David Mamet's slipping on his Redbelt

Never let it be said that David Mamet didn’t appreciate a good con. It’s been a running theme of several of his scripts and films, including The Spanish Prisoner.

And now he’s stepping back behind the camera for Redbelt, set in the Jiu-Jitsu centric world of… er… West Los Angeles? No, really… He’s written a screenplay that almost seems to harken back to the world of Steven Seagal revenge films, loading the plot about a Jiu-Jitsu master (Children Of Men’s Chiwetel Ejiofor) with cage-fighters, cops and special forces operatives.

But here’s the twist: when Ejiofor is conned by a shady group of film stars and fight promoters, he has to re-enter the fight rings he turned his back on to regain his honour and save his self-defence studio.

Mamet will direct the movie in LA this May.

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