THE RAID Actors Join STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS

J.J. Abrams has gone out of his way to show fans that he'll be using a ton of practical effects in his upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and we're all excited to see the films return to the aesthetic of the original trilogy instead of the bright, crisp look of the prequels. Now fans have something else to get excited about, because Abrams has just made a move to ensure that at least some of the hand-to-hand action in The Force Awakens has real weight to it: Twitch is reporting that a trio of actors from the incredible Indonesian martial arts film The Raid will appear in the new Star Wars film in some capacity.

Iko Uwais (Rama), Yayan Ruhian (Mad Dog/Prakoso), and Cecep Arif Rahman (the assassin from The Raid 2) have all reportedly joined the movie, but their involvement remains shrouded in mystery. It remains to be seen whether they'll actually have lines of dialogue to deliver, whether they'll be doing motion-capture work, or maybe if they'll be a roving band of silent badass Sith warriors, but Abrams clearly hired them for their stunning martial arts skills, so you can expect to see some pretty kick-ass fight sequences in The Force Awakens.

This news hasn't been confirmed by any official sources as of yet, but consider this: Todd Brown, the guy who reported the news at Twitch, was a producer on The Raid films, so I think it's safe to say he probably has some pretty solid intel. Uwais definitely has the potential to become an international action star (fellow martial artist Tony Jaa has a role in Furious 7, so expect Uwais to pop up in more big blockbusters in the coming years), and if you call yourself a fan of action movies and you haven't seen The Raid and The Raid 2, you absolutely must seek out those films...and prepare for your jaw to hit the floor. The Raid 2 made my Top 10 Films of 2014 list (and Joey's, too), so check it out and get pumped for the action in the Star Wars franchise to get a lot more bone-crunching.