'Cliffhanger': Sylvester Stallone To Star In Ric Roman Waugh's Sequel To The 1993 Action Film

Sylvester Stallone is, without a doubt, one of the biggest action film icons in the history of the medium. The number of major action films he’s been a part of is unbelievable. So, it makes sense that studios are interested in mining that filmography for gold that can be remade, rebooted, or sequelized. But “Cliffhanger?” I don’t know about that. 

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According to Rocket Science studio, filmmaker Ric Roman Waugh has brought on Sylvester Stallone to star in a sequel to the 1993 film, “Cliffhanger.” The original film told the story of a mountain climber (Stallone), who is recovering from a tragedy and finds himself in a situation where he is taking on criminals as they try to rob a U.S. Treasury plane flying through the Rocky Mountains. It’s a wild concept, for sure. 

“Growing up with the biggest action films of the ‘80s and ‘90s, working on many of them myself, ‘Cliffhanger’ was by far one of my favorite spectacles,” Waugh said. “To be at the helm of the next chapter, scaling the Italian Alps with the legend himself, Sylvester Stallone, is a dream come true. It’s going to be a great challenge and blast taking this franchise to new heights, a responsibility I don’t take lightly.”

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Waugh is probably best known for his action films “Angel Has Fallen,” “Greenland,” and “Shot Caller.” While some of his work is actually surprisingly good (“Greenland” and “Angel Has Fallen” are both mindless fun), it’s hard to imagine a “Cliffhanger” sequel is going to be incredible. 

Unfortunately, as a fan of the action films of the ‘80s and ‘90s myself, I have revisited “Cliffhanger” in recent years, and it’s maybe not the film that many people remember it to be. Stallone is fine, but not great. John Lithgow is actually not good. And the idea that it’s a memorable action film is just not true, outside of an opening scene that many people confuse for the intensity of the entire film. All that to say, “Cliffhanger” is maybe viewed with rose-colored glasses nowadays and isn’t the “spectacle” that Waugh remembers it to be. 

Of course, Waugh, Stallone, and whoever else they cast in the ensemble could make an interesting film in the end. However, a “Cliffhanger” sequel has an uphill battle. 

Here’s the trailer for the original, as well as the classic opening scene: