One has to admit that Sylvester Stallone is a restless badass action veteran.
The ‘Italian Stallion’ is turning 71 this year but he seems to only get more and more productive with the time passing by.
That is why, when it comes to the upcoming movies of Sylvester Stallone, a lot of hot news are ready to be delivered.
Following the huge commercial and critical success of one of his latest movies ‘Creed’, for which Sly not only won a Golden Globe for best-supporting actor but was also nominated for an Oscar in the same category, everybody was wondering if he will ever reprise once again his iconic role of Rocky Balboa.
While indeed the ‘Creed’ sequel is already in talks, Stallone seems to rather back off of this project, stating that it is the best time to conclude ‘The Rocky’ chapter in his career.
That doesn’t mean that one of the most lucrative actors and directors in the action world won’t surprise us with some other kick ass roles.
If you have already watched ‘The Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2’, then you also have noticed the small but hugely entertaining role that Sly had as the antihero Stakar Ogord.
While we always have fun watching Stallone as a tiny supplement to big-budgeted movies, it’s even better to watch him carry out entire action films on his muscular shoulders and star in leading roles.
In this train of thought, Sly’s future projects have a lot to offer to the action-thriller movie lovers.
However, given the fact that the never aging hero has to embrace the idea that he is indeed aging, his projects in development mark his delicate transition to the thriller genre.
You won’t expect Sly to do stunts at 80, right?
No steroids can help in that too.
Let’s Finally See the Upcoming Movies of Sylvester Stallone
‘Scarpa’ (release date unknown)
The idea of this project first gossiped several years ago when in 2014 it was announced that Sly could have the leading role in an epic gangster biopic based on true events.
As per Stack.com, the movie will follow the life of the mob enforcer Gregory Scarpa who worked for the Colombo crime family during the 60’s and eventually became also an FBI informant for almost 30 years.
Scarpa was mostly known as a dangerous sociopath who has murdered more than 100 people during his mafia ‘career’, the number including some members of his biological family.
Scarpa died in 1994 in a Minnesota prison, due to AIDS complications.
Honestly speaking, given the fact that Stallone is in the beginning of his 70’s it is more than normal that he smoothly repositions his career in a genre that isn’t quite physically demanding as the action one.
Moreover, his rugged looks are more than suitable for portraying an aging mafia enforcer and mob killer.
The movie is expected to be directed by Brad Furman (‘The Lincoln Lawyer’, ‘The Infiltrator’) who has an experience in the crime-drama genre.
Which is interesting is that the screenplay will be coming under the masterful hands of Nicholas Pileggi – the screenwriter of crime classics such as ‘Goodfellas’, and ’Casino’.
Pileggi was also the producer of the compelling gangster biopic starring Denzel Washington and Russel Crowe ‘American Gangster’.
So the movie has all the potential to become an Oscar nominee and why not even an Oscar winner.
Could that be the long-awaited ticket for Sly to the ‘Oscar club’?
‘Escape Plan 2: Hades’ (2018)
Obviously, that will be a sequel to the ‘Prison Break’-alike hit from 2013 starring also Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Back at that time, it was a great pleasure to watch two of Hollywood’s most beloved and successful action stars acting together in an explosive action-thriller set in a prison.
The plot is based on the adventures of the security expert Ray Breslin whose job is to test the reliability of maximum security prisons by trying to break out of them.
Logically, the success of the first entry led to the development not only of a sequel but also of a triquel who is expected to air in 2019.
In ‘Escape Plan 2: Hades’ we will be meeting the newcomers Dave Bautista (‘Guardians of the Galaxy’) as well as the beautiful Jaime King but also Jesse Metcalfe and Wes Chatham.
It is not confirmed if Arnold will reprise his role of Rottmayer, but based on the fact that both buddies Arnie and Sly love to have fun on-screen together, the chances are not small.
The second installment won’t be directed again by Mikael Hafstrom who concedes the director’s seat to the young and not so experienced Steven C. Miller who doesn’t have some impressive achievements in his career up to this date.
Let’s hope that the movie will be at least as good as the previous part.
‘Omerta’ (TV series, release date unknown)
Stallone’s aspirations to establish himself in the gangster crime genre continue in the recently announced TV movie entitled ‘Omerta’.
Now, that could be huge because of the following two facts:
The versatile and super talented Antoine Fuqua (‘Training Day’, ‘The Magnificent Seven’) is attached as a director.
It is based on Mario Puzo’s (‘The Godfather’) latest novel with the same title.
The plot will revolve around the life of the last great American mafia boss Raymonde Aprile and his adopted child Astorre Viola who he trains for years for the sole purpose of preparing him for the mafia throne.
It is expected that Stallone will be in the leading role, playing Raymonde Aprile and the rest of the cast will be soon announced.
‘Omerta’ is a lingo among the mobsters and literally, means a common agreement for keeping a code of silence about any criminal activity taking place in the mafia organization.
The movie promises to be a huge step for Sly towards the gangster drama genre and it has all the potential to become a success.
‘Tough as They Come’ (2018)
Based on the information so far, this film is another tremendous try for Sly to prove that he is one hell of a filmmaker who can do much more than just shooting people with his muscles veins popping out.
As deadline.com reports, ‘Tough as They Come’ is based on the critically acclaimed memoir by the young Staff Sergeant Travis Mills who survived a quadruple amputation during his service in Afghanistan.
The plot will reveal important parts of the extraordinary life of the soldier and it will mainly focus on the intense relationship with his stepfather (played by Sly).
Sylvester Stallone will not only have a leading role in the project but he is also entitled to direct the war biography drama.
The versatile and talented Adam Driver (‘Silence’, 2016) is scheduled to play the role of Travis Mills.
‘Idol’s Eye’ (2018)
‘Idol’s Eye’ is another mob-oriented project that is scheduled to air in 2018.
As per Hollywoodreporter.com, Sly is attached to play a Chicago mobster and he will star along with Robert Pattinson (you remember the disaster ‘Twilight’, do you?) and Daniel Craig’s current wife Rachel Weisz.
The flick is going to be a thriller based on a heist story revolving around a thief who unpurposely steals a precious blue diamond from the notorious mafia boss Tony Accardo, which sets off a conflict between both men.
At the same time, they must deal with the FBI that comes after them.
It is reported that initially the role of Tony Accardo was written for the almighty Robert De Niro but he dropped out of the project due to scheduling conflicts.
The film will be directed by the French director Olivier Assays (‘Personal Shopper’) who has an experience in directing mainly mediocre drama-romance stories.
It appears that Rambo eagerly tries to cement himself in serious thriller-drama roles and this one will also be giving him stage to show his always underestimated acting skills.
‘Ex-Baghdad’ (2019)
Pay attention because some exclusive news is coming in the next sentences.
Just when we thought that Sly has abandoned the action genre for the sake of the gangster dramas, a bombshell was dropped.
The honorary Oscar winner Jackie Chan teams up with Sylvester Stallone for the action-thriller ‘Ex-Baghdad’.
Now that is some good news.
Two of Hollywood’s most celebrated action veterans to star as on-screen allies in an $80 million dollar action-packed adventure-thriller is the dream of any movie buff.
This also marks the most expensive action movie coming out of China.
As per deadline.com, it is known that Jackie will be also a producer of the film via his ‘SR Media’ company.
In the heart of the story lies the Highway of Death – a six-lane highway between Kuwait and Iraq, which served as an itinerary for the invasion of Kuwait back in 1990.
Two ex-special forces veterans are set to escort a group of civilians along the infamous Highway of Death when a Chinese oil refinery falls under a terrorist attack.
Jackie Chan will play a private security contractor and Sylvester Stallone got the role of a former Marine who agrees to help him in this dangerous mission.
While it is undoubtedly awesome that Chan and Stallone team up for the first time in their long careers, that doesn’t mean that the movie has all it takes to be a success.
In that reasoning, the choice of a director is a bit shady.
Director Scott Waugh’s previous two films, that by the way are the only films in his career as a director, were not very convincing.
I am talking about the mediocre ‘Need for Speed’ (2014) and the action-drama ‘Act of Valor’ (2012).
Both movies are not bad at all but given the fact that Scott Waugh is about to direct such big action stars in their first ever collaboration, he will have for sure to do a better job if he wants the movie to live up to its already skyscraper-high expectations.
Conclusion
As we can see, Sly is wise enough to realize that given his age, he will have to smoothly back off from the physically demanding action genre.
Like they say, when one door closes, another one opens and it always presents new opportunities.
This is very true when it comes to the upcoming movies of Sylvester Stallone since he is working on some really interesting and ambitious roles that can reveal his strong acting potential that the action genre just doesn’t need.
By the way, if you are wondering why I didn’t mention the forthcoming ‘Expendables’ sequel among Sly’s future projects, you might want to read the related article about it.
Are you going to miss Stallone’s funny action movies or you prefer seeing him in serious dramas? I’d love to hear from you in the comments section. Oh, and please share this post.