It’s assumed we’re all in agreement that The Expendables 3 really just needs to shed all forms of seriousness in order to be completely enjoyable. The first movie fell flat when explosions and gunplay weren’t happening, and though the second one upped its self-awareness – thanks in part to director Simon West – it was still the product of a clumsy screenplay.
And so what is the goofiest possible way to announce a director for a highly anticipated film? That’s right, a Twitter-based guessing game, courtesy of Sylvester Stallone. Press release, schmess release. Stallone has teased followers in the last few days with finding and meeting the potential director, and after a couple of clues, a fan correctly guessed it to be Patrick Hughes, the Australian director whose western thriller Red Hill was a nice entry in a seldom-utilized genre. Expendables 3 will be Hughes’ second film, which adds quite a bit of muscle and fire to his resume. But it also seems to put the action romp right back into more serious territory, assuming Stallone didn’t co-script this one with Judd Apatow or Bobcat Goldthwait.
As far as the Twitter hints (Twints?), Stallone described Hughes as “an Aussie…Not Mel…He is NEW..the last film he did was more RED than BLUE…” And then he put a hat on his cat where it sat before giving a personal shout out to the correct guesser. Stallone then touted Hughes work, clearly excited to have fresh NEW talent behind the camera.
“Rent RED HILL..Great Movie!! 500,000 budget 20 day shoot, Amazing – ROCKY was 850,000 and 25 days, Good OMEN!!!” is how Stallone put it.
Beyond some talk about who might be in the film, this is the first major news about the sequel, so expect more to follow. Keep punching!!!
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