It looks like a fresh set of faces will join Jake Gyllenhaal for the upcoming Road House 2, with Dave Bautista first among them.
With a September shoot being lined up for Guy Ritchie’s tilt at a Road House movie, we have our first bit of casting news to chew on. According to Nexus Point News, Bautista is ‘set to take on the role of a former fighter, a character reportedly cut from the same cloth as Dalton.’ Whether that makes him an enemy, a frenemy or an ally, we don’t yet know.
There’s quite a lot we don’t yet know about this one but let’s recap what we have learned so far. Guy Ritchie is helming, replacing Doug Liman who fell out with Amazon MGM in pretty spectacular fashion over the latter’s refusal to countenance a theatrical release for the film. Gyllenhaal is returning as Dalton, an ex-UFC fighter who we imagine will find himslef taking on yet another job running a team of bouncers at a roadhouse with a rather sketchy clientele.
That’s about it, right now, but the addition of Bautista, who was recently said to be in negotiations to join Damien Chazelle’s upcoming – and as yet untitled – prison movie, is certainly a welcome one. Chazelle’s movie is also said to be shooting later this year and given that Road House 2 is said to be shooting in September, we’re hoping that the actor finds room in his schedule to film both.
Read more: Road House review | Jake Gyllenhaal is the standout in a boisterous remake
The first film was set in the eye-popping surroundings of the Florida Keys, which did add a strong visual flourish to the film’s aesthetic. As of right now, we don’t know if the follow-up is going to be situated in roughly the same place or set a precedent where each successive film will take Dalton to a new American territory. An Alaskan road house, anyone? Road House Goes Hawaiian?, perhaps?
As for Bautista, we could definitely see the guy putting in a shift as the grizzled older pal in a nice nod to the Sam Elliot character in the 1989 original. That would certainly be alright with us, miho. When we do hear more news about this one, we’ll certainly let you know.
