The idea of something new in the Cliffhanger world — be it sequel or reboot — has been digging its fingernails into the development cliff since at least 2009. Now, we finally have actual forward movement, with Sylvester Stallone returning to star and Ric Roman Waugh directing.
Renny Harlin's 1993 original Cliffhanger 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.
Despite success at the box office, the film was a nightmare production, ending up nearly bankrupting producers Carolco.
Though we've seen several potential versions come and go in the past (including one from Ana Lily Amirpour), it appears that a new movie is actually, finally back on track.
Hunters' Mark Bianculli has written the script this time, though depending on which trade story you read, it's either a reboot or sequel. Sly's presence points to the latter, but we'll have to wait and see.
“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,” says Waugh in a statement. “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.”