The Raid 3: Sequel Hopes, Cancelled Plans, and Gareth Evans' Future

The Raid 3: Will This Action Masterpiece Ever Happen?

The Raid: A Decade of Waiting and a Potential Remake

It's been over a decade since Gareth Evans' phenomenal The Raid 2 blew our minds with its intense Indonesian Pencak Silat action. It is iconic, especially considering the popularity generated around its creative use of this fighting style that was mostly unknown before the release of The Raid: Redemption (which was also quite excellent) These films, became cult classics and launched Iko Uwais into superstardom, showcasing what a new movie franchise could do with its excellent fight scenes alone, as that kind of focus produced something extremely excellent in those earlier films, yet the question that has now remained unanswered since those earlier times was answered only this recent year. Now, with a recently announced remake starring Michael Bay and Patrick Hughes (as reported by Deadline), there is additional anticipation. But wait! Will the rumored Raid 3 ever happen?

The anticipation has only grown further ever since these kinds of reports began! Evans' films have left their marks in action-movie history and were hugely influential! Yet despite this, there remains questions about just how much impact it will produce on a wide audience if it continues; those earlier expectations however will definitely affect what is considered satisfactory. There have been talks about this potential sequel; creating rumors of its coming; and there have been a variety of claims released regarding whether there would be a new movie or not; those statements also generate new levels of hype from certain factions, and additional discussion that remains open.

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The Raid 3: From Planned Sequel to Definite No-Go

There was supposed to be a Raid 3, seriously! Gareth Evans had some incredible ideas. Back in 2014, Evans even mentioned it (via Metro), planning a 2-3 year break from martial arts flicks, before focusing entirely on his ideas. This is very common among movie creators as they might seek more creative spaces from their creative endeavors before committing entirely.

But things changed, folks. Evans later stated that Raid 3 wouldn’t be happening (via Impact Online), He stated his position and how far things changed internally, creating this change of plans that led to another very important event for his career that is explained later.

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What Would Have Been in The Raid 3: A Goto Family Saga!

Mad Dog fighting Jaka in The Raid: Redemption Image

In a 2014 Empire Spoiler Special Podcast, Evans revealed those plans – he already stated that the Rama storyline was finished, as Rama's family now adds additional complexities in the storytelling possibilities. It sounds reasonable considering all the challenges in producing something similar to previous successes. His amazing focus would shift to the Goto crime family’s untold tale.

His clever approach made it so that this wasn’t a complete shift: he wanted a smaller role for Rama; shifting focus to the Goto’s own struggles with betrayal and an upcoming war! It was set to revisit The Raid 2’s pivotal gang meeting—reimagining events through new characters which could also lead to more depth! Those revelations could reveal why there is such conflict, including the events that followed, including new battles against a deadly assassin squad and these details certainly provide amazing context.

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Why Gareth Evans Is Done with The Raid

The Raid 2: Redemption (2012) an antagonist get thrown in in air and breaks their back Image

Even after all that massive success with The Raid series— which became seriously noteworthy action cult classics—Evans simply isn't interested. He explained in the Empire Spoiler Special Podcast, his focus had shifted and new, fresh creative interests drove him forward and new ideas drove him toward making even different things which resulted in this choice to halt The Raid franchise. He said it quite directly; these projects require intense commitments and immense personal sacrifices on the behalf of many creative people and while that is sometimes fine; those priorities can change for those who are creating this content, especially when that work gets incredibly intense and deeply exhausting.

Plenty of activity happened! He tackled Netflix's horror movie Apostle, the epic Gangs of London, plus a few other shorts (e.g., Pre Vis Action)! These events clearly highlight how diverse Evans’ creative choices and efforts continue to generate different approaches. His ongoing interests lie outside this earlier creation, and a continued focus for his own well-being would lead him into these vastly different adventures!

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Conclusion: The End of an Era (for Now?)

The Raid 3 might never happen. Evans has stated it clearly; and despite this there is immense demand for an additional installment; showing the amazing impact of Evans' action flicks and is another strong demonstration about just why this might need a new entry; which fans remain deeply excited about, showing this continuing appeal, particularly around a new action-oriented movie. This may cause speculation that might produce more entries, but a major thing has become completely clear—it needs a different creator!