“Best of the Best 2” Theatrical Poster
Back in 2015, while promoting his “comeback” movie Underdog Kids, Philip Rhee (Furious) revealed that he would be rebooting his successful Best of the Best saga, which started with Best of the Best (1989), Best of the Best 2 (1993), Best of the best 3: No Turning Back (1995) and ended with Best of the Best 4: Without Warning (1998).
Here’s what Rhee told TAE back in 2015: “We’re going to reboot the whole franchise with a new cast. I have things… I’m going to bring in elements that nobody has ever seen before. I will produce the picture.”
Since then, the hopes of a new Best of the Best chapter has been more or less stagnant. Until now…
Just recently, Philip and his brother, Simon Rhee, had a meeting with Eric Roberts (Maximum Impact) – who co-starred in the first two Best of the Best films. The three were photographed together with a post that read: “We had so much fun sharing old stories and planning Best 5.”
Of course, nothing is official, but that doesn’t mean a Best of the Best V is a viable possibility, given the franchise’s global appeal and brand awareness for profit-hungry producers (especially in the current state of franchise resurgences in the likes of Karate Kid/Cobra Kai, Beverly Hills Cop, etc).
On top of it, the Rhee brothers know how to get a production off the ground, as they did back in the pre-internet days (IMDB ’em). Simon himself is still very much active, primarily for his stunt work, for a wide array of popular films such as 2022’s Carter, 2024’s MaXXXine, and the upcoming Naked Gun reboot.
In recent months, the Rhee brothers have been mingling with names such as Scott Adkins (John Wick: Chapter 4), Cynthia Rothrock (Manhattan Chase), Mike Stone (Tigershark) and Bill Wallace (The Protector), so who knows what conversations are had between these legendary martial arts stars.
We’ll keep you updated on Best of the Best V as we learn more. Until then, we leave you with all the Trailers for this legendary martial arts franchise:
I really enjoyed 1-3. The fourth was awful thouggh
JJ Bona, why “nothing is official”? Over the last two years the Rhee brothers have confirmed many times that the fifth movie is gonna happen, the script is written and they got a studio ready to produce it.
Here are all the posts and interviews with them mentioning the project:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DGj-ECoxLht/
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C5jJ71rJ9TS/
36:58
https://youtu.be/QOc103SNJE8
1:50
https://youtu.be/tbh2ro7M22Q
1:12:45
1:14:57
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHaEKcJJ3ho
35:17
https://youtu.be/hXPb-AMCtxQ
I hope it happens too, but unfortunately, a “mention” isn’t official. Still waiting for ‘Lethal Weapon 5’ (a title that has been mentioned for years) as well as some of these.
With that said, now that Eric Roberts has actually met with them, we’re headed in the right direction. Hope they get Mickey Rourke, too! Also looking forward to Furious II and Ninja Turfs (aka Ninja Turf 2).
Appreciate your in-depth reference links. Great work! =)
Plus, the alleged Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle sequels.
If we’ve learnt anything, it’s that there’s a world of difference between “got a studio ready to produce it” and “there’s a studio producing it”. Let’s see what happens!
They need to do it Leroy Nguyen-style and hit the button!