Skip to main content

Star Wars: The Force Awakens reportedly adds stars of The Raid to its cast

star wars force awakens reportedly adds stars raid cast the 2
The next installment of the Star Wars franchise is shaping up to be an action-packed affair, with a trio of actors from Gareth Evans’ celebrated martial-arts films The Raid: Redemption and The Raid 2: Berandal reportedly joining the cast of Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens.

Twitch (the movies site, not the game streaming service) reports that Indonesian actor and The Raid franchise star Iko Uwais, who plays S.W.A.T. officer Rama in both films of the series, has agreed to join the cast of The Force Awakens in an unspecified role. He’ll be joined by fellow franchise actors Yayan Ruhian, who played “Mad Dog” in The Raid: Redemption, and Cecep Arif Rahman, who played “The Assassin” in The Raid 2.

Recommended Videos

The outlet is uncertain whether the three actors will fill on-screen roles or serve as fight choreographers, as both Uwais and Ruhian did for The Raid films in addition to appearing in the film. Given that all three actors are experts in the traditional Indonesian martial art pencak silat, which uses blades, batons, poles, and swaths of fabric in its self-defense techniques, the universe of Star Wars — with its lightsabers and robed warriors — seems like a particularly good fit for their talents.

It’s worth noting that neither the studio nor the actors’ representatives have confirmed the deal for their services at this point, so their involvement should be considered a rumor until an official announcement is made.

Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens is scheduled to hit theaters December 18.

Rick Marshall
A veteran journalist with more than two decades of experience covering local and national news, arts and entertainment, and…
The best animated movies on Netflix right now
A cat points a bat at another cat in Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.

While Nimona has been the big Netflix original animated film of the summer, it's far from the only addition to the lineup. Netflix is making sure that animation fans are well served in August with the first two Despicable Me movies, Bee Movie, and Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2. However, Netflix's biggest recent addition is one of 2022's biggest animated hits: DreamWorks' Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.

Netflix's deals with Sony Pictures Animation, DreamWorks Animation, and Universal Pictures have given it a powerhouse library of animated films. And that's before we even get into Netflix's impressive originals like The Sea Beast. To help you keep track of what's new and what you can stream right now, we've updated our list of the best animated movies on Netflix.

Read more
From Barbarella to Howard the Duck: the 7 cheesiest sci-fi movies ever
Howard the Duck in "Howard the Duck."

The science-fiction genre has a vast smorgasbord of cheesy films stretching way back to the early days of cinema. Such pictures are known for their weird stories, unrealistic dialogue, low-budget productions, and exaggerated acting.

While many of these films have been panned by critics and audiences alike, some of them have garnered success for being "so bad, they're good." Whether or not they have been held up by a dedicated fan base, these seven movies stand out as the cream of the cheesy sci-fi crop.
Flash Gordon (1980)

Read more
10 best Batman stories ever, ranked
Batman Year One cover

Bounding from rooftop to rooftop, the Dark Knight never misses his mark. He operates like a well-oiled machine tracking bad guys, beating them to a bloody pulp, and throwing them in the slammer - or Arkham Asylum should they be anyone of Gotham's notable supervillains. As the brainchild of Bob Kane and Bill Finger, an artist and writer duo, Batman has been pounding the pavement of Gotham ever since his debut in Detective Comics in 1939. He's undergone a number of changes since his original conception ultimately becoming the brooding powerhouse we know today.

Most understand the basic tenants of Batman these days. His parents were murdered before his young eyes leading him down this path of personal vindication and pursuit of justice. Batman, in most iterations, never resorts to killing -- the one crime that separates his outlaw vigilante operations from the real criminals. Of course, it wasn't always that way. In Batman's earliest days, he had no qualms about ending the lives of baddies on the streets. Even now, some stories and films like Tim Burton's gothic take on the character depict him looking on with cold and uncaring glares as criminals meet their end. Regardless, Batman is mostly a well-established hero simply seeking justice and there are countless stories of the Caped Crusader. Let's take a look at the best among them.
10. Hush

Read more