The Last Kumite

The film's creator and executive producer is German podcaster and YouTuber Sean David Lowe. After interviewing a number of sports personalities for his BTM Legends Corner series, Lowe turned his attention to stars of classic action movies. From those interactions, chief among them his chat with fellow German Matthias Hues in late 2021, the idea of a film recapturing the heyday of the tournament fighting genre was born.[4] Hues quickly connected Lowe with fight choreographer Mike Möller, with whom he had worked on 2017's Ultimate Justice. The Last Kumite will be cut by fellow YouTuber and trained film editor Oliver Harper, who directed the 2019 documentary In Search of the Last Action Heroes.[6]

Sheldon Lettich and David Worth were both considered to direct.[4] Talks with Lettich were informal and limited to the project's earliest stages. Worth expressed more interest, but no agreement could be reached with him either.[4] Sam Firstenberg was officially attached,[2] but ultimately decided that, due to his age and long hiatus from directing, he could not guarantee a smooth shoot under the film's tight schedule.[6] Australian Ross W. Clarkson was originally hired as cinematographer only, but offered to direct when Firstenberg stepped down. Clarkson has photographed many Hong Kong and European-shot productions, including the two Ninja films and the first two Undisputed sequels.[6]

Lowe wrote the original draft, while Hues and Clarkson contributed some rewrites.[6] Lowe also contacted contributors to popular 1980s soundtracks, which he deemed instrumental to the success of the films they accompanied. He enlisted the return of Bloodsport and Kickboxer's Paul Hertzog, who had not composed for a feature since 1991's Breathing Fire, as synth-based scores had fallen out of favor. Hertzog reused some of the instruments from those earlier works.[4] Stan Bush, known for his uplifting theme songs to several 1980s films, also agreed to write and sing an original track for the picture, called "No Surrender".[6]

While the film's release was not strictly dependent on crowd funding, its initial budget was complemented by a Kickstarter campaign, with the goal of giving it more shooting days and an extended score. The campaign, which targeted €150,000 in additional funding, brought in approximately €175,000 ($193,000) in one month and a half.[1][7] One of the perks, which was later made available outside of Kickstarter, enabled a limited number of patrons to appear in one of the film's early action scenes—rather than in the titular Kumite—for €8,500 each (circa $9,400). In an attempt to preserve the film's integrity, the production team reserved the right to turn down a pledge if the candidate demonstrated insufficient athleticism.[8]

Hues was the first cast member to sign on, and was very encouraging to Lowe and Harper.[6] The hardest to reach was McKinney, who maintained a low public profile. As he was about to move on, Lowe obtained unconfirmed contact information for the actor, which turned out to be accurate, and the latter quickly approved of the venture. Don "The Dragon" Wilson was approached, but fell sick and could not be contacted for a time, by which production had moved forward and no money was left for his salary.[4] Australian Richard Norton was initially announced,[2] but could not take part in the end due to a scheduling conflict.[9] Jean-Claude Van Damme was sent the script but did not express interest.[6]

Lowe also wanted current-generation performers. The script was written with Scott Adkins in mind as the star. Adkins was gracious about it, but already had a tournament fighting franchise in Undisputed, which would have made his involvement redundant.[4][6] Lowe briefly considered offering the role to Van Damme's son Kristopher, but decided against it as it would have been too on-the-nose.[4] Eventual leading man Mathis Landwehr is a frequent collaborator of fight choreographer Mike Möller, and starred in his 2012 gang fighting film Urban Fighter. Möller, who was due to appear in Expend4bles as an actor, was also given a supporting role.[4]

David Yeung is the son of Bolo Yeung, who played the main antagonist of Bloodsport, Chong Li.[10] Action film YouTuber and martial arts practitioner David "Viking Samurai" Kurzhal was a late addition to the cast.[10] Lowe also wanted to have a female participant in the Kumite. Lady Bloodfight's Amy Johnston was among those considered, but she indicated little affinity for the film's retro concept and her financial demands were too high.[4] The search for the right lead actress continued, with a recast occurring deep into pre-production,[4] as Aurélia Agel[1] was replaced by fellow French stuntwoman Monia Moula.[11]

Filming commenced on June 2, 2023.[12] It will take place across the United States, Germany and Bulgaria.[4] A custom ring was built by a German company for the fictional tournament.[4][6]