Adi Shankar‘s (The Grey) banner 1984 Private Defense Contractors has firstly tapped newcomer Dutch Southern (on 2010 Black List with Hoof Harrington's Greatest Hits) to write an all-female riff on the star-studded action franchise on the heels of The Expendables 2 box office success.
Now comes a report saying that MMA fighter turned action star, Gina Carano has attached herself to an unnamed female driven action project inspired by The Expendables.
Producer Adi Shankar said in a statement picked up by Variety:
I don't know how I'm supposed to make a movie that is supposed to be the female version of ‘The Expendables' without Gina Carano in it. It would be like making Twix without caramel or Jamba Juice without jamba.
Talks are still on-going with other actresses for parts in the still untitled movie. There had been speculation that names like Linda Hamilton and Sigourney Weaver could also end up be pursued for roles as well, but no specific names are mentioned.
Carano, who appeared earlier this year in Steven Soderbergh's Haywire alongside more experienced thesps such as Michael Fassbender and Channing Tatum, will next appear in Justin Lin's The Fast and the Furious 6 and is also attached to star in John Stockwell's Taken-esque action-thriller In the Blood.
I hope this is a joke. Why would anyone want to see a female version of TE? What are the going to do, throw some kitchenware at each other and call names? What’s the name of the movie going to be, The Sexpendables?