I still can’t believe this project is for real. As Brad reported last month, David Mamet is directing Redbelt, a martial arts drama for Sony Pictures Classics. Chiwetel Ejiofor has already been cast as:
a Jiu-jitsu master whose purity is compromised when he is drawn into the movie business and manipulated into brawling in ultimate fighting matches.
And now Tim Allen (yes, that Tim Allen) has also been cast in this film which Variety is swearing is not a comedy. Really?
Allen plays a troubled action star with marital problems who meets the master when he is getting pummeled in a street fight.
It should be noted that there’s a number of people who have wanted to see Tim Allen get “pummeled” ever since The Shaggy Dog.
Mamet staples Joe Mantegna, (Mamet wifey) Rebecca Pigeon and Ricky Jay will also co-star along with David Paymer, Alice Braga and Emily Mortimer. The film will also feature a slew of big name martial artists and Ejiofor is currently training in London with members of the Gracie clan. Yep, he’s going to be a bad ass when he’s done there.
I’m a big-time Mamet fan and the last thing in the world I would expect from him is a Bloodsport-type feature but the guy rarely lets me down. As for Allen being cast, well, it isn’t the first time he’s used a comedian in a serious role. He did something similiar with Steve Martin when he made The Spanish Prisoner, a movie I love. As strange as this project sounds, consider my interest peaked. You can read the full story right here.
