Jason MotherF'n Statham. He needs to be in the American remake, only way I will watch a remake.

Gina Carano would be perfect for the main lead, especially after the rave reviews of her movie "Haywire", it'll be the one-two punch she needs to be a great action star. The rest mentioned by kungfueurotrash could be opponents or teammates.

It would definitely have to feature Michael Jai White and Scott Adkins. It could also feature appearances and/or choreography by guys like Larnell Stovall, Damien Walters, and Chyna McCoy.

time for us to cry out loud!

"WTF is this sh*!?"
another remake!? first Akira and now this?

If either this remake or the sequel to the original features an army of ho's, I want a "based on a concept by..." credit!

Amen to Michael Wincott!
As for the lead, no matter how much you will fight it, it will turn out to be Jake Gyllenhaal.

One of the things that made the first "Die Hard" film work so well was that Bruce Willis was a tv-comedian, not an established action hero. We rooted for him but as he wasn't Rambo (yet) it was thrilling to see whether he actually would die or not. The poster didn't show him kicking ass, it showed him scared and desperate.

Now with Iko in "The raid", we know from the outset that he can kick ass but he looks so diminutive, and the situation escalates so far beyond his control that the audience can never safely relax and figure that Iko will win.

Now I'm not saying that a remake of "The Raid" should be exactly the same as "Die Hard", but I do say that the film will probably be more thrilling with a central figure who looks unlikely to survive. Someone who rises to the occasion with skill and strength despite initial audience expectations (be it because he is small, pudgy, funny, old or whatever). And this is why I'm not automatically going with Scott Adkins as a choice for the lead although he would make a good team member.

Those are very good points Ard, and i completly agree. If you take it to it's logical conclusion then the idea would be to go with an unknown actor who has a background in martial arts (or at least the required physical skills), but looks to be an typical everyman.
Could even be a chance to uncover the next great western action star.

I hope it doesn't involve "a damsel in distress". I don't wanna see michele rodriguez or any hollywood hottie as a hostage.

-Scott Adkins
-Marko Zaror
-Jet Li
-Michael Jai White
-Donnie Yen
-Cyril Raffaelli
-Benny Urquidez
-Richard Norton
-Mark Dacascos
-Johnny Nguyen
-Ernie Reyes Jr.
-Ray Park
-Collin Chou

My picks, with exclamation marks added for emphasis...

-Scott Adkins!
-Marko Zaror
-Michael Jai White
-Donnie Yen
-Mark Dacascos
-Lateef Crowder!
-Johnny Nguyen
-Wu Jing
-Johnny Yong Bosch!
-Nathan Jones (If there's a role for a huge dude)
-Cung Le
-One of the Kosugis

I have not seen The Raid yet, but my picks for a remake would be...Donnie Yen, Scott Adkins, Marko Zaror, Jet Li, Micahel Jai White, Mark Dacascos and Wu Jing.

All of these language problems make my head spin. However, if that weren't a barrier, I'd want Wu Jing, Johnny Nguyen, Jet Li, & Won Bin. The problem with guys like Michael Jai White and Adkins is that they LOOK like fighters, The Raid employs a lot of fighters who LOOK like regular guys, that is one of the reasons their action is so impressive.

The one who plays Iko should be a young actor whom audience can quickly rooted but he can transform into a monster when cornered. I choose Sean Faris or Cam Gigandet (both from Never Back Down) or a bit older guy : Gary Daniels, with Cam as my preferred one since he has a 'farmer boy' looks, good act (Twilight/New Moon, Pandorum, Burlesque, Priest) and he holds black-belt in Krav Maga.

The villains, Gary Daniels can plays Donny Alamsyah's role since he has resemblance with Cam, while Mad Dog could be played by Jai White, Lateef Crowder or Oleg Taktarov . Jaka played by The Rock or other big guy which will make the Jaka vs Mad Dog duel impressive.

I think a good mix of Silat, MMA, Krav Maga will be quite interesting, no triple turning or flying kick, no fancy moves and most of all, should be filmed with no shaky cam :)

I prefer an actor with fragile look, like Shia Leabouf, Jake Gylenhall or even Robert Pattinson for the main lead, typical of everyman :)

The character played by Iko was a family-man. An Afro-american actor usually good at this so I chose Michael Jai White.

However, change the gender would also be a good idea, so having Gina Carano will also be a good idea.

The character of the team leader (played by Joe Taslim) should be played by a typical, muscular build, male-caucasian actor. So you can put any big names here.

Has Sony decided upon a release date for The Raid and it just can't be announced yet? On Twitter, Gareth Evans has mentioned that the Indonesian release will be now pushed back later than January. Will the US release be affected or postponed by this?