Simon West on board to direct THE EXPENDABLES 2
After Sylvester Stallone announced that he would not be returning to direct the sequel to his THE EXPENDABLES, Millennium Films and Lionsgate scrambled to find a bankable replacement for the job. Deadline reports that they have found it with Simon West.
West's bread and butter is the action genre, having helmed films such as CON AIR (a personal secret favorite of mine), LARA CROFT: TOMB RAIDER, and THE MECHANIC. His resume also boasts a recent wrap on the Nicolas Cage-starring MEDALLION, and attachments to both RPM and the long-talked about RED SONJA. He will be working from a screenplay by David Agosto (this will be his first feature writing credit) and Ken Kaufman (who has a hilariously varied resume, which includes IN THE ARMY NOW, MUPPETS FROM SPACE, SPACE COWBOYS, THE MISSING, and CURIOUS GEORGE).
The sequel is "expected to have back an original cast," which includes Stallone, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Mickey Rourke, Terry Crews, and Jet Li. No word on the plot, but come on, really? You need a plot? Did the first one have a plot? It's a bunch of badasses together, being badasses. Though the first film didn't really grab me, maybe a sequel can change things up a bit (nahhhh).
Production is set to start this summer, with a 2012 release date eyed.
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