Variety is reporting that UFC champion Ronda Rousey (The Expendables 3) and Iko Uwais (The Raid, The Raid 2) have been cast in the action thriller Mile 22. The film will be produced by Peter Berg (Battleship), and centers around “the relationship between a CIA field officer and an Indonesian police officer forced to work together as they confront violent and extreme political corruption.”
Obviously, the duo will bring their nuanced acting skills to their roles as average citizens who are little more than cogs in the political machine, a throwback to the subtle-yet-tense political thrillers of the ’70s. Iko Uwais can be the Indonesian cop with a can-do attitude who runs afoul of the Indonesian court system but maintains his belief in the power of the individual and his desire to see justice done. Meanwhile, Ronda Rousey could play a tough-as-nails CIA field officer intent on helping Iko reform his country from within and empowering him and his countrymen to reclaim the rights and freedoms that should be afforded to all citizens of the world. Theirs is a complicated, but ultimately human codependence that will show the power of words and beliefs to defeat riot gear and truncheons.
Or maybe there’ll just be kicks, punches, chokeholds, and people from different worlds forced to put aside their differences to kick, punch, and chokehold their enemies together. It could go either way at this point. No word yet on when action fans can expect to see the pair dole out bone-breaking fights, but audiences should already be wincing in anticipation.