SPL III officially greenlit!

Tony Jaa’s Hong Kong debut “SPL II”, which teams him up with local action star Wu Jing, (Jacky Wu) is the smash hit of the summer in the Far East, releasing to rave reviews and eclipsing the entire box office run of its predecessor over its opening weekend alone. With buzz that good, a sequel is inevitable, and sure enough, producer Paco Wong has made the announcement that “SPL III” is officially on the way!

At present, there’s little solid information beyond that, but it’s hard to imagine action fans being anything less than overjoyed by this announcement alone. The first “SPL“, released in the English-speaking world as “Kill Zone” arrived first in Hong Kong in 2005, with Donnie Yen portraying a renegade cop determined to bring down a nefarious crime boss portrayed by Sammo Hung, and gained significant attention for the strong MMA influence Donnie brought to the film’s action sequences.

Wu Jing appeared in the original film as a knife wielding martial arts assassin who takes on Donnie in a blazing alley battle. For the sequel, Wu Jing assumes the role of Chan Chi-kit, who finds himself thrown into a Thai prison and teams up with guard Chatchai, portrayed by Tony Jaa, to bring down the men responsible for his predicament and save Chatchai’s ailing daughter. The series is afforded the wiggle-room to have stars return as different characters due to the title being a reference to constellations in Chinese astrology. So, it’s entirely possible Tony or Wu Jing could play different characters in the third instalment, or that Donnie or Sammo could join them- just imagine!

Stay tuned for more info on “SPL III”, and the release of “SPL II” in the English-speaking world, as it drops!