Sylvester Stallone put his directing career on hold after 2010’s The Expendables, opting for more time in front of the camera with Escape Plan, Bullet to the Head, Grudge Match, Reach Me, The Expendables sequels and, of course, his excellent, Oscar-nominated supporting performance in Creed. But Stallone, the director, is soon set to reappear. Much like his buddy Mel Gibson returned to filmmaking last year with Hacksaw Ridge, Stallone will revisit directing with Tough As They Come, based on the best-selling memoir by U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Travis Mills, one of five soldiers to survive a quadruple amputation resulting from a battlefield injury.
As Deadline reports, Stallone will star in addition to direct the war-based biopic alongside Adam Driver, who’ll play Mills. Stallone will play his father-in-law, Craig Buck. Fox is working to acquire both the memoir and the life rights of Mills and Buck. Susan & Eric Carlson and James Keach will produce. It looks like Stallone is trying to gun for that Oscar again. There’s no screenwriter attached yet, however.
Tough As They Come will be a more personal project than most for Driver. The Girls actor comes from a military background, as he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, but was medically discharged before he could be sent to the field. Since then, Driver has worked towards bringing services and attention to the military with programs like Arts in the Armed Forces, which Vice documented over a year ago.
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Stallone, meanwhile, turned down a top post in the NEA under President-elect Trump to spend more time “bringing national attention to returning military personnel and shining the light on the challenges of reintegrating into society.” Tough As They Come will certainly accomplish that, whenever it decides to hit theaters. In the meantime, Stallone is hoping to get The Expendables 4 off the ground as well.
Driver can currently be seen in limited release in Paterson and Silence. He’ll soon star in Star Wars: Episode VIII, Steven Soderbergh’s Logan Lucky and Girls season six. Stallone will next be seen in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 in a mysterious role.
