Simon West will direct The Expendables 2

simon west

Con Air and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider director Simon West has signed on to helm The Expendables 2 .

The OAP actioner is the follow-up to last year’s relatively successful (at least money-wise) buddy movie, which teamed numerous '80s action stars – among them writer Sylvester Stallone – for numerous rounds of bloody violence.

We can’t imagine that formula will get messed with much for the sequel, though Stallone – who will return for the sequel – has mentioned he’d like Bruce Willis to play the film’s villain.

West himself has devoted much of his career to blowing stuff up, which makes him pretty much perfect for the director’s chair.

The Expendables 2 is expected to also star Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Mickey Rourke, Jet Li and Terry Crews. It has been pegged for an August 2012 release.

Josh Winning has worn a lot of hats over the years. Contributing Editor at Total Film, writer for SFX, and senior film writer at the Radio Times. Josh has also penned a novel about mysteries and monsters, is the co-host of a movie podcast, and has a library of pretty phenomenal stories from visiting some of the biggest TV and film sets in the world. He would also like you to know that he "lives for cat videos..." Don't we all, Josh. Don't we all.