Arnold Schwarzenegger is notably absent from Escape Plan 2: Hades, so why didn’t he return alongside Sylvester Stallone? Stallone was one of the first big movie stars to realize the value of having a franchise to fall back on. When his movie various follow-ups to Rocky underperformed, he came back strong with Rocky 2. After a fallow period in his career in the early ’00s, Stallone went back again to both Rocky and Rambo – before going on to create another series with The Expendables. Sly even brought his former rival Arnold Schwarzenegger along for the latter saga.
Stallone’s oddest franchise is Escape Plan, which began with the original entry in 2013. This was a theatrical release that cast him as escape specialist Ray Breslin, who after being captured and thrown into an “inescapable” prison dubbed The Tomb, is forced to work with Arnold Schwarzenegger’s fellow prisoner Rottmayer to find a way out. The film was a bomb in America but did surprisingly well overseas, leading to Escape Plan 2 being greenlit a few years later.
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Arnold Schwarzenegger Passed On Escape Plan 2 & Was Replaced By Dave Bautista
Bautista played a new character called DeRosa
The chemistry between Stallone and Schwarzenegger was the reason to even watch Escape Plan. The film itself was a serviceable action thriller, but the pairing of the action icons made it more of an event. Schwarzenegger’s Rottmayer is absent from Escape Plan 2, with Dave Bautista taking him place as Trent DeRosa, an old ally of Breslin. The story involves Breslin’s protege Shu (Huang Xiaoming) being kidnapped and tossed into an experimental prison called HADES; Breslin and DeRosa then race against time to infiltrate HADES and rescue him.
Curiously, when Escape Plan 2 was first announced, Schwarzenegger was said to be considering a return. It should be noted that, despite their star billing, Stallone and Bautista play supporting roles in Escape Plan 2, with Shu being the real protagonist. In fact, Stallone only shot for three days on the sequel and appears for less than 15 minutes, with Bautista appearing for even less. Assuming the DeRosa character was reworked from Arnie’s planned Escape Plan 2 role, Rottmayer would have been little more than an extended cameo in the sequel.
Ultimately, Schwarzenegger passed on a return to the Escape Plan movies to focus on projects like The New Celebrity Apprentice. The star was wise to pass on Hades, which received terrible reviews and failed to gross back its production budget. Stallone himself even railed against Escape Plan 2 on social media (via Instagram), calling the sequel “… TRULY THE MOST HORRIBLY PRODUCED FILM I have ever had the misfortune to be in.”
Arnie’s Rottmayer Continued His Crusade Against The Rich After Escape Plan
Arnie’s character is still fighting the good fight
Escape Plan’s ending revealed that Schwarzenegger’s Rottmayer is actually Victor Mannheim, who the film’s villains were trying to find. Mannheim is a mysterious do-gooder who steals from the banks to give back to the poor. Following his escape from The Tomb, Arnie’s Mannheim no doubt returned to his crusade, though his fate isn’t addressed in Escape Plan 2 at all. It also made sense Arnie’s character didn’t return for Hades, as one of his final lines to Stallone’s Breslin is “I hope I never see you again.”
escape plan 2
Escape Plan 2: Hades is the 2018 follow-up to Sylvester Stallone’s 2013 action film. The sequel picks up years after the original and centers on Ray Breslin (Stallone) returning to the inescapable prison to find one of the missing team members of his security force. Steven C. Miller takes over directing duties, and Dave Bautista joins the cast as Trent DeRosa.
- Release Date
- June 29, 2018
- Director
- Steven C. Miller
- Cast
- Sylvester Stallone , Dave Bautista , 50 Cent
- Budget
- $20 million
- Distributor(s)
- Summit Entertainment , Lionsgate
