24 January,2025 02:59 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Randeep Hooda and John Cena
Actor Randeep Hooda is set for his next Hollywood venture, as he teams up with celebrated director Sam Hargrave for an adrenaline-pumping action film, Matchbox which also stars John Cena. Sam who is a celebrated filmmaker known for directing Extraction 1 and 2, and is also the genius behind stunts and action in films including Avengers: Endgame and Infinity War, Thor Ragnarok, Suicide Squad amongst many others.
This marks Randeep Hooda's second collaboration with Sam Hargrave after the roaring success of Extraction (2020), where Hooda captivated audiences worldwide with his intense portrayal of Saju.
In a statement, Randeep Hooda shared, "Excited to be working with Sam again. We had a great time on our first collaboration with Extraction. Sam is a master of high-octane storytelling and action. Glad to be joining the team in Budapest".
Matchbox is being produced by Mattel films, Skydance films and is an Apple Original. The film which has been filming in Budapest will now have Randeep join the rest of the cast and production team. Also starring Jessica Biel and Sam Richardson, the movie is described as an action-packed and globetrotting adventure. The story will follow a group of childhood friends who must work together to stop an impending worldwide disaster and rediscover their friendship along the way.
Matchbox is a live-action film based on the iconic Mattel car toy line. The movie is based on the iconic Matchbox car line, which originated in 1953 when Jack Odell created a toy small enough to fit in a matchbox for his daughter. Mattel now reports that two Matchbox cars are sold every second globally.
On the work front in India, Randeep has currently been shooting for Jaat which is being directed by Gopichand Malineni co-starring with Sunny Deol and is produced by the makers of Pushpa 2; Mythri Movie Makers and People Media Factory, and is set to soon start shooting for Vishal Bhardwaj's next.
The film has raised huge expectations as this will be one of the few occasions when a leading south Indian actor has directed a film featuring a popular Bollywood star in the lead.
The film has music by one of Telugu film industry's most loved music directors, Thaman, and cinematography by Rishi Punjabi.
Dance choreography for the film is by Shobi Paulraj. A team of five writers have penned the story. The story has been written by M Vivek Anand, Nimmagadda Srikanth, Srinivas Gavireddy, Mayukh Adithya and Krushna Hari. The film will be released in theatres on April 10, 2025.
