Last we heard from Tony Jaa, easily the best movie martial artist working today, he had abandoned work on Ong-Bak 2 to go meditate in the jungle.  It now looks like he’ll be coming back to finish the movie.

Following a face-to-face meeting between Jaa and Sahamongkolfilm Int’l boss Somsak Techaratanaprasert, it looks likely that Jaa will return to the set of "Ong-bak 2."  Techaratanaprasert has agreed to finance the rest of the film under the supervision of director Prachya Pinkaew (Ong-Bak, The Protector) and and action choreographer Panna Rittkrai (Ong-Bak, The Protector).

It doesn’t really matter who finishes the movie, the important thing is that it’s not Brett Ratner.

 Last weekend, Jaa’s lawyer created a sensation when he put forward a 7-point series of demands, including a Baht 50 million ($1.5 million) flat fee for the actor and the cancellation of the 10-year contract between Jaa and Sahamongkol.
 Techaratanaprasert refused, saying only that negotiation of any kind will only resume after "Ong-bak 2" is completed.
 The location of the meeting added to the bizarre nature of the story. Jaa, who walked off the set in early June to meditating in the jungle, visited the National Police Office on Monday afternoon to seek help from a senior police officer claiming that he was being stalked by mysterious men.
 Techaratanaprasert joined him there and began to hammer out their differences, some two weeks after the dispute became public nearly two weeks ago. [Variety]

To review, Tony Jaa went into the jungle to meditate, then claimed he was being stalked by mysterious men.  Everyone said he was crazy, and he agreed to come back and pretend everything’s okay.  I think it’s pretty clear what happens now.  The mysterious men come back and start terrorizing everyone, and the only one who can stop them is Tony Jaa.  They said he was a loose cannon.  But this time around, he’s just what the doctor ordered.

Tony Jaa is the best thing to happen to martial arts movies since Bruce Lee (video evidence after the jump), and he’s currently at work on Ong-Bak 2, his directorial debut. Only problem is, no one’s seen him since June.

On Friday, Sahamongkol prexy Somsak Techaratanaprasert [holy god, how many syllables is that?] held a press conference to confirm that Tony Jaa has been missing since June.  "But I love him as a son," said Techaratanaprasert as the studio insists the much-anticipated Thai film "Ong-bak 2" will be finished in time for its scheduled Dec. 5 release in Thailand.

His family said Jaa has suffered a lot of stress from the shoot and has gone to meditate in the jungle. Reports in the Thai press suggest a case of budget mismanagement that resulted in Jaa spending over 200 million baht ($6.25 million) without finishing the film. "I guarantee that this is not a case of financial fraud, and I have no intention of pursuing any legal action against him," Techaratanaprasert said. "We’re running behind schedule, and some of our international contracts have been cancelled because of that. I know he loves this film very much, so I just want him to finish the film because there’s only a little work left."

Prachya Pinkaew, who directed the first "Ong-bak" and "Tom-yum-goong" (shown as "The Protector" in the U.S.), confirmed that he will step in to edit the footage and maybe direct the rest of the movie.  "Jaa has little experience directing," said Pinkaew. "He’s spent nearly $7.8 million. The film is almost finished, so I’ll try to see what I can do with the footage that he’s shot."

Meditating in the jungle?  How badass is that?  Anyway, I think the solution here is obvious.  Tony Jaa has sworn off fighting and gone into hiding.  If movies have taught me anything, all we need to do is kidnap a family member, or his prized elephant and he’ll be back beating the shit out of people in no time. 

Best unedited fight scene ever:

^{WATCH THE PROMO REEL FOR ONG BAK 2 AFTER THE JUMP}

Compared to Tony Jaa, all other martial artists are made of girl parts.  Feel free to mess with his elephants, but only if you want everyone in your family to get kicked in the face.  In fact, he’ll probably travel back in time and kick your mom in her big, stupid, pregnant uterus.  But only after he does a couple backflips just to warm up.  Then he’ll shrink himself, crawl up your dad’s pee hole, and punchasize all three million of his sperm in a 7-minute steadycam shot, saving the one that became you for last. 

The point is, Ong Bak 2. After Ong Bak and The Protector comes Jaa’s third starring role and directorial debut (this morning’s erectorial debut for yours truly).  This time around, the plot concerns some people who do something to piss off Tony Jaa, and the spectacular ways in which he beats the shit out of all of them.