Would original female action hero Pam Grier want to lead the female "Expendables?"
“The Expendables” was a hit in 2010 and “The Expendables 2″ is shaping up to have a solid opening. So what’s next? Simon West, director of the sequel, suggested an all female version. Now, according to Indiewire, producer Adi Shankar has jumped on the idea and hired writer Dutch Southern to write a script (West isn’t involved).
Shankar says he is in talks with “several well-known actresses who aren’t strangers to action films.” Of course he’s going to say that, but who knows if it’s true. So who would be in the cast? The premise of “The Expendables” is washed up ’80s action heroes called back into action. The problem, though, is that there aren’t that many women action heroes from the ’80s–the list pretty much begins and ends with Brigitte Nielsen. Going back further you’d have Pam Grier, of course. So that’s two, but who else? Does Linda Hamilton have anything left in her? It would just have to be a younger group. Some of the Indiewire commenters came up with ’90s names like Michelle Yeoh, Angela Bassett, Viveca A. Fox. Going younger, there’s Milla Jovovich and Michelle Rodriguez or new addition Gina Carano. No, don’t even bother asking Angelina Jolie.
It’s an interesting idea, and Shankar said he’s going to finance it, but they’ll have to get someone with a name into it to sell it. I could easily see studios back off from distribution deals because “guys won’t come see an all-female action picture and women won’t see action movies period.” So while it sounds kind of fun, don’t buy your ticket yet…
