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Sylvester Stallone Has a Death Wish, Plus Cliffhanger Sequel?

by Ethan Anderton
October 1, 2009
Source: Empire

There are two action stars who are probably immortal. One is now the Governor of Caliornia and he doesn't like "economic girly-men" while the other is still very much an action star. His name is Sylvester Stallone. With his next venture The Expendables not too far off (set for release next August) and yet another sequel in the Rambo series on the horizon as well, Stallone isn't showing any signs of slowing down. He recently took the time to talk to Empire about the possibility of his involvement in a remake of the 1970's exploitation film Death Wish, potentially a sequel to Cliffhanger, and the status of the biopic about poet Edgar Allen Poe.

First on the possible remake of the Charles Bronson action-crime-drama Death Wish, Stallone said:

"I'm thinking about it. It's a classic morality tale, where you take a civilized man and take away everything that matters to him so he becomes primitive again. The story's been done many times, and when it's done well, it's an emotionally engaging film. The trouble with remakes is that people fall in love with the original. It's like peanut butter. If you try to change the taste of peanut butter, you're in trouble."

While I never would've thought I would ever hear the words Death Wish and "emotionally engaging film" in the same sentence, the thought of Stallone taking on this remake is definitely worth a double take. However, something that doesn't look to be a promising double take, at least not for Sly, is the Cliffhanger sequel first announced by StudioCanal back in May. Stallone says they're probably going to remake it, which doesn't sound exactly like a sequel to me. Doesn't sound like he'll be involved in that one, though.

Finally, Stallone offered some more info on the biopic on Edgar Allen Poe that he's interested in:

"Of course, I'm not playing Poe. 'Yo, Poe!' It won't work! It'll be some young actor because he dies at 39, but it's gonna happen… I keep telling my producer Avi Lerner, 'Make Edgar Allan Poe!' He says, 'Does he have a gun?' 'No, he doesn't have a gun', 'Can he throw a knife?' I say, 'No, he writes poetry!'"

Oh that is classic Avi Lerner! Imagine a Poe biographical picture with all the fun of the tongue-in-cheek action-packed trailer for Hamlet starring Arnold Scharzeneggar in the fictional world of The Last Action Hero. Quoth the raven, "Yo Adrian!" Classic. We'll keep you updated on all of these new Stallone projects.

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6 Comments

hell yeah!!!!! i can´t wait to see sly´s projects come to life! man he´s one of my favorites action actors, and no matter what people say about him, sly rules in all his movies!. i thought the last rambo kicked several asses so the new one should kick even more, so lets wait to see what other news he gives us =)

dave on Oct 2, 2009

It's great to see Stallone hitting a continuously successful stride again. He did seem to be digging his own cinematic grave with films like Stop or My Mom Will Shoot, ye See You (aka D-Tox), The Specialist, Assassins and the other stinkers. His Death Wish remake makes me cringe and think of his Get Carter remake...which, to put it nicely, was less than flattering. Although now he' he back on top, better than ever and seems to be nearing the writer,director,actor success of Clint Eastwood in his later years, I have high hopes of his future endeavors!! I mean after Rambo, I'm expecting The Expendables to be AMAZING!!!! I've always been a die hard Stallone fan, I'm now very glad to see him return to form!!

Marc on Oct 2, 2009

It's great to see Sly back in the limelight and in full force again. Just when I was starting to think we were in an era of wanna-bees like Vin Diesel, John Cena (yeah right), and The Rock(maybe?), Sly came back with plenty of cinematic ammo in his itinerary! I think "The Expendables" will be a force to be reckoned with and will, no doubt, spawn many copycats with "Inspired" casting! I believe that only he could bring something new to the "Death Wish" reboot! Yes, he almost completely derailed his career(Who really hasn't at some point?) but he's got so much to contribute to the silver screen yet! For the record, "D-Tox" was not half bad as it was a pretty decent flick! I really don't think Sly would sabotage his career any more at this point in his life, especially after building such momentum. I look forward to his future projects and I truly am thankful that he's back. The movies have been missing our beloved action heroes! Jean-Claude Van Damme, your curtain call awaits!!!!! 🙂

Spider on Oct 2, 2009

I'll show Sly who's the toughest person around if he does a Poe movie. Seriously!?!

Tra la la la la di da on Oct 2, 2009

I have a lot of respect for Sly. Rambo kinda blew but the action was intense. The Expendables seems promising and Cliffhanger was a solid, genre-defining spectacle of pure excitement. I admire how he's pushing who he is, who he is seen as in Hollywood and what he wants to define himself as. It takes a lot of gusto to push himself as he does and stay credible. Cinema as a whole had varying lifespans and the people involved with action films are fleeting more often than not, and it's a delight to see Sly continue his legacy and carry the action film genre into today's times with the same flair, presentation and style which made him and people like Arnold the immortal legends they are. Kudos, Sly.

Voice of Reason on Oct 2, 2009

Don't remake Death Wish. You remade Get Carter and we all know how that ended. Besides Death Wish style revenge flicks have done so well these past few years. Even Death Sentence based on a book from the same guy as Death Wish didn't do well.

jesse on Oct 2, 2009

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