Sylvester Stallone was originally intended to play Lily James’ dad in the 2026 Cliffhanger reboot. But then an alleged disagreement over pay happened. Next year, Lily James will star in a reboot of the 1993 action thriller, Cliffhanger. In it, James will play an expert mountain climber set on rescuing her kidnapped father (Pierce Brosnan). ... Cliffhanger | Sylvester Stallone allegedly backed out of the reboot over pay
Sylvester Stallone was originally intended to play Lily James’ dad in the 2026 Cliffhanger reboot. But then an alleged disagreement over pay happened.
Next year, Lily James will star in a reboot of the 1993 action thriller, Cliffhanger. In it, James will play an expert mountain climber set on rescuing her kidnapped father (Pierce Brosnan).
As originally planned, though, that father would have been Gabe Walker, the protagonist from the 90s film, with Sylvester Stallone reprising that role – thus making it as much a sequel as a 21st century reboot.
Those plans fell apart, however, over an alleged dispute over Stallone’s salary; the action star was said to be reluctant to commit to the part until his fee was guaranteed. When it wasn’t, the production lost both Stallone and its original director, Ric Roman Waugh.
This is all according to The Wrap, which reports that Cliffhanger's producers, Neal H Moritz and Toby Jaffe, are suing the film’s financier, Rocket Science on multiple counts, including breach of contract and “alleged nonpayment and repudiation of producer fee agreements.”
According to Moritz and Jaffe’s lawsuit, Stallone and Waugh – director of Angel Has Fallen and Greenland, among others – had enjoyed a positive Zoom call about the script, and that it was all-systems-go for Cliffhanger as of April 2023.
The key stipulation, though, was that Stallone’s (undisclosed) fee had to be locked in before he’d sign on the dotted line: “his fee would need to be escrowed (i.e. guaranteed) in order to lock in his participation,” the suit reads.
Had all gone to plan, Cliffhanger would have begun filming in autumn 2023, between seasons of Stallone’s series, Tulsa King. That clearly didn’t happen, and both Stallone and Waugh moved onto other commitments (Waugh has Greenland 2: Migration out next year).
Director Jean-Francois Richet also came and went, replaced by its final director Jaume Collet-Serra, while Lily James was also brought on. In a final twist, the producers state that they had hoped to get Russell Crowe in as the new Gabe, but he also dropped out. Let’s face it, getting an ex-Bond in is still a bit of a coup, though. He’s certainly no stranger to high-wire action.
Cliffhanger is due for release on the 28th August 2026. This court case is likely to plod on for considerably longer.
