PT Merantau Films and XYZ Films today announced the start of production on The Raid 2 (titled The Raid 2: Berandal in Indonesia). The film reunites writer/director Gareth Huw Evans with actor Iko Uwais, who will be reprising his starring role.

In addition to Uwais, the international cast includes Tio Pakusadewo, Putra Arifin Scheunamann, Julie Estelle, Alex Abbad and Roy Marten. The film is currently lensing in Jakarta, Indonesia and is scheduled to shoot for over 100 days. Line producing the film is Daiwanne Ralie, with Matthew Flannery and Dimas Imam Subhono serving as directors of photography.

Picking up right where the first film ends, The Raid 2 follows Rama (Uwais) as he goes undercover and infiltrates the ranks of a ruthless Jakarta crime syndicate in order to protect his family and uncover the corruption in his own police force.

The Raid premiered at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival, where it took home the Audience Award in the Midnight Madness section. It went on to play at Sundance and SXSW, before enjoying a theatrical release in the United States through Sony Pictures Classics. The film is approaching $15M in global box office.

Were incredibly excited to start the next chapter of ‘The Raid’ story, said XYZ Films. Gareth introduced a rich and fertile world in the first film, and were eager to see him expand on that vision with Berandal.

To all our fans thank you so much for your support. We can’t wait to come back and show you what we have been working on, said Evans. We’ll be there in 2014 with a film bigger, better and bloodier! Wish us luck.

Ario Sagantoro is producing for PT Merantau Films, along with Nate Bolotin, Nick Spicer, Aram Tertzakian and Todd Brown for XYZ Films. Executive producing are Rangga Maya Barack-Evans and Irwan D. Mussry.

We’ve updated our gallery with seven new stills from the production that you can check out by clicking the image below: