Back in 2019, when it was announced that filmmaker Ana Lily Amirpour was set to helm a new remake of “Cliffhanger,” the classic action film starring Sylvester Stallone, it was described as “female-focused.” When I reported about it, I even used that term in the headline. Let’s hope Amirpour didn’t notice that because she’s not a big fan of labeling a film with such gendered terms.
Speaking to Variety, when the topic of “Cliffhanger” came up, Amirpour spoke about how she is upset by all the reports claiming that her new studio film is “female-driven.”
“It’s this very boring, uninformed way of talking about things now,” Amirpour said. “It’s just ‘the female-driven thing.’ But it’s not just that. Someone could say ‘Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon’ is a female-driven movie. But it’s not. How could you explain it? You have to see it.”
For those unaware, “Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon” is the latest film from Amirpour, who is probably best known for features such as “A Girl Walks Home At Night” and “The Bad Batch,” and it recently debuted as part of this year’s Venice Film Festival (you can read our review here). While it’s unclear when we might see the “Cliffhanger” remake, it appears that it might be the next project from the filmmaker. And despite her recoiling at the gendered discussion surrounding the film, Amirpour calls her “Cliffhanger” remake something that is “really cool and different from the original, but fun and epic.”
In addition to it being “really cool,” this new studio film marks the first for Amirpour, who has previously only really worked with indie features and the occasional TV episode. But that doesn’t mean the filmmaker is diving headfirst into big-budget tentpole features. While she’s happy to have the budget, she still wants some creative control.
“I want a bigger budget,” she explained, “but it all depends what you’re trying to do. It’s nice to have resources, but it’s also nice to have creative license.”
‘Mona Lisa’ debuted at Venice recently, but a formal release strategy has yet to be announced. As for “Cliffhanger,” we still have quite a ways to go before we see that film on the big screen.
