Retirees generally spend their days performing casual tasks, taking up new hobbies, finally tackling that novel they’ve been itching to write for years – unless, of course, you’re one of the former black-ops agents in RED and your days involve a bit more gunfire, bone-cracking combat, and explosions than normal.
RED was a popular draw when it hit theaters last fall and now Summit Entertainment has hired the film’s screenwriters, Jon and Erich Hoeber, for another round with a pack of extremely dangerous senior citizens (just don’t use that term in front of John Malkovich)
Collider has the scoop on a sequel to RED, which grossed an unexpectedly large $164 million worldwide in theaters and managed to snag a Golden Globe nod for Best Motion Picture (Comedy or Musical) to boot. More important to casual moviegoers than financial success or critical prestige is that RED is a blast to watch and demonstrated that not only does Bruce Willis still have the chops to be convincing as a guns-blazing rouge, but genteel thespians like Morgan Freeman and Helen Mirren can make for impressive badasses onscreen as well.
The Hoebers made a name for themselves with their DC Comics graphic novel adaptation and will continue to do so with their script for the upcoming Sam Worthington thriller Man On A Ledge, as well as the script for Peter Berg’s Battleship. The duo being hired by Summit to pen a RED followup is not equivalent to a sequel being given the greenlight, though it does imply that the studio is intrigued by the possibility of a franchise here – either that or, like everyone else, the head execs just want an excuse to see Mirren wielding a heavy load of firepower again.
RED was a bit of a sleeper hit that generated good word of mouth and convinced younger moviegoers that a flick starring four individuals whose combined age is over two centuries old could make for a rambunctious and wild action-thriller with some clever comedy to boot. Those who caught the trailers and TV previews for the film knew they were in for a fun ride, but were by and large surprised by just how entertaining the pic turned out to be.
Director Robert Schwentke earned props for crafting kinetic action sequences that were engaging – and did not employ the over-used shaky cam aesthetic – and allowing pros like Willis, Freeman, Malkovich, and Mirren to naturally play off one another for both dramatic and comedic effect. Lightning is a tricky thing to bottle when it comes in the form of a refreshingly enjoyable popcorn flick, but it’s possible that a RED sequel could do just that.
Willis has both Die Hard 5 and The Expendables 2 on his to-do list, so he’s not quitting the action game anytime soon. Malkovich and Mirren also seemed to enjoy themselves in RED and could be up for a second venture as well – besides, handling deadly artillery must be a particularly interesting change of pace for the Oscar-winning star of The Queen.
RED will be released on DVD and Blu-ray a week from today on January 25th – in the meantime, be sure to let us know your thoughts about a sequel .
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Source: Collider
