What is Movie News After Dark? Tonight it’s a movie news column stunned by its author’s ability to find all that is cool and interesting in the world of film. Seriously, this might be the best one of these lot that he’s put together in over 150 tries. It’s almost as if he’s ready to graduate to a “mediocre” rating as a news aggregator. Then he can begin acquiring spells and executing more advanced quests before he can join a proper guild and go on raids. Gore Verbinski may finally have found his Lone Ranger in the form of The Social Network star Armie Hammer. He is currently in talks to take the lead alongside Johnny Depp, who’s already been cast as Tonto. He’s got the look (and damn, the voice as well), but the challenge for Hammer will be the fact that there’s only one character to play in the film. Unless Verbinski carries over the “multiple Jack Sparrow” sequences from his Pirates of the Caribbean work.

This isn’t the kind of news we normally like to report here at FSR, namely because it’s almost entirely lacking in details. But it’s good news, so I’m bucking the system and saying the hell with the rules. Per the sexy folks over at Twitch, the word on the street is that Tony Jaa is prepping to return to the screen with a non-Thai production. The rumors contain no mention of the film, the role, or anything else aside from two very enticing details. It will be a Hong Kong production, and Sammo Hung will be handling the fight choreography. Hung is well known as an actor and director in his own right, but recent years have seen his work as an action director and fight choreographer take center stage. Donnie Yen’s excellent Ip Man films and Andy Lau’s fantastic Detective Dee & the Mystery Of the Phantom Flame are the most recent examples, and they bode well for anything he touches going forward. Jaa burst onto the scene in 2003 with Ong-bak, but over the course of six years and only three other lead roles he managed to lose almost as many fans as he gained thanks to odd outbursts, self-imposed isolation, and other behaviors that fall under the umbrella of ‘hissy fit meltdown.’ There’s no denying the man’s athleticism and fighting skill, but he’s at his best when those are his only concerns. (Well, he might want to dedicate a little bit of time to an acting class [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

Never let it be said that I was someone who valued my pride over my integrity. I say that because I’m about to admit this… I once called Ong Bak 2 the “greatest martial arts movie ever made.” I could make lame excuses like my lack of sleep when I wrote the review. Or my level of inebriation. Or the fact that an editor worth their weight in Gourdoughs donuts really should have caught that hyperbole and cut it out of the post all together… but no, I’m fully responsible for the ridiculous accolade. And while I stand by the review in general, that particular line haunts me to this day. As great as the fighting in the film is the movie as a whole has multiple issues and there are any number of better martial arts movies out there. Unfortunately, Ong Bak 3 is not one of them.

That’s it folks, Tony Jaa has called it quits (for the time being at least). Who could possibly fill the shoes of one of the most gravity defying kickers of ass today? Here are eight worthy prospects…

On Friday, May 28, actor and renowned martial artist Tony Jaa rode an elephant to a Buddhist temple in Surin, Thailand. He then shaved his head, took vows, and was officially ordained as a Buddhist monk. Anyone who has seen his most recent film Ong Bak 2 will not be surprised by this news. The guy has a thing for elephants.

Legendary to very few Americans, but iconic in his own region, martial arts star Tony Jaa is without a doubt one of the most exciting performers in the field today. And as long as he keeps making movies that look as exciting as this, his fan base can only grow.

Just as Sundance comes to a close, my world has exploded with one of my favorite things in the world: Tony Jaa.

Magnet Releasing has just sent over three intense, totally badass new clips from their VOD release Ong Bak 2, and I feel as if we’d be doing the world a major disservice if we didn’t hand them over to the public immediately.

On September 25th, the much-beloved Ong Bak 2 arrived on VOD, Amazon and XBOX Live. And to celebrate, we’re hooking you up with a chance to relive some of your favorite Muy Thai movies with a Tony Jaa refresher course.

Ready for a trailer that will almost literally punch you in the face? How about a taste of Tony Jaa kicking the hell out of everything in sight in the highly anticipated Ong Bak 2?

Bold Claim of the Day: Ong Bak 2 is the greatest martial arts movie ever made. Not the smartest, or the funniest, or the most dramatic… the greatest.

Get ready for flying fruit, knives, and fat kids… there’s a ton of ass-kicking coming out of Thailand.