Remember Escape Plan? Mikael Håfström‘s thriller starring Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger. No? We don’t blame you. It didn’t do a whole lot at the box office – domestically, at least – and failed to impress critics. It did, however, make $100 million overseas, and you know what that means, don’t you? Sequel.
Yup, that’s right, Escape Plan 2 is now gearing up for production and Stallone will be back again as Ray Breslin. Arnie’s sitting out this time, though, and in his place will be Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2‘s Dave Bautista. That’s according to THR, who tell us that the actor will team up with the Rocky star in the film to plot another, you guessed it, prison escape.
Calling the shots behind the camera will be Steven C. Miller, and while little is known about the plot of Escape Plan 2 at the moment, you can expect the action-thriller to include some Chinese story elements, as the sequel will be a China-U.S. co-production via Beijing-based Leomus Pictures and Emmett/Furla/Oasis.
While Escape Plan was far from a good movie, it did offer up some dumb fun and seeing the two action icons on screen together was certainly a treat. We expect this outing to follow pretty closely to what came before and with Bautista now locked in, the follow-up will probably make for a mildly enjoyable but ultimately forgettable diversion when it lands in theaters next year.
We fully expect Escape Plan 2 to start coming together quite quickly now that its got its two stars, and as soon as we hear of any further updates, we’ll be sure to let you know.