“Aliens invade, and we fight them off with improvised weapons and martial arts” – that rad pitch should sell itself, but no one in Hollywood managed to get it off the ground until Liam O’Donnell pulled it off with the sequel to 2010’s “Skyline”, 2017’s “Beyond Skyline” and its 2020 follow-up “Skylin3s”.
“Skyline” fans received even more exciting news with the recent announcement of Liam and Iko Uwais’ return for the upcoming fourth installment of the “Skyline” series, “Skyline: Warpath”, which also includes none other than Scott Adkins among its ensemble.
Now, ICMYI, new details have been released for the story and release plans for “Skyline: Warpath”, including a couple of awesome shots of Iko and Scott doing what they do best on set – and here’s why KFK is excited!
Details on The Cast & Release Plans for “Skyline: Warpath”
While Scott Adkins’ involvement in “Warpath” was already revealed, the fourth entry of the “Skyline” franchise is filling out quite the ensemble of stars from both Indonesia and elsewhere.
Per Deadline Hollywood, Louis Mandylor, Randall J. Bacon and Yayan Ruhian will also appears alongside Iko and Scott in the sci-fi actioner, which is currently nearing the end of principle photography.
Additionally, the “Warpath” IMDB page also lists Zack Lee of “Headshot” and “The Night Comes For Us” and Alex Abbad of “Merantau” and “The Raid 2” among the movie’s cast.
XYZ films has assumed U.S. distribution rights for “Warpath” with the sequel set to be released in early 2025. Meanwhile, further details paint a picture of what fans of the “Skyline” franchise can expect from “Warpath”.
Where does “Warpath” Fit into the “Skyline” Franchise?
Iko Uwais returns in “Warpath” as human resistance fighter Sua from “Beyond Skyline”, while the Deadline press release offers some story details for the sequel. Per Deadline’s plot synopsis, “Set within the ‘Skyline‘ universe and five years after the events of Beyond Skyline, the movie follows Sua (Uwais) as he leads The Resistance against the aliens. When he discovers the powerful alien Radial Gauntlet, he must deal with both the corrupt Eric (Adkins) and the army of alien invaders.”
Speaking to Deadline, Liam O’Donnell says of “Warpath”: “Since we first met Iko Uwais, [producer] Matthew Chausse and I have been pushing to make a star vehicle for him like Warpath. Pairing him with the truly versatile action legend Scott Adkins, along with XYZ films, the company that started things off for us, has been a dream come true.”
Scope of the Invasion Idea
The original “Skyline” first debuted in November 2010, establishing a global scale alien invasion in which humans are harvested by the extraterrestrial invaders, with their brains inserted into the bodies of drone warriors.
2017’s “Beyond Skyline” takes place during the same invasion, but shifts its focus to a new set of characters (including Iko’s Sua), while expanding the scope of the invasion greatly and also establishing the franchise’s one-of-a-kind blend of alien invasion stakes with martial arts action.
2020’s “Skylin3s” took the franchise right to alien’s home turf, along with bringing the franchise’s gradually rising heroine Rose (Lindsey Morgan) center stage.
With “Skylin3s” largely taking place 15 years after the invasion of “Skyline” and “Beyond Skyline”, the timeline of “Warpath” taking place five years after “Beyond Skyline” establishes it as an interquel while bringing Sua into the spotlight as its main protagonist.
Plans for Skyline
The announcement of “Warpath” also raises some questions about the overall plans for the “Skyline” franchise.
The previously announced “Skyline: Radial”, described by Liam in an interview with Deadline as a “our own niche version of a Fast Five/Avengers type of sequel” of the franchise’s key players, seems to have taken a back seat for the moment to “Warpath”.
That can probably be attributed to issues such as scheduling with the franchise’s large cast (including stars like Frank Grillo and Lindsey Morgan), the generally fickle nature of the indie action/sci-fi movie scene, and perhaps even somewhat to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA and WGA Hollywood strikes.
In any case, “Warpath” still seems set to explore the impact of the alien invasion on the world in the most depth the series has ever done, and might even be yet another genre cocktail that the “Skyline” franchise is well-known for specializing in.
Warpath is Set on Adventure
Dropping in to the latest episode of the Action For Everyone podcast (for which he serves as co-host with Michael Scott and VyceVictus) from the “Warpath” set in Indonesia, Liam described “Warpath” as “more about the fringes of the world than the dead center” and “an adventure on the side”, in comparison to its two predecessors.
Liam also described “Warpath” as “an opportunity to mix different genres in there” and “focus more on Iko Uwais’ character, human resistance fighter and Silat master, Sua, and make it more of a martial arts film with some sci-fi in it”.
Judging from the description of Scott Adkins’ character Eric, the released set photos, and the role of the Radial Gauntlet in the story, that seems to paint a picture of a potential civil war or underground gang conflict over technology harvested from the alien invaders. However, one element of “Warpath” is far less shrouded in speculative theorizing.
Iko Uwais & Scott Adkins Reunite!
Probably no one could have ever predicted that a sci-fi franchise centered on an alien invasion would become such a who’s who of martial arts movie legends, but that has been a “Skyline” series tradition ever since “Beyond Skyline”, and Iko Uwais and Scott Adkins shows just how much “Skyline” continues to up the ante in that regard.
Iko and Scott previously appeared together in Jesse Johnson’s 2019 martial arts movie ensemble “Triple Threat”, with the duo joined by Tony Jaa, Tiger Chen, Michael Jai White, Jeeja Yanin, Michael Bisping, Dominiquie Vandenberg, and Ron Smoorenburg.
Iko and Scott’s smackdown was one of many that made “Triple Threat” an “Expendables”-level blast for action lovers around the world, and “Skyline: Warpath” is clearly keen for them to meet again for round two.
Complex Roles
The two images released of Iko and Scott from the making of “Warpath” paint an interestingly complex picture of their roles opposite each other.
One image shows the two clearly in the middle of a fast-paced fight scene, while the other appears to show Sua and Eric fighting side-by-side against opponents in an alley fight.
This could indicate that Sua and Eric begin “Warpath” as enemies – not unlike Sua’s initial antagonism with Frank Grillo’s Mark Corley in “Beyond Skyline” – before joining forces against a common enemy.
Obviously, another Iko Uwais vs. Scott Adkins action scene is exciting enough on its own, but the set photos could also paint a picture of the ultimate endgame for the “Skyline” franchise.
Where “Warpath” Could Take the “Skyline” Franchise
Liam’s description of the aforementioned “Skyline: Radial” seems as clear cut of a “get the band back together” sequel as can be.
Meanwhile, the introduction of the Radial Gauntlet in “Warpath” could hint to the movie acting as one more building block for a larger planned crescendo in “Radial”, especially with Liam’s own description of “Warpath” as something of side-story from the main battle with the invading aliens. Furthermore, that could also entail Scott Adkins’s Eric being part of the ensemble for “Radial”.
In any case, the humble beginning of the “Skyline” franchise just keeps getting bigger and better as the franchise expands both on Earth and into the heavens, and “Skyline: Warpath” shows that the franchise’s genre-blending cocktail and growing ensemble of martial arts greats just keeps getting better and better each time!
