"The Expendables 2," August 17th (Lionsgate):
Everyone loves a good 1980s reunion these days it seems, and that is something that action-thriller "The Expendables 2" will be banking on.
After the first "Expendables" was a solid hit in 2010, the cast has been reloaded with a couple fresh faces, including Chuck Norris and a larger role from Arnold Schwarzenegger.
This time around, the Governator and Norris will team up with Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis Jet Li, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Liam Hemsworth and Jason Statham, giving us more action hero personas than "The Avengers."
And if the most recent trailer is any indication, there is sure to be a never-ending array of explosions, video game style action sequences and tough guy poses, the trademarks that have made careers for many of the stars in the cast.
Though the plot is, of course, beside the point, the trailer does briefly touch on a potential worldwide disaster involving weaponized plutonium - in case you thought the guys were all getting together solely for laughs and one-liners.
For Schwarzenegger, it's his first time with a real role since 2004, and it looks like he's getting right back into the over-the-top macho flicks that made him the most bankable action star in the world.
With a movie like "The Expendables 2," you know what you're getting and if you thought the first one was fun, adding Chuck Norris and more Schwarzenegger probably won't hurt.
The trailer for "The Expendables 2" can be viewed at the movie's official site.
Box office outlook:
Even with marginal lukewarm interest for the first one, "The Expendables" still brought in $103 million domestically and more than $274 million worldwide, which are solid totals for an $80 million production launched in August.
Usually for a sequel like this, domestic numbers would start to dwindle, but Schwarzenegger and Norris will probably give it more appeal and the numbers could go up across the board.
Even if director Simon West ("Con Air," "The Mechanic") didn't make a good film, the commercial potential is still there for distributor Lionsgate.
by RTT Staff Writer
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