Carnahan and Grillo discuss setting and brutality of The Raid remake

Last Updated on July 31, 2021

A remake of Gareth Evans' THE RAID: REDEMPTION was set up at Screen Gems and XYZ Films a while ago. THE EXPENDABLES 3's Patrick Hughes was going to direct, with Frank Grillo of THE PURGE: ANARCHY and THE PURGE: ELECTION YEAR attached to star alongside Taylor Kitsch. The project gradually fell apart, with Hughes, Grillo, Kitsch, and Screen Gems (who had a distribution deal with Sony) all dropping out. That was back in 2015. 

As announced last week, Grillo has come back to the idea of remaking THE RAID, and he has brought with him the director I would probably trust more than any other (aside from Evans himself) with this material – Joe Carnahan, who directed Grillo in THE GREY.

Earlier this week, Carnahan and Grillo sat down with Steve Weintraub of Collider to discuss their plans for their take on THE RAID, like moving the setting to Caracas, Venezuela.

Because Caracas is a madhouse. It’s almost like a safehouse for bad guys, like they built this block in Caracas because this is where you come to do business and no one will f*ck with you. Because it’s such a dangerous place, nobody wants to go in there. Again, it’s heightening elements of The Raid that were already there, I’m taking these story elements and kind of weaponizing them. Just giving them a shot of steroids, because again everything is about zagging—where The Raid zigged, we’ll zag.

The pair also said that they will be digging deeper into the story of two brothers that's at the heart of THE RAID:

It’s a very different relationship with the brothers, because their father is a very centrifugal figure in this thing. Without getting too deep into it it’s all about the idea that a man is able to create the version of himself that surpasses himself, but one of them sees him for what he really is, which is not this world beater. … So the argument between these two brothers, the split between them, is about their dad. He built these things that are superior and that are real soldiers, but he’s not that. You bought that line, I didn’t buy that line. I went my way and you went your way.

Of course, a very important element of THE RAID is the action, the fights, the brutality. The characters in Carnahan's RAID will not be "completely physically fit monsters", the special forces team that are conducting the titular raid are described as "the walking wounded", having been worn down and beaten up by the things they've had to do in the line of duty. They'll be getting into this fight while still nursing injuries from previous operations.

Special forces operation guys often times like football players. They’re never 100%. Soft tissue damage in their hands, radial fractures, knees are shot, this and that. So this idea you’re catching a guy who is compelled to go after his brother after he just got his ass kicked in a completely different operation.

… There’s a level of brutality, a level of violence. If our movie felt like the knife fight between Adam Goldberg and the German in Saving Private Ryan the entirety of the movie, then we’ve done exactly what we need to do. Something that grueling and tough.

Bringing up that scene in SAVING PRIVATE RYAN is a very striking reference. That knife fight is an unforgettably intense, heart-wrenching moment, and it would be quite stunning if Carnahan were able to draw out that sort of feeling through his entire movie.

Carnahan is currently writing the script for THE RAID, which he expects to make for less than $20 million. He and Grillo believe in this project so much that they aren't taking any money up front for it, "betting on themselves" by making back-end deals. They'll be producing the film with XYZ Films, but there is no studio or distributor attached at the moment.

While the basics of THE RAID will be there – two brothers at the center of a battle through a building – it sounds like Carnahan and Grillo have found a way to take the concept and build their own uniquely interesting film out of it. I'm really looking forward to this one now.

Head over to Collider to get the full interview. We'll keep you updated as the remake progresses.

SAVING PRIVATE RYAN