An action director praised by James Gunn has a new movie in the works.
As production continues on the Superman sequel Man of Tomorrow, Gunn hailed the new R-rated action movie The Furious. As per his post on Threads, “Oh boy! Just went with a bunch of #ManofTommorrow cast & crew to see #TheFurious. I didn’t think [director Kenji Tanigaki] could outdo himself after the spectacular Walled In, but man The Furious really showed him as one of the best action filmmakers working. We all loved it!“
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Lionsgate has now revealed that Tanigaki is directing a new action movie titled The Reckoner, which is being written and produced by Derek Kolstad, the creator of the popular John Wick franchise, and Peter Dinklage is attached to star in and produce the film. After working together on the upcoming John Rambo movie, Lionsgate and AGBO are collaborating again on The Reckoner, with Avengers: Doomsday directors Anthony and Joe Russo aboard as producers.
The president of the Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, Erin Westerman, and Angelo Russo-Otstot, AGBO’s Chief Creative Officer and a producer of The Reckoner, both shared statements expressing their enthusiasm about the upcoming film:
Erin Westerman: One of the most rewarding parts of what we do is discovering filmmakers with distinctive voices, bringing their work to wider theatrical audiences, and partnering with them as they take on projects of greater scale and ambition. That’s exactly what excites us about Kenji Tanigaki. The Furious showcases a singular filmmaking talent, and we’re thrilled to reunite with our friends at AGBO to bring his bold vision for The Reckoner to audiences worldwide.
Angela Russo-Otstot: Derek Kolstad and Peter Dinklage came to us with a world we hadn’t encountered before, original, action-packed, and with genuine soul. The moment we saw what Kenji Tanigaki did with The Furious, his take on action so unique and engaging we knew immediately he was the only director who could take this vision and bring it to life. We couldn’t be more thrilled to be bringing this remarkable collection of talent together with Lionsgate, whose commitment to bold, character-driven filmmaking makes them the perfect partner for this project.
With a “Certified Fresh” 98% Tomatometer score based on 139 reviews and a “Verified Hot” 95% Popcornmeter score based on more than 1,000 ratings, reviews for The Furious have been stellar. In ScreenRant‘s review, Josh Bate gave the movie nine out of 10 stars and highlighted how “Tanigaki brings a level of precision and craft to the proceedings, elevating The Furious from an entertaining thriller to a best-in-class action movie.”
The Furious is centered on an ordinary man, Wang Wei (Xie Miao), who takes on the criminal empire that kidnapped his daughter, Rainy (Yang Enyou). He is helped by the journalist Navin (Joe Taslim), whose wife, Matia (Jeeja Yanin), was also taken. Along with the overwhelmingly positive reception to the story from critics and general audiences, the movie has gone on to make $25.7 million at the international box office.
As mentioned by Gunn, Tanigaki previously directed 2024’s Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In, which has a “Certified Fresh” 90% Tomatometer score and an 85% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. He won the Hong Kong Award for Best Action Choreography in recognition of Walled In and 2021’s Raging Fire. His first Hollywood movie was 2015’s Snake Eyes, where he was the second unit director.
Along with creating the John Wick franchise, Kolstad wrote the scripts and created the story for the first and second movies. He also developed the story for the third installment and co-wrote the script with Shay Hatten, Marc Abrams, and Chris Collins. Other writing credits include Bob Odenkirk’s Nobody, Nobody 2, Normal, Netflix’s Splinter Cell: Deathwatch, and two episodes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
Dinklage is best known for playing Tyrion Lannister in Game of Thrones, for which he won four Primetime Emmy Awards. Other previous roles include Finbard McBride in The Station Agent, Dr. Bolivar Trask in X-Men: Days of Future Past, Eitri in Avengers: Infinity War, Dean Casca Highbottom in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Dr. Dillamond in Wicked, and Leon Prater in Dexter: Resurrection season 1. He is currently filming Alien: Earth season 2 and can be seen in the movies Idiots and Wicker, which will be released in theaters later this year.