Hollywood wild card Nicolas Cage will choke out alien invaders in a Brazilian jiu jitsu battle for Earth—and some of the action will take place in Myanmar, according to Variety.
Director Dimitri Logothetis told the magazine stuntman and actor Alain Moussi will star alongside Cage in a roll that fits the Oscar-winning Con Air star tighter than a rear-naked choke.
The sci fi martial arts flick, Jiu Jitsu, is based on the comic book of the same name, which was created by the film’s scriptwriters Logothetis and Jim McGrath.
“Jiu Jitsu is guaranteed to satisfy the millions of martial arts and science fiction lovers across the globe with world class martial artists, stunt men go-to expert Alain Moussi joining superstar Nicolas Cage for some formidable, no holds barred fight sequences set in exotic Burma,” Logothetis said.
The comic follows Jake McCall, a combat veteran and assistant wrestling coach whose small town life shatters when he protects an old man claiming to be his father from three violent policemen.
He turns himself in to the local police station, but no records of dead bodies or missing officers exist. After a bit of soul searching, McCall discovers his memories are false, implanted by floating particles from outer space (the bad guys, we guess).
Crucially, the aliens robbed McCall of the one thing he needs to save the world: jiu jitsu. Hence a training montage that may involve a lot of panting while drilling techniques on a mat.
Cage’s character and his team of jiu jitsu fighters band together with Moussi’s character to defeat the Brax, the physical manifestation of the invading force.
If the actors need to brush up on their grappling skills before the shoot, there’s a committed bunch of jujitsukas submitting each other almost every evening at Transcend Fitness Yangon in Junction Mawtin.
Jiu Jitsu is set to become the second international film shoot in Myanmar in recent memory after action movie Line Walker 2 wrapped up its Myanmar shoot in February.
Hong Kong-based Shaw Brothers Pictures International chose downtown Yangon for the location of Line Walker 2. For Jiu Jitsu, Hong Kong Filmart is working with Highland Film Group for the film’s sales and distribution.
