Is an all female Expendables on the cards?
Do you want a change from an ageing action star sausage fest? Well it looks like an alternative may be on the cards?
With The Expendables 2 now in cinemas and performing moderately well, although seemingly not as well as expected, talk is already underway for a third instalment but a project in a similar vein could also be on the cards. That's because Adi Shankar's company, 1984 Private Defence Contractors, has hired Dutch Southern to write an action script for an all female Expendables.
The company has previously provided financing for the likes of The Grey, Dredd, Broken City and Killing Them Softly, which indicates that the plan is most certainly to get the project into cinemas, rather than making a cheap straight-to-DVD cash-in.
A number of prominent actresses have been approached and are reportedly in various stages of discussions, but as yet their names have yet to be released. Whilst male action stars still outnumber female, that doesn't mean that there aren't some quality names to chose from, both in terms of those working during the action heyday of the late 80s and early 90s, and those working more recently.
Nan Yu can currently be seen in The Expendables 2, Gina Carano impressed in Haywire and is currently working on Fast 6, as is Michelle Rodriguez. Add the likes of Sigourney Weaver, Uma Thurman, Milla Jovovich, Zoe Bell and Lucy Lawless and you'd have quite the cast. This is all speculation on our part, of course. Going further back Cynthia Rothrock has recently come out of retiremen,t so this would be the ideal project for her, and if you're looking for more female action stars from the 80s, Brigitte Nielsen and Grace Jones should be on the producer's lists.
The above suggestions barely scratch the surface of potential cast members. Feel free to add suggestions below, and if this project goes anywhere, we'll let you know...
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Linda Hamilton, Angelina Jolie (Wanted), Gina Davis (Long Kiss Goodnight), Shannon Tweed, Jenette Goldstein (Aliens, Terminator 2), Helen Mirren (RED)
Er........no.
Milla Jovovich, Gillian Anderson, Michelle Rodriguez, Sandra Bullock, uma therman.....and when is KURT RUSSELL joining the Expendables as a goodguy?!
Maybe if it was bridesmaids taken up another level it would have more impact. If they're just going to mirror the testosterone feast that is the The Expendables (minus the testosterone) then I can see it being made but perhaps not being so well loved.
At the risk of sounding paternalistic female led action movies are much better when you can relate to them on a personal level rather than being a cold bitch or just another bad ass copycat.
Ripley was at her best when she was still a regular woman in Alien and Aliens having to deal with a terrifying threat. Uma Thurman rocked Kill Bill because the heart of her struggle was a personal vengeance and her determination to see it through.
Personally I think that's asking too much of a female 'Expendables' where it'll just turn into a series of cameo's and entrances with exploding backdrops and unfunny retreads of iconic past glories.
Sarah Michelle Geller and/or Eliza Dushku would kick ass.
Political correctness at its finest. interesting how all of the female cast would be the sexy new age action stars...
Maggie Q surely?
Where the heck is Pam Grier?? You don't make this movie unless she's in the cast!!
So glad you didn't try to come up with a female equivalent of sausagefest...
Scrolling through the list I don't anyone mentioning Kate Beckinsale?!
Meryl Streep, Helen Mirren, Judi Dench...and Bill Murray as Bosley
liked for Linda Hamilton and Gina Davis. Jolie could be added but I think she'd overshadow any others just because of her celebrity rather than her screen presence (of which she would no doubt demand a sizable chunk).
these are great TV heroines but they've never really made an impact on the big screen in the same way though.
MJ, Rodriguez and Thurman are a big thumbs up from me however the balance has to favour stars from the 90s or earlier. How likely is Hollywood to make a female action movie with stars over 40 though?
very true! Kind of goes against the spirit of the Expendables really but Hollywood isn't kind to it's former leading ladies.
Jovovich, Rodriguez, Beckinsale, Weaver, Thurman, Carrie-Anne Moss, Michelle Yeoh, Cynthia Rothrock (maybes- Rousey, Zaldana, Lawless, Foster, Pinkett-Smith)
there really haven't been enough actresses who were action stars pre-1990. but then again, the expendables was made of a few veterans and a bunch of new guys from the last 10 years or so. so i guess provided there's at LEAST Linda Hamilton, Sigourney Weaver and Pam Grier, then they can litter the rest with the best/most affordable action typecasts. also, Geena Davis or Grace Jones for villains.
as far as younger people....on an infinite budget you'd have Jovovich, Beckinsale, Theron and Jolie for sure, but on a realistic level...probably Rhona Mitra, Zang Ziyi, Devon Aoki, Jordana Brewster, Maggie Q....maybe get some Lucy Liu, Michelle Rodriguez, or Jennifer Garner if they're feeling generous. i dunno.
Zoe Bell doubles for a number of the other ladies on the list. I'm trying to imagine Zoe playing her own role and doubling for half of the other women in the film, haha