In terms of action star resurgences, Sylvester Stallone has been doing fairly well for himself over the past several years. Following his success last year with the critically-acclaimed Creed as well, which he was nominated for an Oscar for, the Hollywood icon is set to dip his toes into the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the first time next year in director James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. In addition to that though, Stallone remains involved in a number of films and franchise sequels in development right now - including the eventual sequel to Creed.
However, it looks like Stallone is going to try and mine a possible franchise out of one of his recent, but comparatively obscure films now - one that initially had quite a bit of hype going behind it, due to it being his first real onscreen team-up ever with Arnold Schwarzenegger, but was a critical dud when it was released. We're of course, talking about 2013's Escape Plan.
Deadline is reporting that Escape Plan 2 is in development right now from Emmett/Furla/Oasis Films, and Stallone is set to reprise his role as Ray Breslin from the first movie. This time around, Stallone is said to be taking on a supporting role in the sequel, with Miles Chapman returning to write the screenplay for the film after his work on the first installment. There is no word yet on whether or not Arnold Schwarzenegger will be returning for Escape Plan 2 along with Stallone.
Now, despite being on the receiving end of some negative critical reviews, Escape Plan actually went on to do fairly well at the box office. After making only a lackluster $25 million domestic upon its release, the film was saved in the international market when it made around $112 million additionally, managing to make back its $50 million budget and then some. So financially, cause for a sequel at least seems to be there - though whether or not the public will have much of an interest in seeing a sequel to the film will have to wait to be seen, especially if Schwarzenegger doesn't return.
This also comes after the recent news that Nu Image/Millennium Films are working on a Rambo reboot, without Stallone involved this time around. Considering that the John Rambo character has always been one of his more iconic too, Stallone's separation from the reboot was surprising to fans (to say the least). With few to no new details to report on the progress of other Stallone-led sequels right now (see also The Expendables 4), it seems that he may be looking for a fresh franchise with the Escape Plan sequel - lacking in brand recognition, the property may be. No matter what though, it seems like Stallone always has another franchise or film up his sleeve.
NEXT: Rambo Reboot Writer & Director Revealed
Escape Plan 2 does not have an official release date yet. We will keep you updated.
Source: Deadline