The Expendables
Summary
Sylvester Stallone famously assembled a star - studded cast of old - school blind legends forThe Expendables , but the classic catastrophe movieAirport ‘ 77pulled that casting trick first . The Expendableslaunched Stallone ’s third dealership afterRockyandRambowith the conceit of bringing all of Hollywood ’s action movie legends together for one big all - star action at law epic . Stallone was join by Jason Statham , Arnold Schwarzenegger , Jet Li , Bruce Willis , Dolph Lundgren , and many more . The subsequence brought in Jean - Claude Van Damme , Wesley Snipes , Harrison Ford , and Mel Gibson .
WhileThe Expendablesis the most iconic motion picture ace squad - up of the twenty-first 100 , it was n’t the first film to bring a bunch of get on A - Joseph Lister together in a stacked ensemble . It ’s the first movie to bring together stars who are renowned for a specific music genre , but it ’s not the first to team up up a bunch of stars who could each be headlining their own film . More than three X before Stallone would flick through his rolodex to put the cast ofThe Expendablesmoviestogether , Airport ‘ 77put together its own giant cast full of venerable movie champion .
Airport ‘77 Brought Together An Ensemble Cast Of Great Older Stars
The third installment in theAirportfranchise , Airport ‘ 77 , get place on a private Boeing 747 full of dignitary and invaluable art . After the plane is hijack , it crash into the ocean in the Bermuda Triangle , drive the survivor into a desperate fight for selection . George Kennedy reprised his role as Joe Patroni from the previous twoAirportfilms , but he was n’t the only major movie star in the cast . In fact , just about everyone in this movie is a monolithic star .
Kennedy is joined byHitchcock collaborator James Stewart , Jack Lemmon , Christopher Lee , Olivia de Havilland , Joseph Cotten , and Brenda Vaccaro – and that ’s just the crest of the iceberg . These are n’t action star like the cast ofThe Expendables , butthey were all screenland legends in their 50s and 60sat the time . And like the cast ofThe Expendables , they all came together for a with child - screen door team - up .
Airport ‘77 Was A Major Box Office Success
throw a planeload of A - list stars paid off , becauseAirport ‘ 77was a huge loge role winner when it arrived in theater in 1977 . In a 1990 clause titled “ Universal ’s Foreign Champs,”Daily VarietylistedAirport ‘ 77 ’s worldwide box office gross as $ 91.1 million , which is a heck of a band more than its budget of $ 6 million . correct for inflation , that arrive toabout $ 470 million today . drome ‘ 77was a bona fide smash hit ( even bigger thanThe Expendables ) in malice of contention from none other thanStar Wars .
