Deadline reports a new sports documentary is being planned for kickboxing champion and martial arts movie star Benny “The Jet” Urquidez. The names associated with the production almost seems like a bingo announcer called out randomly drawn names from my favorite childhood movies. Keanu Reeves, who himself is no stranger to the martial arts world and action genre, has partnered with Fisher Stevens, who is known for projects like Short Circuit 1 & 2 and Hackers, to produce the documentary on Urquidez, whom I’ve talked about before on my Dragons Forever retrospective.
The documentary, which is titled The Jet, is currently in production with the Emmy-nominated sports documentary editor turned filmmaker, Jennifer Tiexiera, directing the film. Tiexiera has most recently also directed a three-part series for HBO called Unveiled: Surviving La Luz del Mundo, which has also recently been nominated for an Emmy in the catagory of Outstanding Crime and Justice Documentary. Chris Quintos Cathcart and Tyler Boehm are financing the film under their banner Unapologetic Projects. Maura Anderson and Zak Kilberg will be producing under the production company Fisher Stevens had recently launched, Highly Flammable. John Scalise and his FAYA Project also serve as a producer. Nancy Weisler and Brian Maya will also executive produce under the Unapologetic banner.
Urquidez fought competitively with concentrations in kickboxing and karate and he held six world titles in five different weight divisions. The Jet remained undefeated over the course of his 20+ year kickboxing career. Once he retired from the fighting circuit, his career in movies came. Benny would famously fight Jackie Chan in what is considered to be one of the best one-on-one fights of the martial arts genre in Wheels on Meals. The two would also have a rematch in the aforementioned Dragons Forever. In the 80s film Say Anything, John Cusack’s character was a kickboxer and Cusack would train in real life with Urquidez as his coach. Urquidez would remain in the film business as a stunt and fight coordinator and both Cusack and Urquidez would have a memorable fight themselves in the 1997 comedy, Grosse Pointe Blank.
Tiexiera spoke of Urquidez, saying, “Benny’s fighting career was born out of his struggles with identity, poverty, and race, but he didn’t let those things define him. The result is a story about how struggle and sacrifice evolved into one about love, spirituality and deeper meaning.” And Reeves would add, “Benny is a true mentor, and has had such a profound yet underappreciated impact on both cinema and martial arts. I’m very excited to help share his story with the world.”
The Jet is looking to release in 2025.