I've been a Charlie Bronson fan since first seeing The Magnificent Seven in college. I've been a Dolph supporter since seeing the Big Swede in Masters of the Universe as a five year old. How I never put it together that they share the same birthday is beyond me! Bronson passed away in 2003 after living a full life at the age of 81. His final credits were on television in the Family of Cops series after milking out millions from schlock masters Cannon Films in the 80's. Of course, Bronson is far from forgotten as The Magnificent Seven lives on; we just attended a convention based around it and the TV show it produced and a high profile remake is on the way. Bronson was a major topic in recently released Cannon documentary Electric Boogaloo where interview subjects mention that every script was considered for the two Chucks, Bronson and Norris, before anyone else. Later this month, The New Beverly will be playing The Dirty Dozen, where Bronson solidified his quiet, macho screen presence opposite Lee Marvin, Clint Walker, John Cassavetes and Jim Brown among many others. Theater owner Quentin Tarantino has long been a fan, going back to Reservoir Dogs when his character references Bronson in The Great Escape.
While Bronson was an iconic screen presence due to his granite face, chiseled physique and loner persona, Dolph was always a little more like 70's icon Clint Eastwood. Quiet, steel eyed, sparse and prone to gun violence. Following 2014's release of The Expendables III, Dolph Lundgren has kept extremely busy with passion project Skin Trade premiering around the world and in Hollywood along with flicks 4Got10, War Pigs and Shark Lake. He was scheduled to attend Masters of the Universe night but was sadly shooting another project. The internet went a little crazy when they found out Dolph was working on Kindergarten Cop 2, sequel to Arnold's 1991 comedy with kids classic. He'll also be popping up in Hail, Caesar! The new Hollywood backstory comedy starring George Clooney, Channing Tatum, Josh Brolin and a mess of other talented folk. If that weren't enough, he participated in the 3,000 mile Gumball 3000 rally in Europe and gave an emotional TedX Talk in Santa Monica. Lundgren was currently shooting Larceny, an action flick about a thief enlisted to break into a Mexican prison. The American Film Market is in full effect and Dolph's name is being used to raise finances on Don't Kill It, a supernatural thriller that would pit demon hunter Lundgren versus an ancient demon in remote Alaska. Happy birthday, bros, keep kicking ass.
We're just over a week away from Masters of the Universe on the big screen at The Egyptian Theatre where we'll be joined by several several members of the cast and crew. It's been a busy summer for the big Swede as Lundgren was recently in the news when photos from the Vancouver set of Kindergarten Cop 2 hit the web, Thor screenwriter Christopher Yost had been hired to take a crack at the MOTU reboot set up at Sony and passion project Skin Trade hit Blu-Ray shelves. But that's not all, folks. This past Labor Day weekend saw the El Rey Network playing the Rocky marathon on repeat hosted by Sylvester Stallone and Robert Rodriguez which means you got to see The Iron Man in all his 80's yoked and flat topped glory punching bags, killing Apollo Creed, training with high tech equipment, doing roids and fighting the Cold War against Rocky set to Vince DiCola's glorious synth soundtrack at least twice a day.
Tonight at the Hollywood Arclight, Dolph is expected to attend the premiere of War Pigs, the World War II action flick co-starring Luke Goss (Blade 2), former UFC champion Chuck Liddell and Expendables co-star Mickey Rourke. Ryan Little directs from a script by Adam Emerson, Andrew Kightlinger and Steven Luke. I'm a sucker for WWII men on a mission flick and a lot of love and work went into the project so here's hoping for an action packed and entertaining 90 minutes. Next week you can catch Dolph on the big screen three days in a row! On Thursday, 9.17, Warner Brothers premieres the long awaited documentary, Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films at the Landmark Theatre on the west side. Roger Corman, Lucinda Dickey, Mark Helfrich and the American Ninja himself, Michael Dudikoff are scheduled to attend for Q&A. The following night, you can catch Cannon's mini-epic Masters of the Universe at The Egyptian with me while War Pigs hits select theaters the same night.
If that weren't enough Dolph for ya, the actor, karate expert, chemical engineer and filmmaker takes the stage for TEDx Fulbright Santa Monica to discuss Human Trafficking. This is an independently organized event to bring people together in TED like environments to spark discussion and connection. More information HERE and tickets over HERE. Phew, I'm tired just trying to keep up with him, see ya at the shows!
"Like none of this shit ever happened? It happened! And it doesn't just go away.
You just can't walk away, do you hear me?!
Do you hear me? (holds up necklace made of human ears)"
That's our boy Dolph Lundgren as Sgt. Andrew Scott in the 1992 classic action karate flick from Carolco, Universal Soldier. If you'll recall, Dolph Night at the Egyptian screened two of Mr. Lundgren's most well known works, Unisol and Rocky IV. Come April and Dolph is hitting Australia for a double feature tour featuring the same line up. Fans in Sydney, Melbourne and on the Gold Coast can meet the big Swede and see him on the bigger screen on his week long tour that also includes appearances at the Supanova Pop Culture Expo alongside other genre favorite actors, artists and writers.
For the stateside fans, Dolph popped up on Comedy Central's 90's loving Workaholics as himself looking oh so suave in a blazer, deep v-neck shirt and white pants. Dolph appeared throughout the episode in the forms of a life size standup doing karate and various photos in an obsessed fans computer slideshow. A burning question about Showdown in Little Tokyo ended the episode which also included references to Jean-Claude Van Damme and Unisol. TV viewers may also catch the Iron Man in a new Fox event series based on film series for older cinematic tough guys The Expendables. Details are scarce at the moment besides star Sylvester Stallone producing and hoping to reel in some TV icons of action. I'm not sure why they don't just use Dolph, Terry Crews and Randy Couture's characters as a base then add a guest star or five each episode.
On the film front, a new trailer and a poster for Dolph's passion project Skin Trade hit the web recently showcasing an awesome cast that includes Tony Jaa, Michael Jai White, Peter Weller and Ron Perlman. So that's He-Man, Ong-Bak, Spawn, Robocop and Hellboy all in the same 90 minutes! Inspired by real life human trafficking, Skin follows Dolph's detective as he interferes with a gangster's business then teams up with a Thai cop to exact bloody, high kicking, explosive and bullet riddled revenge. The trailer looks solid with lots of practical stunts, martial arts and a terrific cast. Magnolia releases the film on VOD in late April followed by a theatrical release Friday, May 8th. Horror flick Shark Lake just finished shooting, World War II men on a mission flick with Luke Goss and Mickey Rourke War Pigs is in post-production and a small role in action thriller 4GOT10 alongside Michael Pare, Johnny Messner and Danny Trejo recently wrapped.
If that still weren't enough, Dolph was interviewed for the upcoming The Art of Masters of the Universe coffee table book from Dark Horse hitting shelves on April 15th that will take a deep look at the phenomenon of cartoons, comic books, toys and the live action movie.
