If you, like me, looked at this week’s releases and wondered why you hadn’t seen more of the Cliffhanger remake with Lily James and Pierce Brosnan, wonder no more. Recently, distributor Row K ran into some financial difficulties and had to unload some of its titles. One of those was Cliffhanger, which was picked up by NEON. They are planning a much larger rollout for the film, and as such, it’s been moved to a promising new date, February 24th, 2027. My birthday! Whoop!
According to our friends at Joblo, NEON is taking a “go big or go home” approach with Cliffhanger in hopes that it will be its biggest blockbuster hit. They have good reason for optimism. It has reportedly tested very well as a crowd-pleasing thriller and could justify the whopping $100M budget. NEON acquired the film for about $12M plus $20M P&A commitment, a hefty investment.
You may recall that Cliffhanger began as a kind of sequel to Sylvester Stallone’s 1993 action flick, with Stallone expected to return. However, weeks before production, Stallone left the film due to “creative differences.” The entire script was rewritten for a female lead and entirely new cast including James, Brosnan, Nell Tiger Free, and Franz Rogowski.
Jaume Collet-Serra directs, following the streaming success of Carry-On. He has two more films coming up, Play Dead and An Innocent Girl.
Here’s the Cliffhanger synopsis: “Ray Cooper (Brosnan) is a seasoned mountaineer who runs a luxury chalet in the Dolomites with his daughter. When a weekend excursion with a billionaire’s son turns violent, they are targeted by a group of kidnappers. As the attack unfolds, Ray’s daughter, Naomi (James), still haunted by a tragic climbing accident, escapes into the mountains and must fight for survival against both nature and her pursuers.”
