Brick Mansions (remake of Banlieue 13/District B13) S: Paul Walker
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Brick Mansions (remake of Banlieue 13/District B13) S: Paul Walker
EXCLUSIVE: Paul Walker is in talks to star in Brick Mansions, the Americanized remake of the Paris-set Banlieue 13. The film has a script by Luc Besson (who co-wrote the original) and Robert Mark Kamen, Besson’s collaborator on Taken. The idea is for Walker to star with David Belle. Belle starred in the original and the sequel District 13: Ultimatum and he is also credited with creating Parkour, a sport that involves agility and leaping and climbing around obstacles. There is a lot of that in these films.
The film will be set in American city, most likely Chicago. Walker will play an undercover detective chasing a weapon of mass destruction that was stolen by a drug dealer in the ghetto known as Brick Mansions. He seeks help from the incredibly agile Lino (Belle), who knows Brick Mansions better than anyone and is the only person not cowering in fear of the drug dealers. Besson’s Europa Corp is producing, and while a number of Hollywood actors wanted the Lino role, Besson would not make the movie unless Belle was in it.
The original Banlieue 13 was directed by Pierre Morel, who went on to direct Besson’s Taken and From Paris With Love. Besson is giving this directing job to another protégé, but the company would not reveal who he is. Europa Corp will soon make a domestic distribution deal, which never seems to be a problem with the modestly budgeted smart action thrillers that Besson hatches. I’m sure there will be AFM action on Brick Mansions, though Besson is preoccupied with the Oscar season launch of The Lady, the film he directed with Michelle Yeoh starring as Burmese democracy reformist Aung San Suu Kyi and David Thewlis playing her husband Michael Aris, who kept their family together while she was placed under house arrest for more than a decade. Both are expected to be in the awards season mix after the film bowed at 2011 Toronto Film Festival and was acquired for domestic distribution by Cohen Media Group.
Walker will make the film before reprising his role in The Fast and the Furious 6. He’s repped by UTA and Luber Rocklin. Here is a trailer from the sequel that captures the acrobatics and action that distinguished both films:
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/z26nkn2xwss" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
The film will be set in American city, most likely Chicago. Walker will play an undercover detective chasing a weapon of mass destruction that was stolen by a drug dealer in the ghetto known as Brick Mansions. He seeks help from the incredibly agile Lino (Belle), who knows Brick Mansions better than anyone and is the only person not cowering in fear of the drug dealers. Besson’s Europa Corp is producing, and while a number of Hollywood actors wanted the Lino role, Besson would not make the movie unless Belle was in it.
The original Banlieue 13 was directed by Pierre Morel, who went on to direct Besson’s Taken and From Paris With Love. Besson is giving this directing job to another protégé, but the company would not reveal who he is. Europa Corp will soon make a domestic distribution deal, which never seems to be a problem with the modestly budgeted smart action thrillers that Besson hatches. I’m sure there will be AFM action on Brick Mansions, though Besson is preoccupied with the Oscar season launch of The Lady, the film he directed with Michelle Yeoh starring as Burmese democracy reformist Aung San Suu Kyi and David Thewlis playing her husband Michael Aris, who kept their family together while she was placed under house arrest for more than a decade. Both are expected to be in the awards season mix after the film bowed at 2011 Toronto Film Festival and was acquired for domestic distribution by Cohen Media Group.
Walker will make the film before reprising his role in The Fast and the Furious 6. He’s repped by UTA and Luber Rocklin. Here is a trailer from the sequel that captures the acrobatics and action that distinguished both films:
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/z26nkn2xwss" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I'd rather they just make another sequel to Banlieue 13.
#4
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Re: Brick Mansions (remake of Banlieue 13)
Horrible title.
Walker is a BJJ practitioner, so I wonder how he'll look on-screen next to Belle.
Walker is a BJJ practitioner, so I wonder how he'll look on-screen next to Belle.
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Re: Brick Mansions (remake of Banlieue 13)
I am a huge fan of the District 13 series, but wtf! Do we really need to remake every single foreign movie that becomes known in the US? The only redeeming quality (if you can call it that) is that David Belle will be in it.
And "Brick Mansions?" Really?
This! And bring back Leito's sister!
And "Brick Mansions?" Really?
This! And bring back Leito's sister!
#6
Re: Brick Mansions (remake of Banlieue 13)
I want to know which "Hollywood actors wanted the Lino role" and what qualifications they would have brought to it.
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Re: Brick Mansions (remake of Banlieue 13)
Relativity Media said today that Brick Mansions, one of final films completed by Paul Walker before he was killed in a car crash in November, will be released in theaters on April 25. A February date had been eyed for the pic, an English-language reboot of the 2004 French movie Banlieue 13, before Walker’s death. At the time, the film’s producer EuropaCorp told Deadline it was trying to maintain the production and release schedule of Mansions, which stars Walker as an undercover cop trying to take down a crime lord in a dystopian Detroit. The actor was in most of the scenes and had finished looping the pic only three days before his death, and a test screening the following week was scrapped as co-producers Relativity and EuropaCorp scrambled to regroup. “Paul is the big movie star in our movie — it is built around him. Paul is in about 80% of the scenes,” said CEO Christophe Lambert at the time. “For sure it’s going to be one of the last big movies of his life and it’s Paul at his best.” David Belle and Rza co-star and film editor Camille Delamarre (Taken 2, Colombiana) is making his directorial debut.
Relativity’s Earth To Echo, which had been on that April 25 date, is moving to July 2.
Relativity and EuropaCorp are making a donation — including the cost of the film’s world premiere — to Walker’s charity Reach Out WorldWide, and Walker’s manager Matt Luber is serving as a consultant on the film and its release.
Relativity’s Earth To Echo, which had been on that April 25 date, is moving to July 2.
Relativity and EuropaCorp are making a donation — including the cost of the film’s world premiere — to Walker’s charity Reach Out WorldWide, and Walker’s manager Matt Luber is serving as a consultant on the film and its release.
#13
Re: Brick Mansions (remake of Banlieue 13)
Spoiler:
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Re: Brick Mansions (remake of Banlieue 13) S: Paul Walker
I have both French films on Blu. 1<sup>st</sup> was great and surprised the hell out of me, 2<sup>nd</sup> not as good, but fun still to be had. love free running. had no idea this was made. look forward to it...maybe.
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Re: Brick Mansions (remake of Banlieue 13/District B13) S: Paul Walker
I find it interesting that David Belle will be in the remake (his character has been renamed Lino for whatever reason) but dismayed that Cyril Raffaeli is out (Paul Walker plays his equivalent in the remake). I hope for the best but I still beel they would have been better off making a third film in the series rather than an Americanized remake of the first.
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Re: Brick Mansions (remake of Banlieue 13/District B13) S: Paul Walker
New trailer:
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/3AjzueKAE7I" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Not sure how I feel about it. Belle will rock but everyone else?
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/3AjzueKAE7I" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Not sure how I feel about it. Belle will rock but everyone else?
#20
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Re: Brick Mansions (remake of Banlieue 13/District B13) S: Paul Walker
My only issue is that Walker will be doing parkour via stunt double/cgi. Granted, it's a given, but that's what made the original so cool - David Belle and the other dude, whose name escapes me, did ALL of their own stunts.
We'll see how it goes.
We'll see how it goes.
#21
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Re: Brick Mansions (remake of Banlieue 13/District B13) S: Paul Walker
Yeah sure, looks fun. David Belle is always awesome to watch and I always liked Walker. And I've still get B13 and Ultimatum if this one sucks.
#22
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Re: Brick Mansions (remake of Banlieue 13/District B13) S: Paul Walker
Okay, so here's what looks like the U.S. trailer:
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/4CzcsN4k9FM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/4CzcsN4k9FM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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Re: Brick Mansions (remake of Banlieue 13/District B13) S: Paul Walker
I had no idea this was a thing. I loved the first of the French films (saw it 9 years ago at TIFF...), and although I own the second on Blu-ray, I haven't watched it.