SUMMER SLUMP? Will Smith’s ‘MIB3′ Slows … 
Oscilloscope Takes U.S. Rights To ‘Reality’ 
‘Mud’: Did Cannes Save One Of The Best For … 
Cannes Podcast: Pete Hammond On ‘Lawless’, … 
Over-Achievers Of This Year’s Upfront 
Aussie Pay-TV Shakeup Impacts Hollywood 
USA: ‘Rebounding’ & ‘Modern … 
Interview: Philip Kaufman At Cannes With ‘Hemingway … 
R.I.P. Television Mogul Lee Rich 
Cannes Biz Shines Despite Wind & Rain 
Full 2011-2012 TV Season Series Rankings 
2011-12 Season Network Rankings: Fox Still On Top But Down, … 
HLN Set To Air Daytime Emmy Awards 
Grant Bowler Cast As Richard Burton Opposite Lindsay Lohan … 
UPDATE: Dish Network And Broadcasters Ask Courts To Decide … 
Cannes Surprise Screening: Change Of Plans On Juan Antonio … 
Kevin Hart In Talks To Join Kevin James In ‘Valet … 
Anthony Hopkins Up For ‘Red 2′ Villain; Can … 
Cannes Conflicted Over ‘The Paperboy’ As … 
RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘American Idol’ Posts … 
Ghost Of 2004 Hovers Over L.A. Screenings As Int’l … 
Sylvester Stallone wants it known that despite reports to the contrary, he will not be directing the sequel to The Expendables. Stallone, who directed and starred in the crowd-pleasing original that grossed around $275 million for Millennium and Lionsgate, is heavily involved in putting together a list of directors to helm the second installment. That film’s being scripted and is expected to have the major action stars back — with Stallone lobbying for Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis to return after playing cameos in the first film. The film’s also expected to broaden its coterie of action heroes beyond Jason Statham, Jet Li, Mickey Rourke, Dolph Lundgren and Terry Crews, but none of those casting decisions have yet been finalized. Stallone next stars in the drama Headshot, a drama that will be directed by Walter Hill.
Loading ...
Good luck with that. The Expendables was probably one of the worst films I’ve ever sat through. Such a wasted opportunity. Most people I’ve spoken to say they’re not going to get suckered into seeing the sequel.
The first movie was a horrible, horrible movie … but that was the fun in it. No one going into it expected it to be anything but what it turned out to be. Once they went into the final assault, people got exactly what the movie was designed for.
OK, if you were looking for “The King’s Speech” and walked into The Expendables, I can hardly blame you for being disappointed. The movie was great. It took itself just seriously enough not to be a trainwreck, but other than that was a thinly-veiled vehicle for pure awesome. Did it live up to the (allegedly fan-created) trailer? Not quite, but I’m not sure any movie ever made in history could have delivered that much testosterone.
The movie rocked and I’m glad they’re making a sequel. As I mentioned above, the key challenge will be maintaining that balance of taking itself seriously enough that it doesn’t become camp but not so seriously that it loses its key value: that it’s just a really, really, really fun movie.
100% agree. I’m not even sure Stallone directed the first. It appeared to be directed (and written) by a blind monkey.
Come on!! It definitely wasn’t the best they could have given the public, but what more do you expect from a star studded movie as such. Maybe it could have been better with less top-notch actors. Stallone deserves some credit for the movie….
Could not agree more. Was absolutely shocked that the A-Team was better. I thought Sly would pull this off with his 30 odd years in the action genre.
The only problem with the Expendables was some parts of the dialog but Sly didn’t write it. He only made the screenplay and directed it. David Callaham, wrote it, which to me parts of the script were whack, but Sly tried his best to make the crappy writing into a high octane ride of a film that true action fans would like. That’s what was promised an 80s/90s action mash-up and that’s what was delivered so like it or not this movie has a hell of a following and i for one will be first in line for a sequel.
Avi Lerner should direct this…
Sly, if you go with Arnold, I’m out.
Get McQ to direct it
what’s a hit and what’s a flop is so inconsistent…
so expendables makes 275 on an 80 budget and it’s a hit? ranked 27th in worldwide boxoffice last year… there’s buzz of who will be in the sequel… who’ll direct… ok… i get it…
grown ups that same summer made the same basically and also was a big hit…
but like sex and the city 2 in the same summer made more… 290… ranked 25th worldwide… and was a flop? the tourist made 275 ranked 26th and flopped too? all had similar budgets.
perception is funny
To be fair, SATC2 took in less money than the first movie and bowed to significantly lower numbers than was predicted. That’s why it is considered a flop. With The Tourist, the movie didn’t draw anything near what was anticipated given the perceived bankability of Depp and Jolie.
The Expendables performed above expectations in the the theaters, which is why it is considered a hit.
@fan
That’s because you’re a woman. Stick to rentals.
Very progressive put down, Jorge. The movie sucked on it’s own terms. Check out the kind of film Stallone used to make, Rocky, First Blook, and compare it with this trash.
Please spare us.
Personally I enjoyed ‘The Expendables,’ but hey there’s always gonna be haters that try to knock every film, for whatever reasons. Whether it’s a matter of personal taste or personal grudges You can’t please all of the people all of the time.
I say bring JVCD in on the sequel. He truly deserves and needs a comeback as much as anyone in Hollywood.
They offered for JCVD to be in the first movie and he turned them down. Wonder if he’d do the same with a sequel.
Stallone claims on his AICN Q&A series for the Expendables that Jean-Claude Van Damme wanted more money, to be a good guy, and to be a bigger character in the script, all of which were dealbreakers. My favorite quote in the answer was “I leave Jean-Claude, and Jean-Claude loves himself.”. LOL
Seriously, Stallone meddles in each movie he makes, so why even have the pretense of having a director?
oops, mangled the quote:
“I love Jean-Claude, and Jean-Claude loves himself.”. LOL
Albert “The Hawaiian” Pyun!
I loved the first movie. It promised to be an entertaining shoot em up movie, and it was. Can’t wait for the second one!
Ya know, “JeffreyMorgan.info”, I was thinking along the lines of a Mulcahy or Harlin, but that’s a stroke of brilliance…
Pyun FTW.
The Expendables was one of the best films of 2010. It was f*****g epic.
The fights between Jet Li/Dolph Lundgren, Sylvester Stallone/Steve Austin, Randy Couture/Steve Austin as well as Jason Statham/Jet Li/Gary Daniels knocked everyone on their ass and were so amazing and action-packed, audiences all over the world were left breathless.
I hope in the sequel, there will be more amazing fight scenes. It would be good to include Wesley Snipes in the sequel to fight Jason Statham and they can finally give us the fight that they unfairly denied us in Chaos (2005).
Walter Hill owns.
Before Lethal Weapon 2, I never thought there could be a bomb in my toilet, but now I check every time.
Look, just because Stallone isn’t directing this movie doesn’t mean that he isn’t directing this movie.
Too true.
V
The first Dependables was SHIT IN DIAPERS BAD !!
Goddamn. If your film is in any way connect to Avi, you have a turd. Look at the films this past year with him. All turds. All made because of connections, not talent. It’s the turd factory.
If you were around in the 80′s and loved those cheap Cannon Golan-Globus films starring Chuck Norris and Michael Dudikoff then the Expendables hit its target. To me it was a homage to that era. Is it a great action movie? Hell no. Its not even in the same league as Stallone’s prior ‘Rambo’ which I loved, but the action delivers and that’s what was expected.
I don’t understand what you people that didn’t like this movie thought it was going to be. There is no way you can say there wasn’t enough action. Were you looking for some “Titanic” type shi#? Come on. To the person that thinks it is worse than Rocky, have you seen Rocky? Some of the worst dialog in cinema. Don’t get me wrong, I liked Rocky but to say that Rocky was better than this is just retarded. Also, Sly involves himself in his movies so much because they are truly HIS movies. He not only stars in, directs, produces but writes all this stuff, from Rocky to this one. It was a good action flick and that what it is supposed to be.
“Rocky” won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
“The Expendables” did not.
Look what happened with Rambo 3 when Stallone was only involved as actor and screenplay writer. The film was great for some action but was a drag the entire time for the story.
When he came back for writing and directing rambo 4, It made black hawk down and windtalkers like it was SWAT. The film epmhasized the realities of war.
As for Rocky, The first one to me was okay for one Sly’s writing was heartfelt, but when Stallone took over as director. It was made better for every sequel. Hey, I even Liked Rocky 5 which most critics like to bash.
For the Expendables Sly didn’t write it. only made the screenplay and directed it. David Callaham, wrote it, which to me the script was whack. But Sly tried his best to make crappy writing into a high octane ride of a film that true action fans would like.
I mean I had no problem with the shaky cam, It emphasized the feeling of explosions and punches associated with powerslams which to me were a great combination. The Plane firing a machinegun scene and the final battle scene was by far one of the greatest scenes I’ve seen.. And Sly knows to pick weapons well for the cast members.
This movie was supposed to be bad. That’s what you’re forgetting. Plus, at any rate, the sequel has only one way to go, right?
Rambo was definitely better, but to see Dolph Lundgren, Stallone, Willis and Arnold in the same movie? I don’t care how bad it is, I will be there in line every time. 80′s action FTW!
The direction really wasn’t the problem on The Expendables; I think the problem was the lack of a good script. Stallone can direct action (I looove Rambo 4), but the script really needed some work. Bring in Allen Sorkin (ha, ha), and I’ll be there for the sequel.
Will Jesse Eisenberg be in the sequel? That would be totally badass.
Actually, I’d really be interested in seeing that. Huh, good idea.
Stallone thinks he’s the greatest writer in the world because he wrote Rocky which is one of the most overrated best picture winners ever. The truth is the guy writes like a fifth grader and is the very core reason his films suck each time out. He rewrites everything he’s in and brings every movie down. Expendables was shit. It was straight to video crap that we’ve seen in countless DTV movies from the 80s and 90s. Lets go kick some drug lord ass, hooh-ha. Earth to Sly: stop rewriting your movies. It ain’t workin’ for you. Best thing he ever did was Copland and probably the last time he ever shares the screen with quality actors. These guys know how to let themselves be directed and when they go off page it’s with insight not ego.