In a phone interview with Speakeasy Stallone sounded like he might not continue with the EX franchise, at least this is the impression I'm getting from reading it, judge for yourself:
Ryan Coolger is coming off his debut
film, “Fruitvale Station,” and diving into the canon of Rocky Balboa.
Why’d you say yes?
Sylvester Stallone:
I was very interested in the
premise. It’s not “Rocky 7,” it’s not near that at all. Rocky is
retired, kind of set adrift. He’s very lonely in his world. His life has
gone by waiting for the inevitable. The grandson of most beloved friend
died in his arms and he was visiting him and this relationship starts.
This person comes from an entirely different culture side of the world,
and something happens that’s incredibly dramatic and profound. This is a
drama, not me getting in the ring.
But why reprise the role?
I thought this would be something very unique, to be able to take
this character and go another generation with it and still have him be
vital and relevant. Wow, that’s unique. I believe that the last film I
did, “Expendables III” we took it to the max and I thought, there isn’t
much further I can go with this. So I started to speak to the powers
that be. I want to go back and do films like “Cop Land” and the early
“Rocky”’s. I’m not giving up the action film but now it’s a suspense
movie, it’s a bit more emotional.
I don't really think he is saying he won't be in EX4. I think he is saying that EX3 was the best of the 3. I guarantee if 4 gets made, he will be in it.
ReplyDeleteI think he's saying he wont do another EX movie
DeleteIt's his strategy to promote EX3 as though it will be his last. Once the movie opens to mega success, he's going to say hey why not another last one :)
ReplyDeleteThis is Stallone. Very smart man in business.
I think he will do one more...even if he takes a back seat to other characters...
ReplyDeleteStallone has a long history of thinking out loud when it comes to his projects. I wouldn't read anything into it.
ReplyDeleteI would't want to see an EX4 w/o Sly
ReplyDeletehe introduced the young exps, so who knows...
ReplyDeleteHe also said Rourke and Chan were in EX3. You can't always believe what he says.
ReplyDeleteHinting that Sly may not return for an EX4 is a classic business stratgey for an actor trying to set up salary negotiations for the next film. Mel Gibson did the same approach for Lethal Weapon 4 and even admitted that was the reasoning for saying he might not do it. If EX3 is a huge success, which I have no doubt it will be, producers will beg Sly to come back and offer him more money to do so. As Anonymous stated above he is a "Very smart man in business." His stand alone movies have not been doing so well at the box office so Sly needs to ride the EX cash cow as long as he is able to do so.....and I am confident he will do just that.
ReplyDelete