‘RED 2′ Teaser Trailer: Willis, Mirren and Malkovich Are Back & Deadlier Than Ever

4 months ago by Kofi Outlaw

After the unexpected success of RED back in 2010 ($186 million on a $58 million budget), it was only natural that Summit Entertainment would want to re-captilize on a good thing – hence why you’re seeing the first teaser trailer for the sequel film, RED 2.

Back are our favorite “Retired, Extremely Dangerous” operatives, Frank Moses (Bruce Willis), the eccentric Marvin Boggs (John Malkovich), the insatiable Victoria (Helen Mirren), along with Frank’s fish-out-of-water girlfriend, Sarah (Mary Louise Parker). Gone, however, is director Robert Schwentke, who is currently attempting to once again transform a somewhat obscure comic book title into a hit feature film with R.I.P.D., which will be in theaters later this year.

Replacing Schwentke at the helm is Dean Parisot, who directed the Stark Trek-skewering cult-fave comedy, Galaxy Quest. Given that association, and the fact that RED writers Erich and Jon Hoeber are back to script the sequel, it’s easy to say that RED 2 is going to be everything that the first film was in terms of humor and overall tone. This first teaser trailer is certainly trying to sell fans on that fact…

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Adapted from the three-issue comic book miniseries by Warren Ellis and Cully Hammer, the first RED film fully covered the story told in the source material. That means this sequel is going “off the reservation,” so to speak; meaning we could be in store for much more of a “studio franchise picture,” rather than the focused interpretation of a well-written comic book.

Then again, the first film certainly took some considerable liberties with the source material and still managed to establish a voice all its own, so the sequel is by no means doomed by the fact that its “inspiration” has run out.

The real worry this teaser raises is that RED 2 could be the next Hangover 2 in the sense that the story – Frank’s retirement being interrupted by shadowy agency types trying to kill him – is pretty close to being a re-tread of the first film. Hopefully subsequent trailers will help differentiate the follow-up.