Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger haven’t made a solid action movie since their prison filmEscape Plan- which is over a decade old. For many critics, the firstEscape Planmoviearrived far too late. Had Arnie and Stallone made a film together in the 1980s or 1990s, that would have been considered a major event. Instead, their first feature-length collaboration - after Arnold had previously cameoed in two of Stallone’sThe Expendablesfilms - arrived in 2013.Escape Planbombed domestically and only received 50% on Rotten Tomatoes, but thanks to overseas audiences, it grossed $137 million.
The film was a decent-sized hit, but nobody considered it a highlight in either Stallone or Schwarzenegger’s filmographies. Time has been kind toEscape Planthough, and while it lacks the bombast and bodycount of the films they made during their heydays, it’s still a great night’s entertainment. Sly and Arnie’s careers have since gone in different directions, but their choice of projects in the years that followed has been consistently disappointing.
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Arnie And Stallone Haven’t Made A Good Action Film Since 2013’s Escape Plan
Sly and Arnold have been on a downward slide since Escape Plan
AfterEscape Plan, the nextArnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone moviewasExpendables 3in 2014. This entry attempted to move the series in a PG-13 direction and was overstuffed with characters and generic action. In short, the threequel was a dud, and things only got worse for its leading men.Schwarzenegger’sSabotageis a gory Agatha Christie adaptationthat bombed so hard it essentially killed his leading man career; bothTerminator GenisysandDark Fatereceived tepid critical and commercial receptions too.
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Escape Plan: The Extractors(2019)
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Stallone has fared no better;Rambo: Last Bloodmade its budget back, but was critically drubbed and even creator David Morrell disowned it. Sly’s STV action vehicles like theEscape Plansequels have all received bad notices, and2023’sArmorearned Stallone a rare 0% Rotten Tomatoes rating. The only outlier from this period is James Gunn’sThe Suicide Squadfrom 2021, though in Stallone’s case, this was only a voice-over role.
The box-office failure ofExpendables 4in 2023 also killed off one of the biggestStallone movie franchises, while Schwarzenegger has largely stepped away from movies following the disappointment ofDark Fate. Both Stallone and Arnie remain icons of the action genre, butever sinceEscape Plan, the last decade of follow-up projects hasn’t been great for fans of either actor.
Why Arnold Passed On The Escape Plan Sequels But Stallone Returned
Schwarzenegger wisely escaped the Escape Plan saga
The muted response toEscape Planin the U.S. seemed to kill any hope for a sequel, but its shock success overseas changed all that. WhenEscape Plan 2: Hadeswas first announced, it was confirmed that Stallone would return as escape expert Ray Breslin and that Schwarzenegger was considering a return too.Arnold ultimately passed onEscape Plan 2to focus onThe New Celebrity Apprenticeand other movie projects. His place in the sequels was taken by Dave Bautista, playing an old friend of Breslin’s called Trent DeRosa.
Escape Plan: Hadesis one of Sylvester Stallone’s worst movies of recent years…
Despite their prominent billing on the posters for both films, Stallone and Bautista are playing supporting roles inEscape Plan 2and3. In fact, Bautista’s part in the second film is little more than a cameo.Hadesis one of Stallone’s worst movies of recent years too, with the star himself saying of the production (viaInstagram) that it was “…TRULY THE MOST HORRIBLY PRODUCED FILM I have ever had the misfortune to be in.”
Stallone took more creative involvement inThe Extractors: Escape Plan, with his old friend John Herzfeld taking over as director.The third film is an improvement onHades, featuring more visceral action and a streamlined story; it’s still a mediocre film though. It would have been a treat to see Stallone and Schwarzenegger reunite once again, but they both deserved better than theEscape Planfollow-ups.
Why So Many Of Stallone & Schwarzenegger’s Recent Action Movies Have Disappointed
The action movies Sly and Arnie made their names on are harder to find
The popularity of the action movies Schwarzenegger and Stallone made their names on began to wane during the late 1990s when effects-driven blockbusters likeJurassic ParkandMen in Blacktook over. Both actors struggled to readjust in the years that followed; Arnold famously went into politics instead, while Stallone strongly considered retirement after completingRocky Balboa. Thankfully,nostalgia for their particular brand of big screen chaos gave them late-career second winds, leading to films likeRamboorThe Last Stand.
The Suicide Squadhitting number one at the box office in 2021 made Sylvester Stallone one of only two actors to have appeared in a number one movie across six decades; the other star is Harrison Ford.
An unfortunate reality is that the films that made them stars have largely died out, and are either being produced on low budgets (such asArmoror theEscape Plansequels), or the bigger movies are rushed into production with unfocused screenplays that fail to appeal to fans or newcomers (theTerminatorsequels).Escape Planfeels like a minor miracle in hindsight, for giving its stars good material to work with and putting them in a vehicle that felt modern but retroat the same time.
In contrast, films likeExpendables 4orDark Fatefelt stale and lacking in innovation. Both of those films also reduced Stallone and Arnie to supporting roles, basically turning them into guest stars in their own franchises.
Stallone And Arnold’s Next Projects Can Turn Their Action Movie Fortunes Around
Arnold Vs Jack Reacher has a nice ring to it
It may have been dire straits for Schwarzenegger and Stallone in terms of action cinema recently, but things could be looking up.Stallone’s upcomingAlarumshould redeem his 0% forArmor, with the film being a spy thriller featuring Scott Eastwood andReacher’sWilla Fitzgerald. Speaking ofReacher, Schwarzenegger’s next outingThe Man with the Bagcasts him as Santa Claus, who enlists the help of Alan Ritchson’s thief to steal back his magical bag. The film is, fittingly enough, set to arrive during the 2025 holiday season.
Stallone also has a spy thriller calledNever Too Old To Dieon the way, where he plays a spy in a retirement home being targeted by a killer; there are also reports he will reprise his title role in the superhero sequelSamaritan. Stallone has also found fresh success on television withTulsa King, while Arnie’s long-delayed sequelKung Fury 2with Michael Fassbender might finally see release in 2025.
Fun asEscape Planwas, the fact it’s the best action film that Arnold and Stallone have made in the last decade isn’t a great sign. Time and tastes might change, but it shouldn’t be this hard for either star to find a quality project. Hopefully, their upcoming films will reverse this trend and remind audiences why they liked them so much in the first place.
Escape Plan
Cast
An action thriller film that stars movie action heroes, Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger, Escape Plan follows Lawyer Ray Breslin, a security tester who enters a supermax prison to study its defenses. To accomplish the breakout, he’ll enlist the help of an inmate named Emil, a self-proclaimed hero who steals from the rich and gives to the poor.
