Japanese cult action star Tak Sakaguchi has signed on to play the nemesis of Iko Uwais in “Pendekar: Warrior,” an upcoming martial-arts feature marking Sakaguchi’s first major screen role outside his home country.
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Principal photography is scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter of 2026.
Sakaguchi, known to action devotees for his cult roles in “Versus” and “Re:Born,” has built his reputation on an unrelenting physical approach to screen fighting. He is widely associated with one of the more extraordinary sequences in action cinema: a 77-minute single-take fight in “Crazy Samurai Musashi” in which he faces down some 400 opponents. His pairing with Uwais – internationally recognized for “The Raid,” “The Raid 2,” “Headshot,” “The Night Comes for Us,” “Mile 22” and “Expend4bles” – brings together two performers from rival martial-arts traditions who have not previously shared a screen.
“Iko and Tak share something incredibly rare: when they fight on screen, the audience feels that every movement has purpose and consequence,” director, filmmaker and cinematographer John Radel ACS said. “They come from different martial-arts traditions, but they have the same uncompromising commitment to truth in performance. Watching these two finally face one another will be visceral, emotional and unlike anything audiences have seen from either of them before.”
Set on the streets of Jakarta, “Pendekar: Warrior” centers on a former silat master who leaves prison intent on putting violence behind him, only to find a crime syndicate has taken hold of his old neighborhood. Forced to fight again to protect those closest to him, the character becomes the vehicle through which the film aims to bring Indonesian silat to a global audience. Both Uwais and Sakaguchi are in active physical preparation, working with the production’s action team to develop sequences that blend silat’s speed with Sakaguchi’s close-quarters style.
“This is more than a clash between two great action performers,” Radel added. “We are creating action that comes from character and emotion. When Iko and Tak finally collide, it has to feel like two unstoppable forces meeting, and like a moment action fans have been waiting years to witness.”
The film is produced by Asia Media Alliance Group alongside leading Indonesian producer Delon Tio of Nation Pictures, Erika North and Nick North of Yeti Entertainment, and veteran action producer Mike Leeder of Hong Kong-based Red Packet Media. Uwais and Ryan Santoso are attached as executive producers through Uwais Pictures, with K-Movie Entertainment serving as co-producer and international sales agent.
“Bringing Iko Uwais and Tak Sakaguchi together is a landmark moment for Asian action cinema,” Tio said. “They are two extraordinary performers who have each built a global following through authenticity, discipline and fearless physical storytelling. ‘Pendekar: Warrior’ represents exactly the kind of bold, internationally focused Indonesian film we want to bring to audiences around the world.”
“I’ve been a huge fan of Tak and his work since the early days, going right back to ‘Versus,’” Leeder said. “I’ve always wanted the chance to work with him, and now we get to pit his close-quarters combat against Iko’s silat in one hell of a movie.”
Uwais is represented by Brett Norensberg at Gersh and Vault Entertainment.