Get ready action fans, because Iko Uwais is coming back to screens. Production has begun on the second Raid film in Jakarta, Indonesia, The Raid 2: Berandal bringing back together writer/director Gareth Huw Evans and rising action talent Iko Uwais. Joining the cast are some familiar faces from other local films: Alex Abbad was in Merantau and Julie Estelle was in the Mo Brothers' Macabre. There will be more casting announcements as production moves along and I assure you there are more surprises to come.

The story in the second film takes place shortly after the end of The Raid: Redemption; you will find a short synopsis in the third paragraph. And after the lengthy press release some shots from the production shall be your reward. 

Los Angeles, CA (January 31, 2013) - PT Merantau Films and XYZ Films announce the start of production for THE RAID 2 (Indonesian title, THE RAID 2: BERANDAL), the sequel to the wildly popular international hit THE RAID (aka THE RAID: REDEMPTION).  The film reunites writer/director Gareth Huw Evans with actor Iko Uwais, who will be reprising his starring role.  Ario Sagantoro is producing for PT Merantau Films, along with Nate Bolotin, Nick Spicer, Aram Tertzakian and Todd Brown for XYZ Films.  Executive producing are Rangga Maya Barack-Evans and Irwan D. Mussry. 
 
In addition to Uwais, the international cast includes Tio Pakusadewo, Putra Arifin Scheunamann, Julie Estelle, Alex Abbad and Roy Marten.  The film is currently lensing in Jakarta, Indonesia and is scheduled to shoot for over 100 days. Line producing the film is Daiwanne Ralie, with Matthew Flannery and Dimas Imam Subhono serving as directors of photography.
 
Picking up right where the first film ends, The Raid 2 follows Rama (Uwais) as he goes undercover and infiltrates the ranks of a ruthless Jakarta crime syndicate in order to protect his family and uncover the corruption in his own police force. 
 
The Raid premiered at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival, where it took home the Audience Award in the Midnight Madness section. It went on to play at Sundance and SXSW, before enjoying a theatrical release in the United States through Sony Pictures Classics. The film is approaching $15M in global box office.
 
XYZ and PT Mereantau Films are also in post-production on KILLERS, which is co-directed by Timo Tjahjanto and Kimo Stamboel, with Gareth Huw Evans and Rangga Maya Barack-Evans executive producing .  Evans and Tjahjanto recently collaborated on SAFE HAVEN, a celebrated segment in the horror anthology film S-VHS, which just premiered at this year's Sundance Film Festival. 
 
XYZ Films recently premiered Calvin Lee Reeder's THE RAMBLER at Sundance as well.
 
"We're incredibly excited to start the next chapter of The Raid story," said XYZ Films. "Gareth introduced a rich and fertile world in the first film, and we're eager to see him expand on that vision with Berandal."
 
"To all our fans thank you so much for your support. We can't wait to come back and show you what we have been working on," said writer/director Gareth Evans. "We'll be there in 2014 with a film bigger, better and bloodier! Wish us luck."
 
Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions (SPWA) acquired the film for the United States, Spain, Latin America and South Africa, and Sony Pictures Classics will once again release the film theatrically in the United States.
 
About PT Merantau Films:
 
Based in Jakarta, Indonesia Merantau Films was founded in 2008 by Rangga Maya Barack-Evans and Gareth H Evans. The company was established as a film production company with a view to produce feature films for local and international audiences, with a particular interest to revive Indonesian action genre especially by showcasing Pencak silat (traditional Indonesian martial arts) techniques as action choreography style in its many productions. In 2008 the company produced its debut feature, an action drama titled MERANTAU (Merantau Warrior) which was successfully released in 2009 locally and internationally (US, UK, France, Japan and many more territories). MERANTAU - written, directed, and edited by Gareth H Evans received several distinguished awards such as Audience Award, Honorable Mention, at Fantastic Fest 2009 and Best Film at Action Fest 2010. Iko Uwais and Yayan Ruhian - professional pencak silat athletes joined the company in 2008 as in house action choreographers and actors. While Uwais played the leading male role as YUDHA, Ruhian played as one of the supporting role as ERIK.
 
At the end of 2010 Evans completed his next feature script THE RAID (THE RAID:REDEMPTION) starring Uwais, Ruhian , Joe Taslim, Donny Alamsyah. The production began in early 2011 and was completed by the end of the year. THE RAID's world premiere was held at the 2011 Toronto Film Festival and received the Midnight Madness Award at the festival after its successful premiere. THE RAID also received Dublin Film Critics Circle Best Film and Audience Award at Jameson Dublin International Film Festival (JDIFF) 2012[37] Sp!ts Silver Scream Award at Imagine Film Festival, Amsterdam, 2012 .
 
The original score was executed by Aria Prayogi and Fajar Yuskemal for Indonesian release while the international score version was composed by Mike Shinoda (Linkin Park) and Joe Trapanese. THE RAID gained strong worldwide distribution, including Sony Pictures for US, Latin America and Spain, Momentum Pictures in UK, Alliance  in Canada , and Kadokawa Pictures in Japan. The company is currently producing THE RAID 2 (Indonesian title, BERANDAL), a sequel to THE RAID (THE RAID REDEMPTION). The film is due to be completed by end of 2013 for of a 2014 release.
 
About XYZ Films
 
 XYZ FILMS is an LA-based film production and sales company founded in 2008 by Nate Bolotin, Nick Spicer, and Aram Tertzakian. XYZ is a leader in the global film space, with a particular focus on elevated genre films with broad international appeal. A recent example of XYZ's model is Gareth Evans' sub $1M Indonesian action film, THE RAID, for which XYZ acted as Executive Producers and Worldwide Sales Agents. The film is approaching $15M in global box office, after premiering at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival (where it won the audience award for TIFF's Midnight Madness section). The film also went on to play at Sundance and SXSW, before enjoying a US release by Sony Pictures Classics. XYZ and Evans' PT Merantau Films are currently in pre-production on a sequel to THE RAID, in development on a remake of THE RAID at Sony Screen Gems, and in development on a heist thriller which Evans will direct for Universal. Other recent XYZ productions include the recently wrapped FRANKENSTEIN'S ARMY, which was directed by Dutch filmmaker Richard Raaphorst and shot in Prague. Since the company's inception, XYZ has grown to include partner Todd Brown, Head of Development Kyle Franke, Director of Sales Sarah Gabriel, and Acquisitions Consultant Simon de Bruyn (based in Melbourne, focused on Australia & New Zealand).