The PUNISHER sequel, entitled PUNISHER: WARZONE  directed by GREEN STREET HOOLIGANS helmer Lexi Alexander, will hit the streets on September 18, 2008, with ROME star Ray Stevenson as the new Frank Castle, replacing Thomas Jane.

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    Waging his one-man war on the world of organized crime, ruthless vigilante-hero Frank Castle sets his sights on overeager mob boss Billy Russoti. After Russoti is left horribly disfigured by Castle, he sets out for vengeance under his new alias: Jigsaw. With the “Punisher Task Force” hot on his trail and the FBI unable to take Jigsaw in, Frank must stand up to the formidable army that Jigsaw has recruited before more of his evil deeds go unpunished.

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The title of the Punisher sequel change from the Garth Ennis-inspired “Welcome Back Frank” to “War Zone”. So the full title will now be, “Punisher: War Zone”. Comic book readers will know that “War Zone” is actually a Punisher comic book title, the Punisher having spun off a series of comic titles during its heyday, including “War Journal”, “War Zone”, and “Armory”.

In the sequel, to star Ray Stevenson and directed by Lexi Alexander, the Punisher leaves behind the sunny sunshine of Miami and heads to New York to do some mob busting. He encounters the villainous Jigsaw, a disfigured hood, and runs up against various G-men in the process.

There’s too much buzz about The Punisher: Welcome Back Frank, but in fact it’s the best open commentary from the actor and filmmaker out of any film at the moment, so that’s enough to keep talking about it. Lexi updated her website with a blog post yesterday discussing her thoughts on the latest with the The Punisher: Welcome Back Frank. In it she praises actor Ray Stevenson extensively and mentions his training.

By now, everybody knows that the new PUNISHER is a remarkable actor named RAY STEVENSON. I can’t find enough words of praise to describe this formidable actor and true Gentleman. Ray’s name came up on a list that the folks at Marvel handed me. I, shamefully, was not aware of Ray’s work so I rented the first season of ROME. It took me no longer than 5 seconds from the time Ray came onto the screen, to know that he is FRANK CASTLE. I can’t remember the last time an actor has impressed me so much with merely an expression.

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 “Punisher 2? movie, to be directed by Lexi Alexander and starring Ray Stevenson from “Rome” revalved some plotlines. To no one’s surprise, the villain of the sequel is Jigsaw, a disfigured badass who, in the comics, makes the Punisher’s life pretty miserable, as the two tangles for quite a long time throughout the Punisher’s career.

Spoilers plot lines from IGN :

    In the comics, Jigsaw was a gunman for the Maggia crime family, but in the movie he works for his uncle, Gaitano Cesare — a wheelchair-bound Mafia don whom Billy openly despises (it’s mutual). Jigsaw runs the waterfront docks of New York City and his facial disfigurement remains the handiwork of The Punisher. Despite the inclusion of a supervillain such as Jigsaw, the tone of the piece is definitely still one of gritty realism.

Jigsaw is expecting a lucrative “biological” shipment in from a Romanian crimelord, Cristu Bulat. The deal rubs Cesare the wrong way since he correctly suspects that Jigsaw is looking to sell the item to a Muslim terrorist cell in Queens once he gets it. This isn’t the only plotline involving Jigsaw, however. More on that shortly.

Frank Castle remains on the run from the law, although the NYPD aren’t exactly overeager to catch him since he’s helping to rid the streets of scumbags. The hunt for The Punisher heats up once FBI Special Agent Luke McDonald becomes the bureau’s liaison to the NYPD on the Castle case. Luke is obsessed with catching The Punisher for very personal reasons. Luke is partnered with a seemingly sorry excuse for an NYPD detective, the hard-drinking Martin Soap.

It turns out that during his one-man war on crime Frank unintentionally killed an undercover FBI agent, Nick Donatelli, McDonald’s ex-partner. (There’s a little more fueling Luke’s vendetta than that, though.) Frank is remorseful over the agent’s death, but he’s not quitting his campaign against organized crime. We suspect, though, that he may have a bit of a death wish, punishing himself for his own crimes.

This heavy-handed theme of penance is driven home by Castle’s ally, Dante, a former gangbanger and ex-con who used his stash of drug money to open a legit business (an arcade in Harlem) for families to patron.

These different storylines converge when Jigsaw targets Donatelli’s widow Angie and her child Gracie for execution. A hostage standoff brings out both the cops and Frank. Jigsaw also happens to be raising an army of multi-ethnic criminals, all of whom are keen on taking down The Punisher. Then there’s the biological shipment sale that Frank Castle has to stop.

Via variety.com: Lionsgate is overhauling “The Punisher,” setting an October start date for a new franchise that will be built on the broad shoulders of “Rome” star Ray Stevenson. Director Lexi Alexander, the German-born former world kickboxing champ who directed “Hooligans,” will helm the film, which will aim for an R rating. Nick Santora, Kurt Sutter, Matt Holloway and Art Marcum wrote the script. Gale Anne Hurd and Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige are producing with Ari Arad. MHF Zweite Academy Film is financing.