Director Gareth Evans’ martial arts action film The Raid impressed critics and audiences alike when it hit theaters last year, making the low-budget Indonesian film one of the more exciting success stories of 2012.  The fight sequences were masterfully crafted and performed by Evans' cast, and the director quickly got to work on a sequel that he promised would be larger in scope.  Production on The Raid 2 is finally winding down, and we spoke with Evans last night to discuss his work on V/H/S/2, and the filmmaker provided a bit of an update on the film and revealed that he hopes to have it in theaters by early next year.  Hit the jump for more.the-raid-2Filming on The Raid 2 got underway on January 31st of this year, and while the shoot was initially planned to last 100 days, Evans told us that production will actually stretch on for quite a bit longer:

“We’re still shooting it right now.  We’re about a month and a half away from finishing the production of it.  It’s got the same kind of action beats in terms of the style of the action, but our approach this time is to go way more cinematic with it.  We’re expanding the universe out.  We’re taking the story out of that little claustrophobic setting and putting it out into the streets and into the high end gangsters in Jakarta.  It’s a lot bigger in scope.  So fingers crossed people will kind of come along for the ride again.”

I’d say a four-month shoot is most definitely “bigger in scope,” but it’s no secret that Evans has been putting together some intricate car chase sequences that likely take quite a while to plan and execute.  As for when we’ll finally see The Raid 2 in theaters, Evans is hoping for an early 2014 release:

“We should be finished with post by the end of this year and then maybe early next year we can have the release.”

The first film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, but with filming not set to wrap until mid-July, the prospect of Evans finishing the film by September is highly unlikely.  However, it’s possible that The Raid 2 could premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January.  Whatever the case, fans are certainly eager to see what Evans has put together for the follow-up.

Additional reporting by Haleigh Foutch

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