In our late 2014 interview with Don “The Dragon” Wilson, we asked the 11-time World Kickboxing Champion his thoughts on a possible continuation of his popular Bloodfist series. His reply:

“Well, I did recently speak to Roger Corman in his Brentwood offices and he was very upbeat and friendly. We did not discuss another project together but I would LOVE to work with him again. We made 12 films together and he distributed several others produced by other companies. He is my “mentor” and friend, so there could very well be one more Jake Raye film to complete the series.”

Now, 3 years later, Wilson is revisiting the idea, at least according to a recent Tweet: “Thank you Roger Corman for starring me in the Bloodfist series! It was fun and now it’s time for the REBOOT!”

1989’s Bloodfist spawned 7 sequels (only Parts I and II were related) throughout the 90s, all hugely successful, particularly in the straight-to-video market. In 2005, Corman backed a semi-reboot, Bloodfist 2050, which was directed by cult Filipino director Cirio H. Santiago (Future Hunters), but instead starred Matt Mullins, who teamed up with Wilson in the recently released Death Fighter.

The Bloodfist series also had one of the most memorable marketing strategies: The original poster for Bloodfist predominantly advertised the critic quote “Don Wilson would kick Van Damme’s ass in one round!”. It was during this time – at the height of kickboxing genre films made famous by Van Damme’s 1989 film Kickboxer – that Corman was responsible for a publicity stunt that promised to put Wilson and Van Damme in the ring for an actual kickboxing fight.

“I have met Jean-Claude Van Damme and he was very friendly. I’ve enjoyed many of his films and have the utmost respect for him as an action star. However, I do not tolerate anyone who lies about their “kickboxing” background and record. That’s the only problem between us and the fight offer from Corman was just a publicity stunt because it would have been like Tyson fighting Stallone. It’s one thing to “act” like a fighter and a completely different thing to have a trained professional trying to decapitate you in the ring,” said Wilson.

If a Bloodfist sequel, reboot – or whatever – happens, we’ll definitely fill you in. In the meantime, we’ll be seeing Wilson in the forthcoming actioner V-Force, and he’ll soon start pre-production on The Martial Arts Kid 2: Payback, the sequel to 2015’s The Martial Arts Kid. Stay tuned!