Upcoming American film by Doug Liman
Road House is an upcoming American action film directed by Doug Liman, from a screenplay by Anthony Bagarozzi and Chuck Mondry. It is a reimagining of the 1989 film of the same name. The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Daniela Melchior, Conor McGregor, J. D. Pardo, Arturo Castro and Billy Magnussen. Joel Silver produces the film, as he did the original.
Road House's world premiere is scheduled for March 8, 2024, at South by Southwest as the opening night film, and it is to be released by Amazon MGM Studios via Prime Video on March 21, 2024.[3]
Premise
A former UFC middleweight fighter ends up working at a roadhouse in the Florida Keys where things are not as they seem.
Production
Development
In November 2013, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures began development on the film with Rob Cohen directing and Michael Stokes writing.[7] In September 2015, Cohen and Stokes had vacated the project while Ronda Rousey was cast in the lead role.[8] Filming was projected to begin sometime the following year.[9] The next month, Nick Cassavetes boarded the film as writer and director.[10] The project was put on hold until November 2021, when MGM began another attempt, with Jake Gyllenhaal set to star and Doug Liman to direct. The studio prioritized the film despite Gyllenhaal and Liman's commitments to Guy Ritchie's The Covenant and Everest, respectively.[11] A search for a new writer began to revise a previous draft by Anthony Bagarozzi and Chuck Mondry.[12] By August 2022, Sheldon Turner had turned in a rewrite of the script.[13] Ultimately, Bagarozzi and Mondry received final screenplay credit, with story credit given to the duo and the original's story writer David Lee Henry.[14]
Casting
The project was officially greenlit in August 2022 by Amazon Studios,[15] which had purchased MGM five months earlier.[16] Daniela Melchior, Billy Magnussen, Conor McGregor, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Lukas Gage, Hannah Love Lanier, Travis Van Winkle, B.K. Cannon, Arturo Castro, Dominique Columbus, Beau Knapp and Bob Menery were added to the cast alongside Gyllenhaal.[6][17] Joaquim de Almeida, Darren Barnet, Kevin Carroll and J. D. Pardo were added to the cast later in the month.[5] In June 2023, Jessica Williams revealed she has a role in the film.[18]
Filming
Filming began in the Dominican Republic on August 23, 2022.[19][20] On March 3, 2023, Gyllenhaal shot a scene with former Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter Jay Hieron following the ceremonial weigh-ins for UFC 285 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The scene was done in front of fans who attended the weigh-ins and included UFC president Dana White, play-by-play announcer Jon Anik and other regular UFC event personnel.[21] A walkout scene with Gyllenhaal was filmed during an intermission in the event.[22]
Music
Volker Bertelmann was to compose the film's score.[23] In January 2024, it was announced that Bertelmann left the project, with Christophe Beck being the new film composer.[24]
Release
Road House is set to have its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 8, 2024 as the opening night film, and is scheduled to be released in the United States via streaming on Prime Video by Amazon MGM Studios on March 21, 2024.[25] Liman wrote an editorial piece in Deadline Hollywood lambasting Amazon for bypassing a theatrical release for the film after they purchased MGM and announced a $1 billion investment to release 12–15 films a year theatrically. He wrote that he would not be attending the film's premiere at SXSW in protest.[26]
