Sylvester Stallone To Play Hitman, Again

The new action film Headshot will star Sylvester Stallone as a New Orleans hitman, effectively bringing the actor back from the dead. Ok, that’s harsh. He’s not really dead…he only looks it. And not to pigeon-hole Mr. Stallone, but he’s played at least five hitman roles on the silver screen. That being said, I’m sure this one is new and different, totally unique.

IM Global announced Sunday that Stallone will star in its new action movie Headshot, which begins filming on location in Louisiana and New York this May. Stallone will play a New Orleans hitman who teams up with a younger cop from New York after some grisly murders bring them together. The investigation will lead them from seedy New Orleans back alleys to the centers of power in Washington D.C., and the duo will stop at nothing to meet out justice and revenge.

Wayne Kramer (Running Scared) is set to direct the film penned by Alessandro Camon (The Messenger). The Hollywood Reporter has it that IM Global CEO Stuart Ford said Stallone is an internationally iconic actor and IM Global is “really excited to be in business with him.” Headshot suits the IM Global business model; high action, fast-paced and “universally themed” projects.

Let’s set the film details aside for a moment and discuss Sly. As far as action heroes go, he was one of the greatest. But for an action hero, being over the hill is as good as being under it. What makes the aged action hero even harder to take is that he looks like the walking dead (or a “cosmetic surgery gone wrong” TV special).

Part of me wants to go “hooray” for Sly, throwing aside the snide whispers of ageists and the negative elderly stereotypes to follow his dreams. But then the other part of me, the one that has higher reasoning and eyes, wants to say “please retire gracefully” or at least start taking roles that aren’t action-oriented. But that would mean he would have to fall back on his acting talent….hmmm, I see the dilemma.

Fresh (ok, bad choice of words) from his last action movie travesty The Expendables, will Headshot be another geriatrics on steroids moment for the once-great action stud, or the birth of a new kind of action hero (one that needs a walking stick)?

No release date yet for this film, but I’ll keep you updated.