An All-Female Version Of The Expendables?

[Mitch Henessey]

As "Haywire" star Gina Carano continues to establish herself as an action heroine with an upcoming turn in "The Fast and the Furious 6," the former MMA fighter has become attached to topline an all-female riff on "The Expendables," which is being set up by Adi Shankar's banner 1984 Private Defense Contractors.

Shankar will produce for the shingle, which plans to fully finance the "Expendables"-inspired project.

Company remains in talks with several prominent actresses affiliated with the action genre in addition to Carano, who director Steven Soderbergh hand-picked to star in "Haywire" alongside more experienced thesps such as Michael Fassbender and Channing Tatum.

Dutch Southern, who wrote the 2010 Black List script "Hoof Harrington's Greatest Hits," was tapped to write the estrogen-powered action pic back in August, just as "The Expendables 2" was opening atop the box office.

This has been a banner year for female-driven actioners like "The Hunger Games," "Snow White and the Huntsman" and "Resident Evil: Retribution," which respectively starred Jennifer Lawrence, Kristen Stewart and Milla Jovovich.

"I don't know how I'm supposed to make a movie that is supposed to be the female version of 'The Expendables' without Gina Carano in it. It would be like making Twix without caramel or Jamba Juice without jamba," said Shankar, whose shingle recently co-produced Joe Carnahan's "The Grey," Pete Travis' "Dredd 3D," Andrew Dominik's upcoming Brad Pitt-starrer "Killing Them Softly" and the viral Internet hit "The Punisher: Dirty Laundry," starring Thomas Jane.

In addition to a key role in "The Fast and the Furious 6," Carano is also attached to star in John Stockwell's "Taken"-esque action-thriller "In the Blood." She's repped by the Gersh Agency, The Syndicate and Ziffren Brittenham.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118059753

First and foremost, I think Gina Carano is the right choice for the starring role. Having the background of an MMA fighter gives her some serious credibility as a bad-ass, and Carano has gained a fair amount of popularity over the years. Plus, she was pretty good in Haywire.

As far as the project goes, it could be a nice surprise, or the female version of The Expendables could be one giant flop. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, and Sylvester Stallone are all action legends. When you combine their presences with modern day action stars (Jason Statham, Jet Li), you can almost guarantee a positive outcome at the box office, because the big names will draw interest amongst moviegoers. Carano is a recognizable name, but as far as popularity goes, you can't put her on the same level as Arnold, Willis, or Stallone.

Still, the all-female version of The Expendables could be worth watching. Hopefully, they'll bring the same style of hard-hitting and brutal action, and if the first film can have a good run at the box office, we might see a sequel.

As far as the rest of the cast goes, Lucy Liu HAS to be a top choice. They could add Uma Thurman, Michelle Rodriguez, and Milla Jovovich (yes, I know, the Resident Evil films are shit, but technically, Jovovich is an action heroine), and Jennifer Lawrence would be a wise a pick. And if they're willing to participate, a few cameos from Sigourney Weaver and maybe Linda Hamilton could really help this film in the star power department.

Would you watch an all female version of The Expendables?

Who else would you add to the cast?

 

[Wolf Pac]

Hell yeah I would definitely watch a female version of The Expendables, I love anything to do with action, so another Expendables movie is fantastic news for me. Like you though, I have some concern that this could be a major flop cause female action stars aren't as big as male action stars, so there are some people I could see having little interest in it or no interest in it at all. And like you said, Gina Carano isn't on the same level when it comes to popularity; part of me feels that maybe the lead role should go to someone else who is more popular & has more experience in action movies but at the same time, the fact she is a MMA fighter makes her stand out from the rest, so you could take her more seriously as the lead than anyone else.

As for who else I would add to the cast, well other than the ones you named, I have a bunch in mind...

Carrie Anne Moss
Sarah Michelle Gellar
Devon Aoki (Miho from Sin City)
Rosario Dawson
Zhang Ziyi
Summer Glau (from Terminator Sarah Connor Chronicles)
Lena Headey (also from TSCC; would be interesting to see the old Sarah Connor & new Sarah Connor meet)
Pam Grier (could see her playing the main villian of the movie)
Lucy Lawless (cameo)
Michelle Yeoh (cameo?)

Angelina Jolie & Kate Beckinsale come to mind aswell but I'm not sure if they would be willing to take part.

 

[jmt225]

It's funny, a few weeks back on another forum I gave my suggestions on who I would cast in an all female cast of the Expendables, and Oozin Machismo and I seem be sharing a lot of the same ideas. Here's my list:

Angelina Jolie
Sarah Michelle Gellar
Uma Thurman
Michelle Yeoh
Zhang Ziyi
Summer Glau
Gina Carano
(with) Sigourney Weaver
(and) Pam Grier

I love Gina Carano, but she should NOT be the star in this film. Have a predominant role? Absolutely, but you need a big name to be the Sylvester Stallone so to speak, and the biggest female action star of the last 15 years is without a doubt Angelina Jolie.

So, yeah... obviously I'm down for the idea, but I don't think the studio will even come close to getting it right. They're going to rush it and it's going to be a huge shit fest. I'm sure of it.

 

[Dowdsy McDowds]

I'm not particularly sold on the idea I'm afraid. The closest thing to that kind of film we've had recently was Sucker Punch which I don't think fared too well with reviews or box office takings.

The main reason I don't think it will go down well is that the action genre is male dominated with lots of different personalities involved; Stallone and Schwarzenegger did a slew of 'one-man-army' films that in some ways revolved around their builds, JCVD and Lundgren were at a secondary level below the two big guns. You even have Chuck Norris and Steven Seagal around the 80s/90s period carving niches for themselves.
Moving ahead, smaller guys like Statham and Jet Li then take up the baton and mercilessly use it to beat the shit out of goons as 'one-man-army' shifts to 'one-man-weapon'.

For the females, there just isn't that same kind of distinction. Jolie has done action films for sure, but nothing really sets her apart other than her glamorous looks. Jovovich perhaps has the best claim to action queen because of the Resident Evils but they are rather forgettable films.

To finish on an upbeat note, if I were to have one actress in an action film just now, I'd go for Melissa George. Over the last few years she's done several films with action involved where she's solely or co-burdened the emotional arc of the story; 30 Days of Night, WAZ, Triangle and A Lonely Place To Die. Add her and I'll buy a ticket.