Hitting closest to home is Dark Knight producer Charles Roven and Transporter producer Steve Chasman’s plans to resurrect The Destroyer, the tale of a framed cop who comes back from death row as Remo Williams, an assassin authorized by a secret Government agency to “go outside the Constitution to protect the Constitution.” The wildest card in all this chicanery is that Remo has been trained by an eccentric sifu named Chiun in the “sun source” of all martial arts.

Created by Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir in 1970 as a straight-faced satire of other men’s action-adventure paperbacks, there are now about 150 books in the series, which gave rise to an abortive TV series and film, ironically titled Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins (1985).

Finally, the adventure may continue now that the producers have made a deal with Columbia Pictures. Charley and Vlas Parlapanides, who wrote the upcoming action saga War of Gods, have been approached to pen the new screenplay, based on the first book in the series. I’ll be most interested in how it plays out, since I was the series’ first ghostwriter and am extremely grateful that Murphy and Sapir helped me through my first three novels.

More manna for the martial arts fan comes from Spike, the cable channel dedicated to beer, babes, and brawling. It was announced that Deadliest Warrior, the show that pits history’s most powerful fighters, would be returning for a second season in the spring of 2010. Outside of some seemingly forced smack talk, the show is a fascinating, factual, and fun “what-if” series of comparative confrontations, climaxing with a full-on fight.

The first season was highlighted by appearances from samurai, ninja, yakuza and Shaolin monks, and the second season promises appearances by Mongols, Zhou Dynasty soldiers, Celtics, and Aztecs, among others.

“After setting record numbers both on-air and online, it was a no-brainer to pick them back up for another season,” said Spike TV’s Senior Vice President of Original Programming, Sharon Levy. And don’t be surprised if those monks, ninja, and samurai put in a return appearance either.

Dateline Asia—Hong Kong director Tsui Hark’s latest action thriller Detective D—the 50th film since he has directed—has wrapped production. Famous for his creation of Zu Warriors and the Once Upon a Time in China series, Hark has hit rough box-office waters of late, but everyone hopes that the beloved “D” will set things right.

The story is set in the Tang dynasty, where Empress Wu Zetian asks the legendary sleuth to solve a mysterious murder. He winds up eliciting the aide of a courtesan as well as an albino investigator, who prefers to literally work in the dark.

Hark hopes this new film will put his Detective D, otherwise known as Judge Dee, in his rightful place alongside such other famed fictional detectives as Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, and even James Bond. Although he was the protagonist of a Qing dynasty novel, he was made internationally famous by Dutch diplomat Robert van Gulik, who wrote a popular series of English-language novels about the man.

The great Andy Lau stars, with the beautiful Fan Bingbing as the courtesan, Deng Chao as the night stalker, and such popular supporting players as Carina Lau and even Leung Kar-Fai (Gordon Liu).

Many fans declare The Storm Riders as the best “kung-sfx” movie ever made, and for more than a decade fans have anxiously awaited a sequel. Finally, The Storm Warriors has been officially announced. Based on the manga/manhua universe created by Ma Wing-Shing, the new film is reportedly being directed by the (in)famous Pang brothers, who are best known for helming The Eye series of horror films as well as the original Bangkok Dangerous (as well as the unfortunate American remake).

Aaron Kwok and Ekin Cheng are back in their leading roles of wuxia warriors Wind and Cloud, who are now taking on Lord Godless, a powerful new villain played by the wonderful Simon Yam (Ip Man, Exiled, Election, etc.), with the help (and maybe hindrance) of a great supporting cast, which includes Nicholas Tse (Dragon Tiger Gate) and Charlene Choi (House of Fury).

36th Chamber
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Ric Meyers is a former Inside Kung-Fu “Writer of the Year.”