14 DAY TRIAL // Mark your calendars: the sequel to last summer’s surprising hit, “The Expendables,” written and directed by Sylvester Stallone, has a 2012 release date, which is the best confirmation possible right now that one will be made.
Though Stallone, who also stars in the film as the leader of a group of mercenaries out on what looks like a suicide mission, has dropped countless hints about the sequel, and there’s been much speculation about it on blogs and with fans, nothing is official until the movie studio says so.
In the case of “The Expendables 2,” the studio has spoken, Slash Film reports. On August 17, 2012, Stallone will return to the big screen for another adrenaline-packed adventure.
“Lionsgate just announced that The Expendables 2, written by David Agosto and Ken Kaufman, will explode into theaters on August 17, 2012,” the movie publication reports.
“It’ll go head to head with another huge action sequel that comes out the week before: G.I. Joe 2, directed by Jon Chu,” says Slash Film.
However, fans should expect some things to be different from the original film, and we’re not talking only about the story.
Stallone will no longer be directing it and, as seen in the statement above, he’s no longer in charge of the script.
We also noted on a previous occasion that Stallone was looking for directors to take over duties from himself, though the reasoning behind that decision remains a mystery to this day. Neither has a director been found just yet.
Speaking of the characters that may return for the sequel, that too is unknown right now. Slash Film believes bringing Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger back would be the ideal casting choice right now.
“Those two characters – Willis and Schwarzenegger – were both so glossed over in the first film that explaining why they are so important could not only be a nice place to start the sequel but give the first film more context. Not that context is what the first film needed more of,” the publication says.