Director J.J. Perry has worked with Dave Bautista in 2024’s The Killer’s Game, and is set to re-up their partnership with the upcoming film Afterburn, which Perry says was a joy to get to working back together again.
Speaking to ComingSoon in a recent interview, Perry not only revealed that Afterburn was nearly wrapped up in production but recalled how he came to make the movie.
What did J.J. Perry say about working with Dave Bautista?
“Yeah, man. We had a great time on The Killers Game, and they had mentioned that there was another film, another script,” said Perry. “I’d actually read Afterburn 12 years ago to coordinate it about six years ago when Gerard Butler was gonna do it with a Korean director [Jung Byung-gil], who did The Villainess. I met the Korean director in K-Town, and somehow, it landed in my lap, and I was grateful. I kind of knew what to do. I’m just wrapping that one up right now. Dropped my director’s cut. So I’m super excited about that. Dave, I’m telling you, if you don’t have someone like Dave Bautista in your life, you need one. He’s such a generous and intelligent [person]. I can’t say enough good things about him. He’s amazing.”
Perry also opened up about Bautista and his relationship and joked that “everybody should have a little Dave Bautista in their life” after he had gotten to know the wrestler-turned-actor.
“Dave is legitimately one of the most dangerous people I’ve ever. He’s nice as pie. Everybody should have a little Dave Bautista in their life. He’s a gem of a human, and I love him to death, but he is legitimate. He’s a big, strong man who is very skilled in wrestling and very skilled at jiu-jitsu and who’s got lunchbox fists. He’s massive, and he can hit really hard, “Perry said.
“So, coming up with a style with him, with my action team that is always with me. Justin Yu, Felix Betancourt, and Troy Robinson, these guys come with me from Day Shift, and they’ve come with me on this whole journey, even as a second unit director for years. [The key] is coming up with something that’s interesting for him. What is good choreography? What is that? It’s creating a problem for your protagonist or for your protagonist and showing how he solves that problem and repeat and repeat and repeat. Make the problems get harder and harder.”
The synopsis for Afterburn reads, “Ten years after a solar flare wiped out technology across the globe, ex-soldier Jake (Bautista) works as a treasure hunter recovering valuable objects from the old world for powerful clients. His latest mission: team up with freedom fighter Drea to recover the Mona Lisa before an unhinged warlord gets there first.”
