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Frank Grillo will star in “ Beyond Skyline ,” a spin-off to 2010’s alien invasion adventure, “ Skyline .” Grillo will play a detective who fights to free his son from a terrifying alien warship. O’Donnell said he wrote the role with Grillo in mind, because he wanted someone who could be a “throw-back action hero battling his inner demons while outwardly kicking ass.” The signing comes on the heels of Grillo’s role in the DirecTV mixed martial arts series “ Kingdom ,” as well as roles in box office hits “ The Purge: Anarchy ” and “ Captain America: The Winter Soldier .” “ Kingdom ” has been picked up for 20 additional episodes. The film is currently in pre-production in Indonesia and Singapore and will begin shooting in December. Screenwriter Liam O’Donnell, who also penned the script for “Beyond Skyline” and co-wrote its predecessor, will make his directorial debut with the film. Greg and Colin Strause, who directed the first film, will produce along with Matthew Chausse. Hy

The original low-budget horror thriller The Purge scored healthy returns at the box office and spawned sequel The Purge: Anarchy . So it’s not that shocking to learn that Anarchy’s own success has itself now led Universal and Blumhouse to kick off development on a third film. Writer/director James DeMonaco , who has overseen both of the movies so far, will be back on duty for the new outing, likely working once again with a thrifty budget in the hopes of scoring big. The Purge films take place in an alternate America where the government has decreed that on one night a year all crime – up to and including murder – will be legal and emergency services will be suspended. The idea is that allowing citizens to loose their violent, vengeful impulses once a year will keep order the rest of the time. There’s also an undercurrent about people targeting the poorer factions of society… Originally focused on one family in a home invasion tale, the franchise then moved to the streets o