We got our first look at The Expendables 2 in the form of a teaser trailer in December, but now Lionsgate has released a full length trailer which features explosions, Arnold Schwarzenegger ripping doors off of cars, and a good old Jean Claude Van Damme vs. Sylvester Stallone fistfight.

Watch below:

The Expendables are back and this time it’s personal… Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone), Lee Christmas (Lee Statham), Yin Yang (Jet Li), Gunnar Jensen (Dolph Lundgren),Toll Road (Randy Couture) and Hale Caesar (Terry Crews) — with newest members Billy the Kid (Liam Hemsworth) and Maggie (Yu Nan) aboard — are reunited when Mr. Church (Bruce Willis) enlists the Expendables to take on a seemingly simple job. The task looks like an easy paycheck for Barney and his band of old-school mercenaries.

But when things go wrong and one of their own is viciously killed, the Expendables are compelled to seek revenge in hostile territory where the odds are stacked against them. Hell-bent on payback, the crew cuts a swath of destruction through opposing forces, wreaking havoc and shutting down an unexpected threat in the nick of time — six pounds of weapons-grade plutonium; enough to change the balance of power in the world. But that’s nothing compared to the justice they serve against the villainous adversary who savagely murdered their brother. That is done the Expendables way.

The sequel, directed by Simon West (The Mechanic, Con Air), will be released August 17, 2012.

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Looks like director Mikael Hafstrom has found his female lead for The Tomb. Variety reports that Oscar-nominee Amy Ryan will star in the action thriller opposite Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger, and they reveal a few more additions to the cast as well: Vincent D’Onofrio, Vinnie Jones, and 50 Cent.

Stallone is the lead protagonist in the film, an architect who designs a super-prison and is then framed and put into that very prison. Schwarzenegger plays an inmate who keeps the prisoners together in their time of need, and Jim Caviezel is set to play the warden of the prison. Amy Ryan will be Stallone’s partner and love interest, while D’Onofrio plays the deputy director of Prisons Bureau and Jones taking on the role of a sadistic prison guard. No word yet on 50 Cent’s role, but based on his off-screen persona, I don’t think it’s out of line to assume he’ll be playing an inmate.

This whole movie sounds pretty great to me, especially under the direction of Hafstrom, who worked wonders in a confined setting with 1408. Are you as excited for this one as I am?

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Here’s the latest edition of “Remakes, Sequels, and Reboots That No One Wants.” Universal has apparently decided it’s a good idea to develop a sequel to the 1988 film Twins, which starred Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito as mismatched twins separated at birth. This time around, the movie will be called Triplets because they two realize they have another brother they weren’t aware of: Eddie Murphy. More after the jump.

The Hollywood Reporter says that there’s no director or script set up yet, but the three leads are attached. As crazy as this premise is, I can totally see why a studio would give this the greenlight: with that cast, the movie practically sells itself. There aren’t many people as iconic as this trio, and even if it does terribly domestically, I’m guessing it’ll still cover its costs thanks to worldwide grosses. Any film where you can put just the actors’ last names on a billboard and instantly have everyone know who you’re talking about has a pretty good chance at blockbuster status.

I still haven’t seen the original movie, but any film that casts Arnold Schwarzenegger as an intellectual immediately jumps to my personal “must watch” list, so I just added it to my Netflix queue. If you’re a fan of Twins, sound off in the comments section and let us know if you think Triplets is a good idea.

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Looks like two former Planet Hollywood owners will be sharing the big screen again, but this time the word “Expendables” won’t be involved. I just received a press release from Summit saying that Arnold Schwarzenegger has joined Sylvester Stallone in The Tomb, to be directed by Swedish filmmaker Mikael Hafstrom (1408).

Written by Miles Chapman for the screen, with a rewrite by Jason Keller, THE TOMB follows Ray Breslin (Stallone) who is the world’s foremost authority on structural security. He’s analyzed every high security prison and has gained a vast array of survival skills. But all Ray’s ingenuity and knowledge are about to be put to work in the most challenging test he’s ever faced: escaping from the master prison of his own design.

Schwarzenegger will play an inmate named Church (not to be confused with Bruce Willis’ Mr. Church character in The Expendables), who keeps the prisoners together in their time of need.

With the addition of these heavy hitters, it looks like The Tomb will be the first of many prison-related movies announced over the past few years to actually make it to theaters. There was Super Max, the Justin Marks-scripted superhero story about the wrongly-incarcerated Green Arrow being trapped in a high security prison alongside the supervillains he put away. Soon after, there was a horror project also called Supermax (one word this time) which would have centered around a high security supernatural prison and a guard who must join forces with an inmate to escape after a riot breaks out. No word on further developments for either of those.

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Lionsgate has released the first teaser trailer for The Expendables 2. Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Terry Crews, Chuck Norris, Randy Couture, Liam Hemsworth, Jean Claude Van Damme, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger all star, and as the cast is the whole selling point for this film they’re all mentioned by name.

Watch the teaser below:

The Expendables are back and this time it’s personal… Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone), Lee Christmas (Lee Statham), Yin Yang (Jet Li), Gunnar Jensen (Dolph Lundgren),Toll Road (Randy Couture) and Hale Caesar (Terry Crews) — with newest members Billy the Kid (Liam Hemsworth) and Maggie (Yu Nan) aboard — are reunited when Mr. Church (Bruce Willis) enlists the Expendables to take on a seemingly simple job. The task looks like an easy paycheck for Barney and his band of old-school mercenaries.

But when things go wrong and one of their own is viciously killed, the Expendables are compelled to seek revenge in hostile territory where the odds are stacked against them. Hell-bent on payback, the crew cuts a swath of destruction through opposing forces, wreaking havoc and shutting down an unexpected threat in the nick of time — six pounds of weapons-grade plutonium; enough to change the balance of power in the world. But that’s nothing compared to the justice they serve against the villainous adversary who savagely murdered their brother. That is done the Expendables way.

The sequel, directed by Simon West (The Mechanic, Con Air), will be released August 17, 2012.

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Following the success of Fast Five ($600m worldwide) director Justin Lin suddenly found himself in demand. He signed a two-year production deal with Universal (which involved directing Fast Six), a first-look deal with Sony Pictures TV to develop TV projects, and became the director of choice for Terminator 5 following discussions with Arnold Schwarzenegger.

However, the problem for Lin is that both Fast Six and Terminator 5 are priority projects for those involved, and with both hoping to get started next year Lin has had to leave the Terminator franchise behind. For now.

From Deadline:

Things are starting to move on The Terminator franchise, but a plan by rights owner Megan Ellison and Arnold Schwarzenegger to put the first of two pictures in production for the fourth quarter of 2012 has forced director Justin Lin to drop out. But borrowing the film’s signature phrase “I’ll be back,” Lin has left the door open to a return if Ellison and Schwarzenegger will wait until he completes the sixth installment of The Fast and the Furious franchise.

The rush to continue the Terminator franchise is mainly due to the fact in 2018 the Terminator rights will revert back to James Cameron, who directed the first two films, but until then whoever holds the rights has time to make at least two more movies. True Grit producer Megan Ellison bought the rights back in May, and is now hoping to get a screenwriter, director and studio involved so production can begin in late-2012.

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Following the success of The Expendables last year ($274 million worldwide) a sequel moved swiftly into development and Simon West, who most recently directed The Mechanic, as well as Con Air and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, came on-board to direct.

Now Deadline reports that Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis, who appeared briefly in the first film, “have just closed deals to take “substantial” roles” in the sequel.

Following the release of The Expendables Sylvester Stallone told his Twitter followers that he wanted Bruce Willis to be a “super villain” in the next film so, unless things have changed, he’ll be the bad guy. In the original Willis had a cameo as “Mr. Church,” a shadowy figure who sends Sly and his team of mercs on their mission. Arnold Schwarzenegger played a rival mercenary leader called Trent Mauser who let Sly and co. take the mission because he had other things to take care of.

Aside from Stallone, original cast members Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Mickey Rourke, Jet Li and Terry Crews are expected to return. Jean-Claude Van Damme confirmed he’ll be part of the film after declining a role in the first film, and there’s talk of Chuck Norris also joining the ranks.

Filming will begin in October and Lionsgate are aiming for an August 2012 release.

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Things are moving forward on the Terminator front. According to Deadline True Grit producer Megan Ellison has won an auction for the rights to make at least two more Terminator movies, with Justin Lin (Fast Five) attached to direct and Arnold Schwarzenegger attached to star.

Apparently Lionsgate were on the verge of wrapping up the auction, but Ellison’s Annapurna Films came in with a higher bid which is speculated to be around $20 million.

What’s interesting is that Megan Ellison and Annapurna Films appear to be decent producers. They have crime drama The Wettest County in the World with Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman and Mia Wasikowska out next year, and recently wrapped Cogan’s Trade starring Brad Pitt.

No studio is currently attached to the Terminator project yet, but it will only be a matter of time. Personally I think the franchise has run its course, but if they bring good writers on-board to write the script it will boost confidence in the project. Fast Five may just be a summer popcorn flick, but it’s actually the best reviewed movie of franchise so Justin Lin may be able to make something worthwhile with a decent script.

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Two weeks ago Fast Five director Justin Lin said he had spoken to Arnold Schwarzenegger about making another Terminator movie, but “it has to be the right circumstances” and with “the right people”. Plus he’s getting more offers now, so it may not be the next thing he directs.

Well now according to Deadline things are moving forward. Schwarzenegger, who is now in his 60s, has officially attached himself to the movie, which is currently being shopped to studios. Universal, Sony and Lionsgate are said to be “looking hard at the package”, and the producers have chosen the right time to put it out there as Lin’s Fast Five is set to be #1 at the box office this weekend.

Deadline also mentions that in 2018 the Terminator rights will revert back to James Cameron, who directed the first two films. But until then whoever holds the rights has time to make at least two more movies. They don’t need to, and I’m with Cameron when he says the franchise has run its course, but it’s a well known property and there’s money to be made.

No screenwriter is attached at the moment, but it shouldn’t be long before a studio buys the Arnie/Lin package and a writer is hired.

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In February we heard that Universal were interested in making another Terminator movie, and their plan was to pair Fast Five director Justin Lin with screenwriter Chris Morgan on the project.

Santa Barbara hedge fund Pacificor won the rights back in 2009 so whatever happens with the Terminator franchise in the future will have to involve them, however in a recent interview Justin Lin revealed that directing a Terminator movie could be in his future, and he’s spoke to Arnold Schwarzenegger about it.

From Omelete (via Collider):

I think one of the great things is that when I got started, no one would return my calls, and now I get a lot of phone calls, which is good. I have options. Terminator was one of my favorite films growing up. And I feel I have a take that I would love to see, and I’ve talked with Arnold and we’ve talked and we’ll see. Again, I would love to do it, but it has to be the right circumstances. It has to be the right people. And there’s other projects too. But I’m in a position now that I can choose more than I could a year ago, two years ago. So that is something that is potentially in my future, but when I get home I will sit down and look at my options and choose what I want to do.

James Cameron, who directed the first (and best) two film thinks the franchise has ‘run its course’ and I have to agree with him. The Fast and Furious franchise is fun mindless action, but if the Terminator franchise is to continue it needs a director with a unique vision or take on the mythology. We don’t need another movie where things just blow up.

The return of Arnold Schwarzenegger would be welcomed, but that doesn’t guarantee we’ll get a good movie. It’ll be interesting to see what Justin Lin has planned, and if it will ever happen.

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