A Life After Gateway Exclusive: Raid Pacific, Starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Update, Poster, and Details
Today, some exclusive news for you about JCVD’s upcoming WW2 submarine thriller Raid Pacific … the first in a multi-part series of articles about the film … only here at Life After Gateway.
I previously posted about this project here, where I wrote this:
JCVD is set to command a USN submarine following the 7 December 1941 Pearl Harbor attack, on a vital mission to destroy a Japanese outpost in the Pacific. The news is being reported by Variety, and I have to say, it does sound like an intriguing idea.
And in my article, I quoted the director, Steven Luke:
“Raid Pacific is exactly the kind of story I’m drawn to — grounded in real history, but driven by deeply human stakes.”
Raid Pacific Details
The film’s official IMDB page has now added a storyline:
Follows Captain William Pierce, a U.S.-French submarine commander tasked with transporting Marine raiders into enemy waters to destroy a critical Japanese outpost after Pearl Harbor.
- Title: Raid Pacific
- Director: Steven Luke
- Producers: Dean Bloxom, Steven Luke, Andre Relis
- Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme
- Filming: Beginning September 2026
- Filming locations: Ohio, Georgia
- Release Date: 2027?
The Exclusive Update
First, we have a poster for Raid Pacific, courtesy of Schuetzle Company Productions:
Based on Courage — Fueled by Honor
In a recent press release, Steven Luke expands on the central themes in the upcoming WW2 thriller:
“From the beginning, we saw Raid Pacific as more than a traditional war film. This is a story about leadership, sacrifice, survival, and impossible choices under pressure, and Jean-Claude Van Damme brings an extraordinary presence to this project.”
Also, in other connected news, the company WW2 Vehicle Rentals has joined forces with the production to bring a level of realism to the set appropriate to the time period. Charles Bolanis, CEO of the company says,
“One of the things that makes Raid Pacific unique is our commitment to practical realism. Whenever possible, we want audiences to see real machinery, real environments, and tangible wartime detail on screen. There is a weight and authenticity that comes from practical WW2 vehicles and armor that simply can’t be replicated digitally.”
Regarding WW2 Vehicle Rentals, from the Raid Pacific press release:
WW2 Vehicle Rentals manages the world’s largest private network of World War II German military tanks, vehicles, artillery and props for use on the big screen. Whether for a documentary or a World War II screen epic, WW2 Vehicle Rentals supplies productions with eye-catching, gear-grinding hardware that sets projects apart. Based in the central United States, studios do not have to take production on a costly overseas excursion. WW2 Vehicle Rentals provides all the vehicles, military equipment, set locations, featured extras and scene staging guidance for authentic WW2 films. To learn more visit https://WW2rentals.com/
This is the first article in a series of exclusives here at Life After Gateway about Raid Pacific. Stay tuned for more coming soon; watch this space!
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A Blanket of Steel by Timothy S. Johnston and from Fitzhenry & Whiteside, LTD. is the recipient of the 2024 GLOBAL Thriller Award GRAND PRIZE and the 2024 CYGNUS Award First in Category.
— Timothy S. Johnston, 14 August 2026
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Praise for Timothy S. Johnston’s A Blanket of Steel
“Fans of Clive Cussler’s NUMA Files will be delighted with Timothy S. Johnston’s undersea novels. Truman McClusky and Dirk Pitt are cut from the same adventurer’s cloth.” — Nick Cutter, author of The Deep and The Troop
“Action that ranges from close range combat to torpedo-fueled attacks. The result is a thriller that keeps moving from confrontation to confrontation … with constant danger and the vast depths of the ocean as a setting, there is always reason to keep reading.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Read the book and prepare to be blown away by one of the best writers I have ever had the pleasure to read. Timothy S. Johnston is simply amazing.” — FIVE Stars from Readers’ Favorite
“A Blanket of Steel is not simply a ‘daring do’ thriller … It’s prescient.” — Amazing Stories
“A priority selection. An action-packed story that is hard to put down. A Blanket of Steel is outstanding.” — D. Donovan, Sr. Reviewer, Midwest Book Review
“Innovative technology, Mac taking risks no one else would dare and thinking his way through to brilliant solutions … But the stakes are higher than they’ve ever been before. This is it. The countdown to the final battle … Johnston does an excellent job of keeping the tension taut as he plays with the reader’s perceptions of characters we thought we knew and trusted …” — SFcrowsnest
“Expect to be left breathless. Trust me here. Please. I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN.” — Michael Libling, author of The Serial Killer’s Son Takes A Wife and Hollywood North: A Novel in Six Reels
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A BLANKET OF STEEL is out now!
WATCH THE GRIPPING BOOK TRAILER HERE.
FOR PURCHASE OPTIONS CLICK HERE
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A Blanket of Steel from Timothy S. Johnston and Fitzhenry & Whiteside, Ltd.
Book Cover & Jacket Copy:
AN UNSTOPPABLE THREAT!
A mysterious assassin has murdered Cliff Sim, Chief Security Officer of the underwater colony, Trieste. Cliff was a mountain of a man, highly trained, and impossible to defeat in combat. And yet …
Someone brutally beat him and left his broken body in a secret Chinese facility at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
And included a calling card for Truman McClusky, Mayor of Trieste.
Taunting him.
Mac has led the underwater colonies in their fight against the world’s superpowers. Climate change has devastated the surface; nations suffer famine, drought, rebellion, rising waters, and apocalyptic coastal flooding. But now, as Mac leads the underwater colonies to freedom and independence, he’s faced with the gravest threat of his life: a Russian assassin, hellbent on killing Mac and everyone he cares for. Now Mac must uncover the identity of the killer, face him in combat, and at the same time lead people in battle against the largest underwater force ever assembled. It’s Mac’s final test, and to win the war, he must use every tool at his disposal, including the most surprising and devastating underwater weapons ever invented.
If Mac fails, all hope is lost for the future of human colonization on the ocean floors.
But the assassin could be anyone …
Watch your back, Mac.
A Blanket of Steel is the most gripping thriller yet in The Rise of Oceania.
FOR PURCHASE OPTIONS CLICK HERE
The other books in The Rise of Oceania series by Timothy S Johnston:
The War Beneath 9781771484718
The Savage Deeps 9781771485067
Fatal Depth 9781554555574
An Island of Light 9781554555819
The Shadow of War 9781554556007
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TSJ’s Awards
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THE WAR BENEATH: FIRST PLACE 2018 GLOBAL THRILLER Action / Adventure Category Winner, 2019 Silver Falchion Award Finalist, 2018 CLUE Award Semi-Finalist, 2019 Kindle Book Awards Semi-Finalist, & 2019 CYGNUS Award Shortlister
THE SAVAGE DEEPS: FIRST PLACE 2020 CYGNUS Award Winner, 2019 GLOBAL THRILLER Awards Finalist, 2022 Kindle Book Awards Semi-Finalist; 2019 CLUE Award Shortlister
FATAL DEPTH: FIRST PLACE 2021 GLOBAL THRILLER Award Winner, 2022 Silver Falchion Award Finalist (Best Action Adventure), 2021 CYGNUS Award Semi-Finalist
