Gareth Evans reveals 'The Raid 3' would have taken the action to the jungle

Gareth Evans has revealed the ambitious plans he had for The Raid 3, which would’ve taken the action into the jungles of Indonesia.

Evans went into detail on his proposed sequel in a podcast interview with Empire, looking back at the original 2011 movie The Raid.

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The 2014 sequel, The Raid 2, expanded the canvas to encompass the sprawling chaos of the Jakarta underworld and pitted leading actor Iko Uwais against dozens of foes.

Evans said Uwais’ character Rama would’ve only appeared in the opening scene of The Raid 3, which would instead have focused on a Japanese gang that appeared in the previous film.

A double-cross would’ve sent the gang boss into hiding in the “jungles of West Java”, pursued by an elite team of assassins.

He added: “The idea is this Japanese kill squad that’s used to the streets of Tokyo suddenly have to deal with the terrain of a jungle-hunt — a bit like Predator in a way.”

Evans said he’s sure the film “would have pissed off an awful lot of people” and would’ve gone back to the tight running time of the first movie, rather than the epic scope of the sequel.

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The director said his work on future projects, including Netflix horror Apostle, delayed The Raid 3 for so long that interest waned — both from audiences and the filmmaker himself.

“My interests had moved on to other projects,” Evans said.

He added: “You work with other people, you meet other people and want to work with them again, you want to try different things, you find a story that suddenly captures your attention and that's the thing you want to do next.

“Things get offered to you that are hard to pass up on.”

Since The Raid 2 and Apostle, Evans has moved on to the Sky crime series Gangs of London, on which he serves as co-creator, writer and director.

Read more: Evans breaks down the violence of Gangs of London

The nine-part series follows the violent power struggles between different criminal factions in modern day Britain.

The show features an ensemble cast led by Peaky Blinders star Joe Cole, with Colm Meaney and David Bradley among the supporting players.