Well, "The Expendables 2" was on top of the box office this weekend, though it opened at smaller numbers than its predecessor which begs the question: is the novelty wearing off? We suppose we'll know more once the final tally and international numbers start rolling in, but with talk of "The Expendables 3" already percolating with Nicolas Cage apparently already signed, there may be some juice left in the concept. And the awesomely named production company 1984 Private Defense Contractors are hoping to spin their own riff on the format with a bit of a gender swich.
The shingle behind Joe Carnahan's "The Grey" and Andrew Dominik's upcoming "Killing Them Softly" is putting together an all female actioner with the company "already in talks with several prominent actresses affiliated with the action genre." Of course, this will lead to lot of dream-casting by folks, with Sigourney Weaver and Linda Hamilton obvious names, with new school sorts like Milla Jovovich, Kate Beckinsale and Gina Carano seemingly no-brainer choices. But of course, whether or not it can all come together remains to be seen. Sylvester Stallone was the passionate driving force behind "The Expendables," with his name alone bringing a certain cachet to the project. We'd wager it'll take landing a pretty big name first to get the rest of this version moving.
The little known Dutch Southern is writing the script — he placed on the Black List in 2010 with "Hoof Harrington's Greatest Hits," a hitman movie described as a cross beween a Wes Anderson film and "Die Hard." So presumably he can bring action with a unique twist. Anyway, we'll see how this develops — who do you want to see in an all-female "The Expendables"? [Variety]
