It used to be that the way to a career in the movies was working for pennies in the theatre or appearing in a godawful TV show before making the leap to the big screen.

Today, a new path exists – be good at hitting other people.

Dwayne Johnson (also known as The Rock) has built a ridiculously successful career stemming from his time as a professional wrestler, while ex-MMA fighter Randy Couture is one of the best things about The Expendables films.

Both the wrestling and MMA worlds are being plundered for a remake of Jean-Claude Van Damme’s 1989 film Kickboxer, with both Dave Bautista (better known in WWE simply as Batista) and UFC champion Georges St-Pierre being signed up.

Stunt man and fighter (yes, him too) Alain Moussi will make his acting debut in the lead role. Moussi has performed stunts in a stack of films and TV shows, including Pacific Rim, Pompeii and the forthcoming X-Men: Days Of Future Past.

It’s unknown exactly what roles Batista and GSP will play in Kickboxer, but it’s 99.99 per cent certain they will be foreign baddies standing in the way of Moussi’s Kurt Sloan (role originated by Van Damme).

Coincidentally, both Bautista and GSP appear in Marvel films this year; St-Pierre as Batroc in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Bautista as Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy which is coming out in August.

Despite Moussi not acting before, let alone playing the lead, it doesn’t seem to concern the film’s producer, Ted Field: “Alain is a star and will be an amazing leading man. Like Vin [Diesel] in Riddick, Alain will make this movie very special and this Kickboxer will be the start of an amazing franchise.”

Some critics are already complaining about so many “non-actors” being cast in the film, but from my perspective people trained to fight playing fighters in films about fighting is the way it should be.

These guys already have charisma, and the fight scenes are likely to be both entertaining and realistic. And besides, manufacturing a feud and pretending to hate your opponent when you usually have beers together means half of pro-wrestling *and* MMA is acting anyway.

Post-movie story is itself a movie

In 2011, director Richard Linklater made a very good yet underappreciated film called Bernie, starring Jack Black.

Bernie was based on a real person, Bernie Tiede, a mild-mannered mortician who was beloved by everyone in town, especially the many widows who appreciated his gifts and visits in the weeks and months after their husbands and wives passed. In fact, so lovely was Bernie, that when a notoriously horrible, but wealthy, old lady was widowed, he took it upon himself to take care of her too, eventually becoming her best friend, even though she treated him dreadfully. And then he shot her in the head, put her in a freezer and spent all her money.

The real-life Bernie was sentenced to life in prison. However this week he was released after the district attorney who prosecuted him agreed to free him on bond, 15 years into his sentence.

The reason? Director Richard Linklater.

The process began when an attorney approached Linklater after seeing the film, as she felt the case didn’t add up. While reviewing the case, she discovered that Tiede had been sexually assaulted in his youth but had been too embarrassed to mention it during the original trial. The new evidence convinced the prosecuting attorney to request the reduction in the sentence, which was granted.

But that’s not where Linklater’s involvement ended. The director testified on Tiede’s behalf at a court hearing this week, describing the man as “a sweetheart”, and then going a step further, agreeing to put Bernie up in his garage.

Incredible. There’s no way that this story isn’t going to become a movie in its own right.

Rumbles over Lethal remake getting louder

Another film being given a remake is Lethal Weapon. The franchise has been an almost constant subject of rumour since Mel Gibson and Danny Glover last teamed up in 1998’s Lethal Weapon 4, and across the years all kinds of casting suggestions have cropped up, running from the insane (Pierce Brosnan) to the inspired (Michael K. Williams).

However, the rumbles have grown louder of late, with the film apparently locked-down and ready to go and Thor star Liam Hemsworth supposedly signed up to play Martin Riggs, the role Gibson made famous.

There’s no information on the plot, but the two favourites are a complete reboot, telling Riggs’ story from scratch; and a dreary idea that would see Riggs’ and Murtaugh’s sons joining the police force.

I always liked the idea of following the original characters around as they get on with post-retirement life; gardening, reading, shopping for hats and just general pottering, but for some reason having Mel Gibson buddy up with a black man is just too unbelievable now.