Sylvester Stallone says his action sequel Escape Plan 2: Hades was "beyond awful." The first Escape Plan was a prison break movie that paired action legends Arnold Schwarzenegger and Stallone together. Stallone played Ray Breslin, an expert in designing prisons who is framed and sent to a supposedly inescapable facility; he teams up with Schwarzenegger's mysterious convict to put that theory to the test. Escape Plan was an enjoyable, somewhat fluffy action flick, and while it only did modest business in the U.S., it did very well overseas.
It was confirmed in 2016 Stallone would return for a sequel, and would be paired with Dave Bautista (Guardians Of The Galaxy) as his new co-star. Following the end of production of the sequel, Stallone and Bautista soon set to work on Escape Plan 3, which was filmed at the same prison used for The Shawshank Redemption. Nothing much was heard about Escape Plan 2 for a while until a trailer and release date suddenly appeared in early 2018. The movie bypassed theatres in most territories and was greeted with mostly negative reviews. Despite being sold as the stars of the movie, Stallone and Bautista had minimal screen time, the story was paper thin, the sets looked cheap and the action was boring.
Related: Sylvester Stallone Reveals Escape Plan 3 Is Titled The Extractors
Stallone recently confirmed the third movie was being retitled The Extractors: Escape Plan, with the movie featuring Breslin infiltrating another hellhole prison. A fan responded to this news on Stallone’s Instagram that he hopes the upcoming third entry will be better than the previous sequel, to which Stallone responded, "Myself too. Escape plan 2 was beyond awful!!!"
Stallone has been known to be honest about the quality of his work, once labeling Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot one of the worst movies ever made, and has been similarity brutal about Rhinestone and Rocky V. Stallone’s reduced role in Escape Plan 2 suggests he was well paid for a few days of work, but it wasn’t a project he was particularly invested in, so his comments aren't a big surprise. He appears to be back in the lead role for The Extractors: Escape Plan, however, with the title change suggesting the franchise is attempting to distance itself from Escape Plan 2's reception.
There’s no release date set for The Extractors: Escape Plan yet, though Stallone teased it would be coming soon. Hopefully, he - and his fans - will enjoy it a lot more than Escape Plan 2. Stallone will be busy with sequels in 2019, with Rambo V: Last Blood due to bring his time with the title character to a close later this year. He’s also set to start filming on The Expendables 4 soon, with reports suggesting the next sequel will also bring that series to a close.
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Source: Sylvester Stallone