5 Directors Who Should Replace Sylvester Stallone on The Expendables 2

As you no doubt read earlier, a sequel to The Expendables (Movieline approved title: More Expendable) will go ahead without star Sylvester Stallone behind the keyboard or camera -- Sly won't write or direct the second installment. But who should? Glad you asked! Ahead, the five directors who would make total sense for this unnecessary-but-probably-still-cool-in-an-action-movie-sort-of-way sequel.

John McTiernan

Forget that pesky jail sentence! Who better to bring an '80s sheen (not that one) to an '80s throwback like The Expendables than John McTiernan. Basically, it would just be a remake of Predator, without the dreadlock'd monster -- unless 50 Cent gets cast, of course. If McTiernan is unavailable, there's always Renny Harlin.

Justin Lin

I'm a sucker for hack action films, and with Michael Bay busy smashing robots together, Justin Lin is the fillet of hack action film directors. Just look at what he did with the Fast and Furious franchise. That type of commitment to explosions (and muscles) is rarely seen at cinemas in 2011.

Ted Kotcheff

He drew first blood, not anyone else! Ted Kotcheff made Stallone into an action star in First Blood, so the idea of him bookending Sly's career has a nice ring to it. Just make sure he doesn't film an alternate suicide ending. (For reference, George P. Cosmatos would be perfect for The Expendables 2, but he's dead.)

Quentin Tarantino

If Darren Aronofsky and David O. Russell can get themselves directorial jobs on big, stupid franchise pictures, then why not QT? After all, he has basically made nothing but big, stupid franchise pictures in the last decade -- albeit ones without franchises and with talent out the ying. That Tarantino has always wanted to work with Stallone is only gravy.

Kathryn Bigelow

A funny thing about The Hurt Locker: Much of it felt like a regular action film, but with the added depth of conscious. Drop that part off and what do you have? The Expendables 2! Make it happen, H'wood.