Picking up right where the first film ends, The Raid 2 follows Rama (Uwais) as he goes undercover and infiltrates the ranks of a ruthless Jakarta crime syndicate in order to protect his family and uncover the corruption in his own police force.

"We're incredibly excited to start the next chapter of The Raid story," said XYZ Films. "Gareth introduced a rich and fertile world in the first film, and we're eager to see him expand on that vision with Berandal." "To all our fans thank you so much for your support. We can't wait to come back and show you what we have been working on," said writer/director Gareth Evans. "We'll be there in 2014 with a film bigger, better and bloodier! Wish us luck." Crazy. Bring it on! We'll keep you updated as they continue to shoot for the next three months straight through to the summer. Sony already has US distribution rights. Excited yet?

Filed under First Look, Hype, Indies, Photos

From around the web:

avi

yes very excited! For me the best action movie from 2012,but that's also the problem! How will you top that?
- Richie G
  
  varied locations, a car chase... lightsabers?
  - OfficialJab
    
    Lens flares.
  - Cody W
    
    A violent knife and baton filled car chase on a freeway sounds pretty damned good.
DAVIDPD

I liked THE RAID, but it was over hyped for me. I liked the fighting, but there was not enough of it. I liked ONG BAK 2 more...I hope they punch up the action in this one.
- http://www.facebook.com/TheChosenPessimist Jon Odishaw
  
  Punch up the action? If there ever was too much action it was in The Raid. It's lucky the action was incredible.
  - DAVIDPD
    
    Yeah. I thought there was a good amount, but everyone said how crazy it was, when in reality, ONG BAK 2 had much better action scenes, even IP MAN. So yeah, it was simply over hyped for me. That is all.
    - D
      
      you're kidding me. Ong Bak 2 blew ass
    - Cody W
      
      The first melee action scene where the main character took down about 50 dudes with a knife and baton alone was a higher body count than IP man and Ong bak 2 combined youve gotta be joking or maybe you didnt actually watch the movie.
      - DAVIDPD
        
        Yeah it was more like 15 but okay. That was cool and all, but nothing I haven't seen before. OLD BOY did it way better. Look, I am not saying anything critical here, just that personally I thought it was going to be a lot better. I only heard glowing reviews of THE RAID, everyone went ape shit over it. But when I saw it, it was just okay. The acting was alright, and the fighting was good, those are not negative observations. I am sorry if you disagree, I am okay with differing opinions.
      - jah p
        
        Old boy?are you serious?A Bittersweet Life and A Dirty Carnival makes Old Boy look like The Wizard of OZ...no comparison at all!!
- http://twitter.com/BarnabyBarrilla Barnaby Barrilla
  
  There was not enough action? you obviously wasn't watching the movie.
  - DAVIDPD
    
    No, I saw THE RAID, it just was over hyped for me, like I said. I was expecting something jaw droppingly amazing, and what I got was a good, solid action film. But it was not a paradigm shift. That is all. It's cool if you thought it was amazing. We just differ in opinion. Please try and stay reasonable here...
    - castingcouch
      
      I get it. The action was very good. But the rest of it was lacking enough substance. Story was thin.
      - DAVIDPD
        
        Thank you casting couch. I knew it was a mistake to comment plainly on this film. People are way too obsessed with it to think about it in a rational light. I did not say I hated it or it was bad, I just said I was expecting more...lol. T_T
    - ricky
      
      honestly,...ong bak 2 is a movie for stupid action lover fake, but ong bak 1 is better than 2. In what view that ong bak 2 is better action movie than the raid ; the intense, no,...the suspense, noway,...the story, absolutely no,...the fight scenes, hehehe goddamn NO. i'm sorry man, theres noway ong bak (1,2,3) can touch the raid as an action movie. perhaps ong bak 1 can stand close as an martial art movie not an Action Movie, why? coz OB1 more-raw martial art, more-original, use the only effectiveness of muaythai and thats great,...but in OB2 what the hell Tien trying 2 do,..he tried 2 become ninja, jet li, jackie chan, bruce lee, gracie and silat warrior at the same time, and he performed it awfully,...hehe stupid fake coreo
OfficialJab

If I don't see Shinoda's name then I'll be very disappointed.
Duane

OK... i'm a lil' conflicted here. One one hand I loved the closed quarters, one set feel to the first film. The building itself wasn't only an integral set... hell it was a character. That being said I don't want to the second film to be set in another building / same building because it was been there... done that.... On the OTHER hand.. I don't want it to be set anywhere OUTSIDE of the building.... cuz it worked so well in the first. Whatever happens... I am so bloody in.
Xerxexx

Nicely.
Bauzer

AWESOME!! So stoked!
castingcouch

More story this time, please.
quazimoto

I'm a big fan of Gareth Evans (can't wait to see what he pulls in S-VHS) and The Raid:Redemption was fantastic (even if it was slightly stolen from Dredd 3D, which was still awesome anyway). My only hope is that they figure out a way to maybe incorporate a story this time around? Maybe KEEP the insane knife fighting, handgun to the face shootings, machine gun mayhem around a bit longer, before devolving into Kung-Fu: The Fist Fights That Never End? The first 30-45 minutes of this film were insanely brilliant. After that? Bruce Lee took over and the last two fights felt excessivley long and drawn out. Far less impactful. They killed the momentum that the earlier fight between Maddog and the Sargent brought, and that's a shame. Still a highly entertaining film, but one that began to suffer from wanting to show off it's incredible protagonist a little too much I think.
jah p

Man, nobody will be able to live up to Mad Dog!!!