A follow-up to director David Cronenberg’s excellent gangster flickEastern Promisesis going into production, with action hero andThe Megstar Jason Statham being eyed to lead the project. The sequel is currently titledSmall Dark Lookwith Danish filmmaker Martin Zandvliet, who was nominated for an Oscar for his historical war dramaLand of Mine, is now on board to direct.
Released back in 2007,Eastern Promisestells a story of a Russian-British midwife named Anna, who delivers the baby of a drug-addicted 14-year-old Russian prostitute who dies in childbirth. After Anna learns that the teen was forced into prostitution by the Russian Mafia in London, the leader of the Russian gangsters threatens the baby’s life to keep Anna from telling the police about their villainous dealings. As Anna tries to protect the baby, she is enmeshed deeper into the criminal underworld, and is threatened by the Mafia leader’s son and warned off by the son’s strong-arm man, Nikolai, who may well be more than he appears.
StarringThe Lord of Rings’Viggo Mortensen as Nikolaialongside Naomi Watts, Vincent Cassel, Sinéad Cusack and Armin Mueller-Stahl,Eastern Promisesis an intensely violent climbdown into the criminal underbelly and boasts one of Mortensen’s most daring performances. Talk of a sequel began soon after the first movie was released, with Vincent Cassel claiming thatEastern Promises 2would film in Russia with himself and Mortensen returning. Sadly, this never came to fruition, and in 2013 Cronenberg stated that the sequel was “dead,” saying “We were supposed to start shooting ‘Eastern Promises 2’ in October … [But] It’s done. If you don’t like it talk to James Schamus at Focus. It was his decision.”
According to reports,Small Dark Lookwill not be a direct continuation of the events ofEastern Promisesbut will instead be a different story set in the same Russian mob-ridden world. Screenwriter Steven Knight, who wrote the firstEastern Promises, as well as the critically acclaimed seriesPeaky Blindershas written the script for the Statham-starring follow-up. Statham has worked from a Knight script in the past, in the 2013 thrillerRedemption(also known asHummingbird, in which the gruff-voiced, high-kicking actor played a damaged ex-special forces soldier navigating London’s criminal underworld. Currently, it does not look likeEastern PromisesdirectorDavid Cronenbergwill be involved.
WhileJason Stathamhas yet to sign on, his involvement either suggests thatSmall Dark Lookwill be a lot more action-packed than its predecessor, or that the actor will attempt to showcase his more nuanced acting talents as demonstrated sporadically in Steven Knight’sRedemption. Statham has a pretty full up docket for 2021, including a sequel to monster hitThe Megto be directed by Ben Wheatley, a possible sequel toFast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shawalongside Dwayne Johnson, and a reunion withSnatchdirector Guy Ritchie for a currently untitled spy thriller that recently signed onParks and Recalumni Aubrey Plaza.
Are you excited to once again enter the world ofEastern Promiseswith Statham by your side? This comes to us courtesy ofThe Hollywood Reporter.
