Point Break 2 Gets A Greenlight

Point Break is one of those movies that everyone secretly loves, but won't admit. I mean, how can you go wrong with an undercover surfer cop who joins a group that robs banks wearing masks of former presidents? Well good news, they are making a sequel. Patriot Games scribe Peter Iliff has signed on to write and direct Point Break 2.

The new movie will be set in Southeast Asia and uncover the fate of the surfers' leader Bodhi (played in the original by Patrick Swayze) who was supposedly (spoiler alert) killed by a giant wave at the end of the first film. The sequel will not feature the return of FBI Special Agent John 'Johnny' Utah (who was played by Keanu Reeves in the original), but will instead follow a surfer-turned-SEAL who is on the trail of "a criminal gang." They hope to cast "a young male action star at the same stage in his career as Keanu (Reeves) was."

In addition to writing the original 1987 film, Iliff also scripted Prayer of the Rollerboys (a great guilty pleasure in its own right), Patriot Games, Varsity Blues and Under Suspicion. The movie will be filmed for $20 million-$30 million independently. Production will begin later this year, with a release scheduled for Late 2008 (Oscar season, I'm sure).

Point Break was also a big focal point of Edgar Wright's recent Hot Fuzz. I wonder if that film had anything to do with the thought bubble which gave birth to this sequel. I'm guessing so.