It’s starry thrills all the way on LEGEND this March with ten channel premieres – from Terence Young’s THE JIGSAW MAN, starring Michael Caine and Lawrence Olivier, Nick Love’s THE SWEENEY, starring Ray Winstone and Damian Lewis, to Taylor Hackford’s PARKER, starring Jennifer Lopez and Jason Statham.
Statham also pops up as a cage-fighting ex-cop in Boaz Yakim’s high-octane SAFE, whilst Jean-Claude Van Damme kickboxes his way out of trouble in LIONHEART and Denzil Washington and Mark Wahlberg are all guns blazing in buddy cop action comedy 2 GUNS.
Other adrenaline-fuelled premieres include action Western THE KID, starring Eithan Hawke, undersea drama STEEL SHARKS, starring Gary Busey, heist action thriller TRIPLE 9, starring Woody Harrelson, Casey Affleck and Kate Winslet, and crime thriller 3 DAYS TO KILL, starring Kevin Costner.
Plus, fans of cult TV can tune into the Channel premieres of T.J. HOOKER (Seasons 4 & 5), and THE TWILIGHT ZONE (Season 3), which continue their popular runs throughout the month.
So let’s start on the 1st with the channel premiere of crime drama SAFE. Luke Wright (Jason Statham), a former elite NYC detective, is thrust into a life-or-death chase for Mei, a young Chinese math prodigy, and the complex safe combination she’s memorised. Wanted by both a ruthless Triad boss and the Russian mob, Luke and Mei must pull out all the stops to outwit, outshoot and outfight their underworld enemies. Jumping forward to the 7th and JCVD is back on LEGEND in LIONHEART. Lyon Gaultier (Van Damme) has deserted the Foreign Legion to come to America to help the family of his murdered brother. To support his loved ones, Lyon takes up bare-knuckle fighting to earn his living, but the Foreign Legion are hot on his trail. A cult 70s TV series gets an upgrade on the 8th, THE SWEENEY. Detective Inspector Jack Regan (Ray Winstone) and his loyal partner George Carter (Ben Drew) are old school crime fighters enforcing the law in a modern underworld. Armed and dangerous, the Flying Squad have their own way of operating, and when an old enemy makes a re-appearance on the London crime scene, Regan and Carter will do whatever it takes to get the job done. Co-stars Damien Lewis, Hayley Atwell and Steven Mackintosh.
We ride to the wild, wild west on the 9th to meet THE KID. Rio, a young boy, (Jake Schur), is forced to go on the run across the American Southwest in a desperate attempt to save his sister (Leila George) from his villainous uncle (Chris Pratt). Along the way, he encounters Sheriff Pat Garrett (Ethan Hawke), on the hunt for the infamous outlaw Billy the Kid . Rio finds himself entwined in the lives of these two legendary figures and he is forced to choose which type of man he is to become, the outlaw or the man of valour. STEEL SHARKS on the 13th is an undersea thriller where a United States chemist is captured by terrorists. But a rescue attempt by an elite group of Navy Seals, goes wrong when they are captured. Now they must wage a silent war beneath the waves. Stars Billy Dee Williams and Gary Busey. Denzel Washington (Safe House) and Mark Wahlberg (Contraband) lead an all-star cast in 2 GUNS on the 15th in an explosive action film that tracks two operatives from competing bureaus who are forced on the run together. But there is a big problem with their unexpected partnership: Neither knows that the other is an undercover federal agent.
A group of corrupt police officers are blackmailed into pulling off a seemingly impossible heist on the 20th in TRIPLE 9. They plot the murder of a rookie police officer in order to orchestrate a “999”, code for ‘officer down’, to pull off the heist across town. The movie stars Hollywood heavy hitters Casey Afleck and Woody Harrelson. 3 DAYS TO KILL on the 22nd focuses on Secret Service field agent Ethan Renner (Kevin Costner) who has dedicated his life to the CIA but when he’s diagnosed with a terminal illness, he retires in order to reconnect with his estranged family. When the agency offers him a life-saving experimental drug in exchange for one final but extremely dangerous mission, he reluctantly agrees. Espionage and intrigue on the 27th as you piece together the clues in JIGSAW MAN. Sir Philip Kimberly (Michael Caine), the former chief of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service who defected to Russia, is given plastic surgery and assigned back home by the KGB to retrieve vital intelligence documents. Escaping his Soviet handlers, he sets out for business on his own, leading M16 and the KGB on a hunt for him and the documents. We end our rundown on the 29th with the action-packed thriller PARKER. Parker (Jason Statham) is a hardened professional criminal who lives by his own code, but when he’s double-crossed by his crew and left for dead, it’s time for payback. Forming an unlikely alliance with a Pal Beach resident (Jennifer Lopez), they hatch a plan to track down the gang, hijack their latest heist and take everyone down.