Sylvester Stallone is Ready to Cling to Mountains Again for a New ‘Cliffhanger’
‘Angel Has Fallen’ director Ric Roman Waugh is aboard to call the shots for the movie, which represents the latest development in a long-gestating project.
Sylvester Stallone in 'Cliffhanger.'
Producer Neal Moritz has been looking to do something with 1993 action thriller ‘Cliffhanger’ for years now. He announced way back in 2009 that he was looking to reboot the concept (enthused by the success of J.J. Abrams’ first ‘Star Trek’ movie.
It has gone through different variations since then including the original plan to swap Sylvester Stallone’s sole hero for several younger climbers tackling peaks around the world, and a mysterious development from writer Joe Gazzam. Nothing, however, has come to fruition.
Now, though, it looks like it could finally be on, as Sylvester Stallone is back to star, with ‘Hunters’ Mark Bianculli cracking the script and ‘Angel has Fallen’s Ric Roman Waugh in the director’s chair (or climbing harness?)
What was the story of the original ‘Cliffhanger’?
Renny Harlin’s original movie proved that the ‘Die Hard’ formula needn’t necessarily be restricted to claustrophobic indoor settings, plonking mountain-rescue boy Stallone on the side of a snowy peak. Sly’s Gabe Walker was reluctantly trying to foil John Lithgow’s plan to recover $100m stolen from the US treasury and deposited in the Rockies after a mid-air transfer went somewhat awry. There were deaths by gun, gravity, drowning and stalactite. And it wasn't all snow: there were caves too.
(L to R) Janine Turner and Sylvester Stallone in 'Cliffhanger.'
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Where will we find Gabe Walker this time?
No one is saying what the actual plot of the new movie will be, save for Sly’s return. You just know, though, that the stakes (and probably the mountains) will be higher, and, we’d guess, there will be more on Walker’s team.
But can it live up to the original’s iconic scene of Gabe letting someone slip through his fingers. Climbing’s a dangerous sport, so you’ve got to figure there’ll be a body count.
Waugh said this about working on the new movie:
“Growing up with the biggest action films of the 80s and 90s, working on many of them myself, ‘Cliffhanger’ was by far one of my favorite spectacles. To be at the helm of the next chapter, scaling the Italian Alps with the legend himself, Sylvester Stallone, is a dream come true. It’s going to be a great challenge and blast taking this franchise to new heights, a responsibility I don’t take lightly.”
Moritz was also enthusiastic:
“I’ll never forget the thrill I felt watching Sylvester Stallone in ‘Cliffhanger’. I am incredibly excited to be working with him and Ric Waugh to continue the story of Gabe Walker and introduce this iconic story to a new generation of filmgoers around the world.”
Sly will produce this one and casting is now under way to find the actors to fill the roles around the leading man.
(L to R) Janine Turner and Sylvester Stallone in 'Cliffhanger.'
Other Movies Similar to ‘Cliffhanger:’
- ‘Die Hard' (1988)
- ‘Die Hard 2' (1990)
- 'Passenger 57' (1992)
- 'Under Siege' (1992)
- 'Under Siege 2: Dark Territory' (1995)
- 'Sudden Death' (1995)
- 'Die Hard: With a Vengeance' (1995)
- 'The Rock' (1996)
- ‘Live Free or Die Hard' (2007)
- 'A Good Day to Die Hard' (2013)
- 'White House Down' (2013)
- 'Olympus Has Fallen' (2013)
- 'London Has Fallen' (2016)
- 'Angel Has Fallen' (2019)
- 'Uncharted' (2022)
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