Last month, we learned that WRONG TURN 2 / EVERLY / MAYHEM director Joe Lynch is set to take the helm of a remake of the French action crime drama POINT BLANK for Netflix. At the time, it was announced that the film would be starring Frank Grillo and Anthony Mackie. Now Lynch is assembling the supporting cast around them.
Actors that have signed on to co-star in POINT BLANK include Marcia Gay Harden (THE MIST), Teyonah Parris (Mad Men), Boris McGiver (House of Cards), and Markice Moore (The Walking Dead).
Grillo and his THE GREY director Joe Carnahan are producing POINT BLANK through their company War Party, with Johanna Byer producing for Gaumont. Gaumont's Sidonie Dumas, Christophe Riandee, and Gene Stein serve as executive producers.
The screenplay has been written by Adam G. Simon, who has also scripted a remake of THE RAID for Grillo and Carnahan. The story follows
Paul (Mackie), an emergency room nurse, and Abe (Grillo), a wanted murder suspect, as they go toe to toe with rival gangsters and corrupt cops in a deadly race to save the lives of Paul’s kidnapped wife and unborn son.
The remake has a budget of $12 million and is scheduled to start filming next month.
Directed by Fred Cavayé, the original POINT BLANK (or A BOUT PORTANT) was released in 2010. It was followed by a Korean remake called THE TARGET (or PYOJEOK), which was directed by Chang (a.k.a. Hong-Seung Yoon) and released in 2014.
I haven't watched the previous versions of the story, but I'm already sold on watching Lynch's film. I'm thinking of catching up on A BOUT PORTANT and PYOJEOK before his POINT BLANK is released.
