The ExpendaBelles.......

[Mitch Henessey]

Nope that's not a typo.

For some reason, Millennium Films chief Avi Lerner likes to drop scoops in the Bulgarian press. That might mean that his revelation to the Standart that he is negotiating with Meryl Streep, Cameron Diaz and Milla Jovovich to be in The ExpendaBelles is news that could be contained within that country, where Lerner intends to shoot the movie. Unless a movie news hound like me finds a secret weapon — someone who speaks Bulgarian. Aside from being the best TV reporter around, my colleague Nellie Andreeva grew up speaking that language and she still reads the newspapers. Translation: Avi, you cannot hide. Lerner also confides he is searching for a female director for the action film that has a script by Legally Blonde scribes Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith. Insiders say they need to find that director before they begin the casting process. All three of those actresses have done well in action including Streep, who did The River Wild. And given the beefcake names he has gotten for his The Expendables romps, why shouldn’t Lerner aim high? I would imagine Sigourney Weaver, Linda Hamilton, Geena Davis and a few others might be getting phone calls. Stay tuned.

http://www.deadline.com/2013/10/avi-lerner-saves-his-expendabelles-news-for-bulgaria/

Strange, I could've sworn I made a thread about this in here somewhere a while ago. Can't find it. Oh well.

If they're able to land Meryl Streep for a part in this film, it's a great move either way you look at it. Streep is a living legend, and she would be an ideal primary antagonist. I could easily picture Streep portraying an icy and cerebral mastermind with no mercy.

Milla gets a lot of unfair hate for the Resident Evil films (on the other hand, her husband Paul W.S Anderson is a shit director), and like her or not, Jovovich is one of the top action heroines now a days. Cameron Diaz? She's still stunning at 41, but I HATE the Charlie's Angels films. And unless I'm missing something from her career, I can't recall too many true action roles from Diaz (no, Knight & Day doesn't count).

Weaver and Hamilton are crucial for credibility (especially Weaver), and well, The Long Kiss Goodnight is one of my all-time favorite guilty pleasures, so I wouldn't mind Davis reawakening her inner Charly Baltimore. Plus, add in Lucy Liu and Uma Thurman for some good Kill Bill nostalgia.

I'm a big fan of The Expendables films, so I'm all in for this spin-off. Although, deep down inside, I have a feeling they'll rush this too much, and the end result will be a massive pile of shit.

Thoughts? Would you add anyone else to list of rumored names?

 

[Wolf Pac]

I don't really care for Meryl Streep or Cameron Diaz, but I definitely want Milla in it. Primary antagonist or not, Pam Grier should be a bad guy in this, although she would be my pick to be the main villian. My choice for the leader of The ExpendaBelles would be Angelina Jolie. I know there was a report sometime last year that Gina Carano would be the leader and I agreed at first because she's an MMA fighter, but I changed my mind about that one after jmt made a good point about Angelina having more credibility in action films and her probably being the biggest action heroine right now. I would love to see Weaver and Hamilton in this but I imagine them only getting small roles, I don't see them getting big parts.

Now for my favourite part about The Expendables/ExpendaBelles, throwing out a bunch of other names I'd love to see in the film.

Geena Davis
Lucy Liu
Uma Thurman
Michelle Yeoh
Summer Glau
Lena Headey
Michelle Rodriguez
Carrie Anne Moss
Kate Beckinsale

There were some other ones that I had in mind but I can't remember them right now. I mentioned them in that last thread, which I can't find either.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Yeah, I forget about Michelle Rodriguez and Kate Beckinsale. Beckinsale is an obvious choice for the Selene character in the Underworld films, and 99.9% (the "clone" of Rodriguez's character in Resident Evil Retribution was a nice homely woman, who fought for gun control, and she "marched against the NRA") of the time, Michelle Rodriguez plays a hard ass, who won't take shit from anyone. Wouldn't mind Summer Glau either, and I could see Carrie Anne Moss making the cut for her work as Trinity in The Matrix films.

What about Chloe Grace Moretz? She's still in her teens, but she's known for Hit-Girl more than anything else. Maybe they'll squeeze her in as an assassin or something like that. Although, the Kick-Ass films were comedies, so there's a chance you'll run into the "we can't take her seriously" problems.

And Ronda Rousey has a part in The Expendables 3, so I have to believe they'll make an effort to drop some hints for The ExpendaBelles with Rousey's character, or a post-credits scene.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Another update:

EXCLUSIVE: Robert Luketic has come aboard to direct The ExpendaBelles, the estrogen-powered equivalent of the testosterone-fueled Millennium Films franchise The Expendables. The move re-teams Luketic with his Legally Blonde scribes Kirsten Smith and Karen McCullah, who wrote the original screenplay for the female action comedy spinoff. The film will begin shooting this summer and Luketic will soon begin casting the gals.

The logline: When America’s Navy SEALs are wiped out trying to penetrate the island lair of a deadly despot who has captured one of the world’s top nuclear scientists, it becomes clear that there is no such thing as the right man for the job and that this is a mission so impossible that only women can handle it. The only way in: some of the world’s deadliest female operatives must pose as high-class call-girls shipped in by private plane to satisfy a dictator–and instead save the scientist and the day. I feel like I watched an X-rated version of this in the 70s, but enough about that.

The ExpendaBelles is produced by Sylvester Stallone and Kevin King. Executive producers are Heidi Jo Markel, Julie Kroll, Avi Lerner, Trevor Short, Boaz Davidson, John Thompson and Mark Gill. CAA and Mosaic rep Luketic.

So the big question is, who should star? My Bulgarian co-editor in chief Nellie Andreeva translated an interview Avi Lerner gave to the Standart last fall, and Lerner said he was in talks with Meryl Streep, Cameron Diaz and Milla Jovovich. I’m told that nobody is set and that they are just now coming up with the short list. I’d like to suggest a few more actresses with action on their resumes. The most bankable female action star is Angelina Jolie. Here are the rest: Sigourney weaver, Linda Hamilton, Halle Berry, Carrie-Anne Moss, Geena Davis, Jennifer Garner, Kate Beckinsale, Sandra Bullock, Michelle Yeoh, Rhona Mitra, Chloe Moretz, Uma Thurman, Lucy Lawless, Katie Sackhoff, Angela Bassett, Michelle Rodriguez, Lucy Liu, Gina Carano, Pam Grier, Sharon Stone and Brigitte Nielsen. I have no idea which of them would spark to this, but there are enough names here to fuel several films. Have I left anyone out?

http://www.deadline.com/2014/02/ber...illenniums-the-expendabelles-who-should-star/

I've seen enough Robert Luketic films to know this is an underwhelming choice. Luketic's directed a handful of shitty romantic comedies (The Ugly Truth, Monster-in-Law, Killers), and more recently he directed Paranoia with Harrison Ford and Gary Oldman. That's another stinker, and Reese Witherspoon's performance is the driving force behind the first Legally Blonde film.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

I don't know. To me that group hardly scream action star. Those woman are far more accomplished in other types of films that it hardly feels like part of The Expendables.

Is Cynthia Rockrock still alive? How about any of those women from those late night Cinemax flicks (Donna Spier?) that had such costars as Ponch, Buff Bagwell and Jim Lampley? Can't Shannon Tweed get some love?

I just am not sure this genre works creatively or financially. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'm just a sexist, mysogynistic, hateful pessimist or maybe I'm still grieving PSH's death but this doesn't work for me. They should do a roller derby team who fights crime after hours movie instead.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Jolie is the only one on that list, who has the legit star power as an action heroine to give this one a chance. She's a a crucial pick, if they're going to make this work. Also, the success of lack there of for The Expendables 3 will play a big part in The ExpendaBelles succeeding. A part of me is curious about a series of films, but I'm sure it'll work better as a one and done deal.

The more I think about it, Geena Davis hasn't been relevant in years, and as much as I love The Long Kiss Goodnight, she's known for non-action roles. She's more famous for Thelma & Louise, A League Of Their Own, and Beetlejuice. If we're going by recent stuff Davis has the Stuart Little films, and after looking at her IMDB profile, I can see she had a part in a TV movie and a mini series.

Streep has the name value, but she can't do anything physical, if they want people to take her character seriously. And I think Shannon Tweed is too busy with reality shows, unfortunately.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Hmmm, this movie has disaster written all over it..I don't have high hopes for this one at all.

However, if we are looking at names for roles in this kind of film, then Angelina Jolie has to be at the top of the list. I'd hope they'd be able to find a part for Linda Hamilton (Sarah Connor in Terminator 1-2), as she'd be perfect for an veteran action-heroine, and it would allow her to repeat some of her famous lines from T1 and T2, as some of the male stars did in The Expendables 2 for some nostalgia.

Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu, Cameron Diaz and Michelle Rodriguez would all be actresses I would hope to see in this movie, and I think they'd play the roles well, Rodriguez especially as she always plays a kind of "bad ass" in her films. As Ronda Rousey is in Expendables 3, like another poster said I'd expect her to have a major role in the female spin-off, and I am sure there are plenty of other women who could be signed up.