EXCLUSIVE: Chinese megastar Fan Bingbing (The 355) has been tapped to star opposite Liam Neeson in Ice Road 2: Road to the Sky, the sequel to Jonathan Hensleigh’s 2021 actioner The Ice Road.
Currently in production, the film sees Neeson returns as ‘big-rig’ ice road driver Mike McCann who, honoring his late brother’s last wish, travels to Nepal to scatter his ashes on Mt. Everest. While on a packed tour bus traversing the deadly 12,000 ft. terrain of the infamous Road to the Sky, McCann and his mountain guide encounter a group of Nepalese mercenaries and must fight not only to save themselves and the busload of innocent travelers, but also the local villagers’ homeland.
Fan portrays Dhani, a veteran Mt. Everest guide with multiple ascents whose indigenous knowledge and extraordinary yet unlikely fighting skills add a unique bend to Mike’s survival and unexpected quest for justice.
Following the original film’s sale, both to assorted international distributors, and to Netflix in an $18M domestic deal, the sequel has sold all international rights outside of Germany (Wild Bunch) to Prime Video, in a deal negotiated by The Solution Entertainment Group out of last year’s Cannes Film Market. CAA Media Finance is repping U.S. rights.
Hensleigh has returned to direct the sequel from his own script, with CODE Entertainment and ShivHans Pictures fully financing the movie. Producers are CODE’s Al Corley, Bart Rosenblatt, and Eugene Musso, along with Shivani Rawat of ShivHans, and Hensleigh, as well as Lee Nelson and David Tish of Envision Media Arts. Exec producers are Jonathan Dana, along with Julie Goldstein and Connor Flanagan of ShivHans, and Lisa Wilson and Myles Nestel of The Solution Entertainment Group. David Buelow of EMA also executive produces.
“Code Entertainment is fortunate to continue our valued relationship with Jonathan Hensleigh and the extraordinary Liam Neeson, and are excited to add the enormously talented Fan Bingbing to our Ice Road family,” said producers Corley and Rosenblatt.
Best known stateside for turns in films like X-Men: Days of Future Past and action thriller The 355, Fan more recently took the drama Green Night to the 2023 Berlin Film Festival. She is represented by Artist International Group and Glaser Weil.
