The action genre is still going very strong, with recent examples such as The Gray Man, Extraction, and The Beekeeper all finding fairly substantial audiences either on the big screen or on streaming services. Then there are the revivals of long-dormant action franchises which have made a dent, e.g. Twisters and Top Gun: Maverick. Those two movies showed not only that actioner IPs from previous decades could still work for modern audiences, but also that modern takes could even outdo their ’80s or ’90s originators. That is the hope for Cliffhanger as well, which is going to be receiving a reboot (more a reimagining than a legacy sequel, in this case) next year.
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Should Cliffhanger take off, there’s reason to believe it will kick off a trend. Specifically, modern takes on classic (or minor classic) Sylvester Stallone movies.
Why Cliffhanger & Other Modern Stallone Movie Reboots Are an Exciting Prospect
There’s reason to be excited for this one. On one hand, it’s set to be directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, whose Orphan, Non-Stop, Run All Night, The Shallows, and Jungle Cruise have all been consistently solid. Then there’s his hit streaming movie Carry-On, which shows that he hasn’t lost an ounce of his grasp over the action genre.
It also seems as though the new Cliffhanger is going in a direction that long wasn’t expected of it. For a few years there were plenty of rumors swirling around a legacy sequel to the Renny Harlin film, with Stallone returning as Gabe Walker. Instead, Lily James is going to be playing Naomi, who like Walker is a mountaineer who finds herself going up against a gang of criminals (this time kidnappers instead of robbers).
This all puts an interesting spin on a story that didn’t necessarily even require Stallone to exist. Which raises the question of whether the actor has any other movies that could benefit from a modernized retelling.
The Rocky franchise has continued with Creed and The Expendables tried to move on with Stallone in a supporting role, but there’s really only one franchise that seems to be inextricably linked to him, and that’s Rambo. The rest seem to be fair game, and there is more than one that have concepts which would work once more with a few tweaks.
The first big example is Cobra, though probably with a less dogged belief that guns are the solution to all problems. But a cop going against a cult of serial killers? That could easily work again.
Then there’s Tango & Cash, which is a buddy cop movie where the buddy cops are framed. That, too, could work again. And, while it’s hard to see his comedies like Stop! Or My Mom Will Shot or Rhinestone being rebooted, Oscar could. With the right actor, a screwball mob comedy could work better now than it did in 1991. Stallone gave it the college try but his efforts could be outmatched by a Boyd Holbrook or a Channing Tatum.
Other potential Stallone movies that could be given a 2020s version include The Specialist, Assassins, Get Carter, and Cop Land. But it all comes down to how Cliffhanger does.
Which Stallone movie would you like to see get a Stallone-free reboot? Let us know in the comments.
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