Director Shimon Dotan (an Israeli-Canadian) is a friend of Dolph's (Shimon produced Dolph's "Hidden Agenda") and they'd always talked about doing another film or two together. Dolph loves travel, loves different cultures (& is VERY respectful of them) -- and he also speaks 5 or 6 languages -- so they'd discussed doing something in some exotic corners of the world. A Chinese partner also really liked Dolph's work (and his reputation for being a nice guy who's easy to work with) -- so China and Mongolia came up as possibilities.
Shimon and his producing partner Danny Rossner approached me (I've done several projects with Danny over the years) to pitch action-adventure story ideas set in China/Mongolia for Dolph and the US distributor (Moonstone, who've also worked with Dolph a lot in the past & know the kind of sales his work can generate). I pitched them 7 ideas (5 pages each) -- Dolph and the distributors liked 2 (DIAMOND DOGS and another one, TUMBLING DICE, which Dolph is also contracted to star in next) -- & they gave me the "go-ahead" to write the scripts.
I went to Mongolia & Shanghai (where part of the filming is to take place) -- and have delivered 3 drafts of DIAMOND DOGS (we call it DD). Final polish is just being put on the 3rd draft of TUMBLING DICE as well. In response to your other questions:
a) Dolph gets VERY involved in the script phase (I received about 16 pages of VERY thought-out, very smart notes & suggestions on DD directly from him.
(He really knows his character and what his fans want -- & is willing to fight for it. His fans are his #1 priority, I can assure you.
b) I'm not at all involved on the producing side -- but I've been told the budget is around $6 million -- and that, despite the extra "challenges" of filming is more out of the way places like Mongolia (where it's hard to get crews and equipment, etc) they can really provide great "bang for your buck"! I know it'll be a great Dolph Lundgren film!
As I mentioned in my last note, Dolph is a real gentleman -- humble, friendly, professional, smart as hell, helpful & no "big shot" airs like a lot of stars I've worked with -- and everyone working with him has nothing but good things to say. Apart from his looks & talent, one of the reasons for his long and successful career is he leaves a trail of friends (not enemies) behind every project.
Hope you like the film -- & keep on supporting Dolph and his projects. Thanks