Though Screen Gems first acquired remake rights to Gareth Evans’ Indonesian action film The Raid two years ago, after the film made waves with its TIFF debut, the studio now finally looks ready to pull the trigger on the American redo.  Variety reports that Patrick Hughes is in final negotiations to take the helm of The Raid remake from a script by Brad Ingelsby (Out of the Furnace).  The original pic finds an elite Indonesian S.W.A.T. raiding a gangster-ridden building, facing tough opposition as they climb floor-by-floor.  Evans’ film and its upcoming sequel The Raid 2 are both very heavy on martial arts, favoring unique and intense fighting styles over explosions and gunplay, so it’ll be interesting to see how Hughes approaches the action in this remake.

Hughs previously directed the 2010 revenge film Red Hill, but he most recently stepped up to the big leagues by helming the star-filled action sequel The Expendables 3, which opens this August.  Meanwhile, The Raid 2 hits U.S. theaters on March 28th.  You can read Matt’s review of the Evans-helmed follow-up here.  Watch the trailer for the original after the jump. [Update: The Wrap adds that, while no casting has been done on the film, the studio reportedly would like Chris and Liam Hemsworth to star.  Again, nothing official and those two are very busy guys, but that's the early word.]