Cliffhanger: Sylvester Stallone To Return In Reboot

According to a May 1 Variety report, Sylvester Stallone is now confirmed for a reboot of 1993 mountain climbing action movie "Cliffhanger." While Stallone may be most synonymous with his roles in "Rocky" and "Rambo," he starred in "Cliffhanger" at a time when both franchises were effectively on hold, and he instead led films like "Demolition Man" and the 1995 "Judge Dredd." There's even a case to be made that "Cliffhanger" is Sylvester Stallone's most underrated '90s movie.

Stallone, however, doesn't seem to be the central focus of this upcoming "Cliffhanger" remake, with Variety reporting that the project is still in the process of casting its lead. Directing is Roman Waugh, whose filmography includes "Snitch," "Shot Caller, "Angel Has Fallen," and "Greenland," among other works. "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," Waugh told Variety. "To be at the helm of the next chapter, scaling the Italian Alps with the legend himself, Sylvester Stallone, is a dream come true."

While this new version of "Cliffhanger" is noteworthy for Stallone's involvement alone, this is also perhaps the clearest indicator that a new "Cliffhanger" film is finally on its way, following a series of attempted sequels and remakes that never quite got off the ground.

News of a second "Cliffhanger" film once began to circulate in 2008, at which point Sony Pictures was interested in a direct sequel. The following year, Variety reported that prolific producer Neal H. Moritz instead planned on a reboot. Progress, however, stalled until 2019, when director Ana Lily Amirpour signed on for a new "Cliffhanger" project with a woman as its lead. Jason Momoa was also attached, and Moritz signed on as producer.

Amirpour described this planned "Cliffhanger" reboot to Variety as, "a truly epic reinvention of what made the original 'Cliffhanger' movie so fun and so thrilling."

Moritz is likewise producing this latest "Cliffhanger" project. It remains unclear why Amirpour's film seems to have been canceled. Since the Sylvester Stallone version is still looking for a lead actor, it's at least apparent that the this latest reboot will be its own entity, rather than a reimagining of Amirpour's work. While the track record for past sequel projects may not be great, the fact that Stallone is confirmed for this latest incarnation is as good of an indication as any that production may finally be moving forward on more "Cliffhanger."