Sylvester Stallone has essentially always been the leading man in action films. As an action hero, he has a long history of throwing punches at bad guys. Like, whether it was in the boxing ring as ‘Rocky Balboa’ or on the front lines of jungle combat as ‘John Rambo’.
Last year, Stallone identified the John Herzfeld movie of which he is “proud of”. Yes, we are talking about the action thriller direct-to-video film Escape Plan: The Extractors.
The first time Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone worked together on a full-length film was in the first installment of The Expendables franchise. While action film fans may have thought this was incredible in the 1980s or 1990s, it was not quite as splendid in 2013 with Escape Plan.
The low-budget, quickly shot Escape Plan 3—also known as Escape Plan: The Extractors—is a project that the Rocky star is extremely “proud” and fond of.
Though, the movie received very little promotion, which is fairly typical for straight-to-DVD releases.
The success of Escape Plan 3 made Sylvester Stallone ‘Proud’
A sequel to Escape Plan was announced in 2016 after the first film’s modest success in the United States but huge success abroad. Dave Bautista, Stallone’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 co-star, was cast to play a new role. However, reviews of Escape Plan 2: Hades from critics were generally negative.
Stallone and Bautista announced they would begin production on Escape Plan 3 as soon as Escape Plan 2′s filming was finished. In the third film, their characters reunite to break into yet another impenetrable prison. In an Instagram post, the Rambo star revealed the film’s new title, The Extractors: Escape Plan.
Escape Plan: The Extractors topped two lists of top DVD and Blu-ray disc rentals at Redbox kiosks, according to information shared by Sylvester Stallone from a Media Play News report.
Escape Plan: The Extractors outperformed Dumbo, Captain Marvel, Us, and The Best of Enemies in terms of DVD/Blu-ray/Redbox rentals. Not bad for a film that was produced in a little more than two weeks for less than the price of Floyd Mayweather’s Bugatti, as the actor himself boasted on Instagram.
With a picture of the Escape Plan 3 DVD cover, he wrote as follows:
“We are so proud that we beat the odds and are at the top of the charts!!!! Not Easy ! But what I think is amazing and what people should know is this film was made in 17 days with a budget that was less than what the GREAT Floyd Mayweather pays for one of his BUGATTI cars!! (about 3.6 Mil. ). ….. So for young films makers out there shows what can be done when everyone PULLS together And you have the AMAZING marketing team at GRINDSTONE ENTERTAINMENT GROUP ! Ya killed it!!!”
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The threequel had a lower production budget of $3.6 million but grossed $1.8 million at the box office internationally and $2.9 million domestically, proving its success.
Sylvester Stallone Applauds Escape Plan 3 Director
Escape Plan 3 was created in just 17 days, in case you missed it.
In light of Sylvester Stallone‘s confession that Escape Plan: Hades was the worst-produced movie he would ever have had, he sounds more impressed with how much the film was able to finish in just 17 days.
In a subsequent Instagram post, Stallone praised John Herzfeld, the director of Escape Plan 3, in all caps:
“Yo, Good work by the promotional efforts from the folks at grindstone entertainment group! AND MY DEAR -OLD FRIEND , DIRECTOR JOHN HERZFELD , did an amazing job …HE ONLY HAD 17 DAYS TO MAKE THIS MOVIE!!!!!”
Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone both starred in the first Escape Plan film. It was released in 2013 and earned $137.3 million worldwide on a $54 million production budget.
Although Schwarzenegger left the franchise, Stallone’s Ray Breslin made a comeback in Escape Plan 2: Hades. This 2018 film, which cost around $20 million to produce, was released in theaters in China and Russia, but on direct-to-DVD in the United States.
Escape Plan: The Extractors is currently streaming on FuboTV and DIRECTV.
Source- Instagram
