The Attack By Fire

Here's a nice, unexciting inaugural post for my series which I guess is still temporarily called "Direct-to-Video Sequels Not Really Called For By Readily Apparent Popular Or Financial Indicators." Obviously still more than willing to entertain alternate title suggestions.

The Art of War, 2000. Budget about $60 million. Domestic take about $30m, worldwide take just barely $40m.

The Art of War II: Betrayal is directed by Josef Rusnak, the man on the still-upcoming It's Alive remake. Rusnak, whose last flick was a Wesley Snipes direct-to-video actioner, takes the helm from Christian Duguay (Scanners II: The New Order, Scanners III: The Takeover, and Screamers).

Snipes returns as Neil Shaw, a loose cannon for a United Nations covert-ops squad. Shaw evidently didn't learn his lesson about diplomatic law enforcement the last time he played opposite Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa in an international-protocol thriller (Rising Sun). Here, Shaw must solve or prevent some type of international incident while staying out of trouble for his wild ways, including weapon-carrying, reckless driving, passport fraud, and tax evasion.