On this day, and also this coming weekend, in our industry’s history: Aug. 16, 1980 — Event: Kickboxing World Title Fight. Site: Tijuana, Mexico. Sanction: WKA. Division: Bantam. Winner: Graciela Casillas. Dec-7. Loser: Darlena Valdez. Aug. 17, 1974-75 — Released at the height of the first martial arts movie boom, the song “Kung Fu Fighting” by Jamaican-born Carl Douglas enters the UK Singles Chart at #42. It reaches the top on September 21 and remains there for three weeks. On October 12, the song is released in the U.S., where, on December 7, it reaches the #1 position on both the Pop and the Soul Singles charts. The single would eventually go on to sell 11-million records worldwide and win the 1974 Grammy Award for Best Selling Single. Aug. 17, 2012 — “The Expendables 2,” Sylvester Stallone’s sequel to his 2010 box-office hit, debuts in theaters and ultimately earns $312.5 million worldwide. It cost $100 million to make. The mega-action movie features an ensemble cast, with more martial arts stars in one film—six of them—than ever before. Reprising their roles from the first film are Jason Statham, Randy Couture, Jet Li and Dolph Lundgren, with Chuck Norris and Jean-Claude Van Damme added to the sequel’s cast. Reportedly, at Norris’ urging, the script was purged of all foul language and the film consequently received a PG rating, making it viewable to a much larger audience.
Posted on: Sat, 17 Aug 2013 02:34:31 +0000