Here's the thing about A24 tasking Michaela Coel with reinventing Bloodsport: it feels like the studio either has tremendous confidence in her vision or genuinely believes audiences are ready for a wildly different take on a film that has become almost sacred in certain circles.
The "I May Destroy You" creator will write and direct the remake for A24, continuing a creative partnership that has already yielded two projects. "Mother Mary," a psycho-thriller led by Anne Hathaway and Hunter Schafer, is slated to release in April, and A24 will finance and distribute the "Bloodsport" remake.
The original 1988 film belongs to a peculiar category of cinema: genuinely cheesy, yet somehow consequential. It centers on Frank Dux, a United States Army captain and ninjutsu practitioner who competes in an underground full-contact martial arts tournament called the Kumite in Hong Kong, and was one of Van Damme's first lead roles that launched his career as a mainstream action star. The film was a big box office hit, grossing 50 million against its modest budget of 1.5 to 2.3 million, which mattered less than what it represented: proof that martial arts spectacle could sell tickets even when the script was threadbare and the plot made little sense.
What makes Coel's involvement curious is not just the tonal distance between her acclaimed drama-comedy work and Van Damme-era action cinema. It's that plot details for Coel's reimagining haven't been revealed, so it's unclear how closely her take will follow the original film. She could be inheriting only the franchise name and the tournament concept. Alternatively, she might be creating something entirely new.
"I have long been in awe of fighters, and astounded by the discipline, intensity and isolation the sport demands of them," Coel said. "I am excited to explore this world, especially so with A24 as my collaborators. LET'S FUCKING GO."
That statement reveals more about intent than plot. Coel is drawn to the psychological and physical reality of combat athletes, not the cartoonish spectacle. The original Bloodsport worked precisely because it didn't take itself seriously; its unintentional camp was the point. A film that takes fighters and their discipline genuinely seriously is a different animal altogether.
After its release, many of Dux's claims were disputed, including by co-screenwriter Sheldon Lettich, who claimed Dux fabricated his fight record and the very existence of the Kumite. This raises an intriguing question: does Coel's version engage with that contested legacy, or does it sidestep it entirely by creating a new fictional framework?
The first Bloodsport spawned three sequels sans Van Damme: 1996's Bloodsport II: The Next Kumite, 1997's Bloodsport III and 1999's Bloodsport 4: The Dark Kumite. Remakes were attempted as recently as 2013 with Relativity trying to get a version off the ground with V for Vendetta director James McTeigue.
So this is actually the fourth or fifth attempt to revisit this material. What Coel brings is a distinct artistic sensibility that respects the form (martial arts cinema) without reverencing the specific text. Marc Toberoff will produce, suggesting blockbuster-level aspirations.
The real question isn't whether A24 can produce an action film; it's whether Coel can locate something genuine and moving inside a premise built on false stories and macho posturing. If anyone can make a Bloodsport remake that functions as serious cinema rather than empty spectacle, it might be her. Whether audiences want that is another matter entirely.