“If you don't like this movie, I'm going to personally come up there and beat your brains in.”
That was Sylvester Stallone greeting a theater filled with action-film geeks at a special advance screening of Escape Plan, introduced by “The Italian Stallion” and his equally legendary partner in crime, Arnold Schwarzenegger. And it was clear that the audience was as amused by this charismatic superstar duo holding court in San Diego’s Reading Cinema Gaslamp 15 Theater as they were by the hard-hitting movie that eventually screened.
Stallone and Schwarzenegger walked a red carpet at this fan-centric event, stopping to sign countless autographs and smile for pictures with screaming fans. The one-time Terminator made it a point to thank the people in the audience before the screening, “because without fans like you, we wouldn’t have our careers.” Stallone joked that it seems like he can’t do a movie anymore without finding a role for Schwarzenegger. “We’ve become like Desi and Lucy,” Stallone joked before pointing at Arnold and saying, “He’s Lucy.”
Escape Plan, formerly known as The Tomb, casts Stallone as Ray Breslin, a world-renowned prison escapee who is hired by executives in extreme positions of power to test the fortitude of their structures. Essentially, Breslin gets paid once he proves he can escape from maximum-security prisons. But his latest job goes south when he encounters a sadistic warden (Jim Caviezel) who has studied Breslin’s bible of prison safety, creating a facility from which no one can escape. Can Breslin bust out with the help of a grizzled inmate (Schwarzenegger)?
Mikael Hafstrom directs Escape Plan, and joined his two stars at the Gaslamp theater to introduce the film. Summit Entertainment will have Escape Plan in theaters on Oct. 18. Here’s the trailer, followed by a few more pics from the event last night. And remember … if you don’t like the movie, Stallone will find you, and beat your brains in.
