UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING (John Hyams, 2012)

[Jox]

Apparently Andrei "The Pitbull" Arlovski returns as well

from Scott Adkins:

@AndreiArlovski @larnellstovall 1st days fight rehearsal. Luckily for me the Pit Bull knows how to pull his punches.

[Tom]

Adkins vs Andrei then? That should be kick ass!

[Mosquito]

If this is any indication of the fights in US4, stunt coordinator Larnell Stovall latest few tweets attests of his taste (and i'm sure Hyams is on the same page) and this is all good for me:

Tired of seeing just pieces of the action, show what the hell is going on. Big budget movies have more time to get it right!!

AMEN TO THAT!

[Jox]

Scott Adkins said:

"The script for the new one is very tight and although I don't want to give anything away I will just say that it is Bladerunner meets Apocolypse Now."

Well we know US3 already was an homage to BLADE RUNNER in some parts, and yeah I could see John Hyams somehow go for an APOCALYPSE NOW tone in some ways (like the last part), could be really cool. Hope all the excitement of the cast and crew pans out and is delivered! (as you noticed I was not interested one bit about US3 before I saw it but now I'm all pumped up to see this new entry!)

[Jox]

Here's an update from John Hyams on the VD board:

Sorry to be late getting back -- I've been extremely busy preparing for the shoot. But, yes, Scott Adkins is one of the stars of the film, and I feel we're incredibly lucky to have him at this stage of his career. Andrei is back as well in a role we wrote specifically for him, and I'm equally excited to have him. I loved what he did in Regeneration, and I wanted to work with him again. None of this diminishes JC or DL's contributions to the film -- I feel these guys will only enhance the product as a whole, which is all I care about. The story is of my own creation, and, as I've told you before, in no way was dictated by anyone's schedule. It's the story I want to tell and it's designed to move, terrify and thrill the audience in the most intense way possible. I think it's going to be great and I'm unbelievably excited to work with everyone involved.


John

FB page here

[Moltisanti]

Certainly like what Hyams has to say.

Hope Adkins is right about the story sharing some similarities with APOCALYPSE NOW. I could definitely see where something like that could work given Van Damme's limited availability.

How Lundgren will fit in is anybody's guess but I'm sure Hyams will utilize him well once again.

[Jox]

Lionheart351976 reports more from Hyams:

"For the sake of accuracy, when I said "None of this diminishes JC or DL's contributions to the film -- I feel these guys will only enhance the product as a whole..." -- the "these guys" I was referring to was Scott and Andrei, not JC and DL. JC and DL don't enhance the product, they are the product. However, I think the point of a film series is to introduce new characters and new stories.

As for whether or not this film has anything to do with US3, I disagree with Sheldon's assertions, I think it absolutely has do do with Regeneration. It picks up where the mythology of that film left off. It just takes place years later and is told from a completely different perspective. It never directly references that film, or any of the other films for that matter, but it doesn't need to. If your familiar with the series than it will make sense. If you're not familiar it will still make sense. It's a stand alone movie as much as it is part of the series, but that's just my personal taste. I tried to do that with Regeneration and I'm trying to do that again. I think, with a few exceptions, that a movie should always be able to stand on its own.

In trying to breathe new life into this franchise each time out, if I don't risk alienating some fans then I'm not doing my job. And this one certainly challenges many of the ideas and conventions that define the Universal Soldier series. And that's exactly what excites me about it. I always want to provide the viewer with the unexpected -- to knock them on their asses and blow their minds. That's the thrill of the filmgoing experience. A tall order, for sure, but that's the goal."
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John also mentioned that he thinks the female fans will appreciate this one, whereas he understood why they may not have liked US3 because it was "male-centric."

[Jox]

Seems that Mike Pyle is not returning after all. Burke, Pyle's cloned character, was in the storyline shown last year at Cannes but it seems that Hyams ultimately went with significant changes in his script.

[savagesketch]

I know very little has been said in terms of story, other than the brief synopsis we've seen/read... It's obvious that Dolph was pretty much obliterated in the last couple installments... Keeping this in mind, as well as the fact that both JC and Dolph's roles are glorified cameos, what are your thoughts, or for that matter, creative ideas for this story...?

I'd love to hear what we've got...!!

[Jox]

Barely anything has been revealed in terms of actual storyline, I read a synopsis from last year but given some of the cast members being in or out, it has obviously changed since, at least partially so I'm not sure what the deal will be.

[Jox]

Filming is starting today as well, Dolph (who hanged out with Scott Adkins yesterday) will join later into the shoot (end of the month or beginning of June I think, though he's probably gonna prepare for it the days he's not shooting STASH HOUSE (both shooting in and around Baton Rouge, Louisiana).

[MacGyver]

Filming is starting today as well, Dolph (who hanged out with Scott Adkins yesterday) will join later into the shoot (end of the month or beginning of June I think, though he's probably gonna prepare for it the days he's not shooting STASH HOUSE (both shooting in and around Baton Rouge, Louisiana).

Glad Dolph is fully committed. Wish JC was too.

[Nathan]

Scott Adkins tweeted: -
1st day on Universal Soldier 4 complete. Strange looking at my ugly mug in 3D.

[riotgirl77]

think I found some pics of US: ND being filmed at some research center in BR (someone tweeted it stating the movie was being filmed at their work)

http://twitter.com/stjulia/statuses/67687933645303811

http://twitter.com/stjulia/statuses/67689569579044864

[Jox]

You're pseudo should be 'twittergirl77'!