You can’t keep an old dog down.
As Stallone walks away from one tentpole series, The Expendables, he appears to be looking for another to fill that gap. Following the mixed critical response and poor US Box Office takings for 2013’s Escape Plan, it would have been a clear-cut single entry into the action movie genre. However, being a successful entry into the Asian and European markets, Escape Plan raked in an International gross of $112.2 million adding that to the meagre $25.1 million from the US Box Office the total Worldwide gross of $137.3 million was enough to demand a sequel.
As the production for Escape Plan 2: Hades wrapped in April 2017, it was announced that Emmett/Furla/Oasis Films (Randall Emmett & George Furla) had greenlit Escape Plan 3, with Stallone returning along with writer Miles Chapman and sequel director Stephen C. Miller.
Is this the spiritual successor of the Expendables, giving Stallone another chance to prolong his career and retain his action man status? Or is this the final breaths of the outdated, and sorely missed 1980’s muscle action movie?
Unfortunately, it is most likely the former, with Stallone clutching to his past successes, attempting to retain his title, and capitalize on the nostalgia factor for those fast paced and brainless movies that we all know and love. The original premise of having the two biggest pillars of the 80’s actioner appearing together in the same film was great, and with the Expendables we saw it, but that was all we needed. Every action trope, every action star appearing together in one testosterone fueled explosive action movie, what’s not to love.
Sadly, as with The Expendables 3, this genre of film doesn’t seem to resonate as it once did, with the release of Escape Plan, US audiences want more than a explosive trip down memory lane.
By greenlighting a sequel even before the previous film has been released shows complete confidence in that series, and overall it is a good thing for the film industry, but one drawback for this is that with the release of this information, we now know that the events of Escape Plan 2: Hades has no lasting effect on Stallone’s Breslin character. As Stallone has already signed on for the third installment. It’s nice to see a confident studio and production company, but it does take away from the release of the second installment.
As with most films the market for US made action films is strong in China and a franchise can be made or broken depending on what happens overseas. Is this a good thing? For the most part yes, as we will get the production of lower budget movies, which have the potential of bringing in higher returns and that is a good thing.
However, when it comes to Escape Plan as a series, it would be easier to allow it to be locked away in an unbreakable prison never to see daylight again.
Source: Deadline