In case you might have missed this…the annual celebration of popular culture that is San Diego Comic-Con recently invaded the local convention center once more and with it, all corners of fandom spent the weekend with their eyes and ears peeled for the latest tidbits and news about their favorite geek properties. One of them being the highly anticipated first trailer for the epic martial arts ensemble that is Jesse V. Johnson’s “Triple Threat”, which any recap of this year’s Comic-Con simply wouldn’t be complete without!
The film, which already reportedly has a sequel in the works, is set to be distributed in North America by Well Go USA, with international distribution being handled by Arclight Films. The official synopsis gives audiences a glimpse at what they can expect:
“A hit contract is taken out on a billionaire’s daughter intent on bringing down a major crime syndicate. A down and out team of mercenaries must take on a group of professional assassins and stop them before they kill their target.”
As one can infer from the title, “Triple Threat” brings together a slew of big screen butt-kickers in an “Expendables”-esque ensemble, including Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais, Tiger Chen, Scott Adkins, Michael Jai White, Celina Jade, Jeeja Yanin, and UFC Middleweight champ Michael Bisping, with superkicker extraordinaire Tim Man serving as action director. The project was first announced last fall, with stunt veteran and John Wick 2 auteur Chad Stahelski set to direct, with Jesse Johnson later stepping into the director’s chair.
The nephew of the legendary Vic Armstrong, Johnson is a long-time stunt performer in his own right, with action hits like “Total Recall”, “The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles”, “Thor”, “The Amazing Spider-Man” 1 and 2, and James Cameron’s “Avatar” among the many credits found on his IMDB page. As it is, “Triple Threat” is just one of three martial arts ensembles made under his direction that are set to blow viewers away. First up is the upcoming “Savage Dog“, which brings together Scott Adkins, Marko Zaror, and MMA legend Cung Le is set for release on August 4th, just in time for a double feature with Boyka: Undisputed 4, which drops today! Prior to “Triple Threat”, Johnson also directed Scott Adkins’ passion project “Accident Man“, based off the eponymous British comic book anti-hero, which brings together Scott, Michael Jai White, Ray Park, Tim Man, and Amy Johnston.
Well Go USA President Doris Pfardrescher says of the film, “I don’t believe a martial arts action cast like this has ever assembled before. ‘Triple Threat’ brings together some of the biggest names in action today along with some of the most exciting fight scenes ever seen and we can’t be more excited to bring this film to our audience”; martial arts fans around the world no doubt also share her sentiments. Between the absurdly action-packed trailer and the ridiculously skilled ensemble of action stars seen therein, you’d be forgiven for mistakenly believing the title was “Everybody was kung fu fighting!”, and given the team-up dynamic, a cover of The Beatle’s “Come Together” a la the “Justice League” trailer, wouldn’t be remotely out of place somewhere in the soundtrack amid an insane amount of glorious throwing down!
“Triple Threat” is set to arrive sometime in 2018. Stay tuned for more triple trouble as it arrives!