Paige VanZant has already showed off her versatility outside of the cage by being voted in as one of the finalists on "Dancing With The Stars." But now the UFC women’s strawweight contender is taking her talents to the big screen and will be joining the cast of "Kickboxer: Retaliation."
It will be the 6th installment of the martial arts series that started back in 1989 with Jean-Claude Van Damme cast in the lead role. The film went on to become a cult classic and spawned several sequels over the next two-and-a-half decades. According to Deadline, VanZant will play Gamon, “a 26-year-old with high-level fighting and shooting skills with some strong criminal connections too.”
"Kickboxer: Retaliation" is a direct sequel to the 2016 film "Kickboxer: Vengeance and" also stars Alain Moussi in the lead role as well as WWE and "Guardians of the Galaxy" star Dave Bautista, former women’s MMA star Gina Carano and Van Damme, who will reprise his role from the first film. VanZant’s role was written specifically for her after the film’s producers saw her on DWTS and were impressed with her potential star power.
“Paige is the up-and-coming darling of the UFC and her star quality shines through on camera,” producer Rob Hickman of Our House Films said in a statement. “She’s a tremendous asset to the film both as an onscreen talent and as a trainer fighter.”
The film finds Kurt Sloan (Moussi) heading to Thailand to go face to face with Mongkut, who is portrayed by Game of Thrones’ Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson. The movie is currently being filmed in California and Nevada and will head to Asia this summer with a release scheduled for later this year.
It’s not yet known how this will affect VanZant’s return to the Octagon, but her hands are certainly full for the time being.
