Along with co-director Mike “Mouse” McCoy, former stuntman Scott Waugh managed to pull off something of a JJ Abrams-style coup last year: filming an entire action film under the radar and only letting people see it once it was ready to sell. That film, Act Of Valor, lands here on March 23, and Waugh is already considering another project, Real Speed, which he’ll tackle solo.
While Valor is ostensibly a fictional story, it features elements of real missions and, crucially, several actual serving Navy SEALs as they take on nasty terrorist types. Though a lot about High Speed is still under wraps, it was inevitable that Waugh and his Bandito Brothers production partners wouldn’t be able to sneak past everyone once more, so some details have leaked out. It’s aiming to cover Fast & Furious-style territory, albeit from a different angle – a team of the best American police pursuit drivers in the country assembled to take on a deadly racing ring that plans chases through major cities. Greg Russo, who knows a little bit about writing car chases after selling action spec Autobahn to Inferno Entertainment, is working up the screenplay.
And like their first film, Waugh and co are aiming to put the funding together themselves before approaching distributors. It’ll mean that if Valor (and, assuming it goes into production, Speed) is a hit, they’ll make a lot more money.
Before he really puts the pedal to the metal on the pic, though, Waugh is planning to reunite with McCoy for Black Sands, which stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, and kicks off shooting this summer.