Berlin: Robert Luketic To Helm Millennium’s ‘The ExpendaBelles;’ Who Should Star?
By MIKE FLEMING JR | Thursday February 6, 2014 @ 6:18am PST
Mike Fleming
EXCLUSIVE: Robert Luketic has come aboard to direct The ExpendaBelles, the estrogen-powered equivalent of the testosterone-fueled Millennium Films franchise The Expendables. The move re-teams Luketic with his Legally Blonde scribes Kirsten Smith and Karen McCullah, who wrote the original screenplay for the female action comedy spinoff. The film will begin shooting this summer and Luketic will soon begin casting the gals.
The logline: When America’s Navy SEALs are wiped out trying to penetrate the island lair of a deadly despot who has captured one of the world’s top nuclear scientists, it becomes clear that there is no such thing as the right man for the job and that this is a mission so impossible that only women can handle it. The only way in: some of the world’s deadliest female operatives must pose as high-class call-girls shipped in by private plane to satisfy a dictator–and instead save the scientist and the day. I feel like I watched an X-rated version of this in the 70s, but enough about that.
The ExpendaBelles is produced by Sylvester Stallone and Kevin King. Executive producers are Heidi Jo Markel, Julie Kroll, Avi Lerner, Trevor Short, Boaz Davidson, John Thompson and Mark Gill. CAA and Mosaic rep Luketic.
So the big question is, who should star? My Bulgarian co-editor in chief Nellie Andreeva translated an interview Avi Lerner gave to the Standart last fall, and Lerner said he was in talks with Meryl Streep, Cameron Diaz and Milla Jovovich. I’m told that nobody is set and that they are just now coming up with the short list. I’d like to suggest a few more actresses with action on their resumes. The most bankable female action star is Angelina Jolie. Here are the rest: Sigourney weaver, Linda Hamilton, Halle Berry, Carrie-Anne Moss, Geena Davis, Jennifer Garner, Kate Beckinsale, Sandra Bullock, Michelle Yeoh, Rhona Mitra, Chloe Moretz, Uma Thurman, Lucy Lawless, Katie Sackhoff, Angela Bassett, Michelle Rodriguez, Lucy Liu, Gina Carano, Pam Grier, Sharon Stone and Brigitte Nielsen. I have no idea which of them would spark to this, but there are enough names here to fuel several films. Have I left anyone out?
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