Of all the reboots getting the greenlight over the past few years, this ranks up there as one of the odder ones. Cliffhanger, the 1993 Sylvester Stallone thriller, is getting a reboot. It’s not a superhero property, nor does it seemingly have much of a built-in, devoted fanbase. But here we are.
What does make this announcement interesting is that Ana Lily Amirpour (A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night) will be directing. She’s already confirmed that the film will be female-led, and casting is underway for an actress to lead an ensemble cast. Sascha Penn (Creed II) has written the script.
The original film starred Stallone as an experienced mountain climber with a tragic past, who finds himself caught in a high-stakes heist gone wrong. Original Film, the studio behind the Fast & Furious franchise, will produce alongside Rocket Science. Amirpour said in a statement:
“I am very excited to partner with Original Films and Rocket Science, who share my passion for the character-driven high-adrenalin survival movie; one of my favourite genres. We are setting out to create a thrill ride on the mountain which taps into the primal side of an action movie, where you see what a person is capable of doing to survive in the most extreme situations, pushed to the limits”.
Neal Moritz, founder of Original Film, added: “I’ve been wanting to remake this adrenaline-filled survival thriller with a strong female protagonist – both in front of and behind the camera – for some time. The elements came together with Ana Lily and Rocket Science and we look forward to gathering the rest of the pieces”.
Moritz hopes that this can lead to the beginning of a new franchise, though that seems to be the goal with practically every big-budget movie nowadays. Amirpour has proven to be a unique cinematic voice. Although The Bad Batch was a slight disappointment, A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night remains one of the most impressive debuts of the decade.
Seeing her helm a big, outlandish thriller like Cliffhanger should be fascinating.
#Peace.Love.Cliffhanger
