Action hero Dolph Lundgren is stepping into Expendables co-star Arnold Schwarzenegger’s shoes for the sequel to the 1990 hit Kindergerten Cop, in which the Austrian Oak played an agent undercover in a Montessori. It is due for release this year.
Kindergarten Cop 2 will be a straight to video affair and is banking on cashing in on the first one that was made (wait for it) 26 years ago. Assigned to recover sensitive stolen data, a gruff FBI agent (Dolph Lundgren) goes undercover as a kindergarten teacher, but the school’s liberal, politically correct environment is more than he bargained for.
It seems to be an ‘if it isn’t broken don’t fix it’ type of thing, with the story staying more or less the same as the original. Let’s be honest, this is going to be a low budget remake of a film made nearly 30 years ago. Recent pictures released from the set show Dolph towering over his young co-stars. As Agent Reed in the new film it seems he will have to try and flex his comedy muscle.
He played a very similar role in the film ‘Detention’ in 2003 in which he was a former marine turned high school teacher who leads a band of students trapped in school by violent drug-runners.
He is still best remembered for playing Ivan Drago in the 1985 movie ‘Rocky IV’ and has made numerous low budget action flicks since and still has a huge fan base. Most recently he was plucked from bargain bin obscurity to star in the three Expendables movies alongside such heavy hitters as Sylvester Stallone and Jason Statham. The 58-year-old is also in the new Coen brothers film ‘Hail, Caesar’ that is out this year.
In a long career he has starred as He-Man in 1987 film ‘Masters of the Universe’ and as Frank Castle in 1989 film ‘The Punisher’. He has also teamed up with Jean Claude Van Damme for three Universal Soldier flicks. More recently he was seen in World War II film ‘War Pigs’ alongside Mickey Rourke and Luke Goss and in ‘4Got10’ alongside Danny Trejo.
Kindergarten Cop 2 comes from Universal’s 1440 Entertainment division, which specializes in direct-to-video sequels and remakes.
“Kindergarten Cop grossed over $200 million worldwide and has been entertaining audiences of all ages,” said Glenn Ross, General Manager and Executive Vice President, Universal 1440 Entertainment. “In this exciting reboot, we introduce a unique blend of humor and action to the next generation of viewers, as well as share a reimagined version of the story with longtime fans who have made this an enduring family favorite.”
The film is directed by Don Michael Paul (Jarhead 2: Field of Fire, Tremors 5: Bloodlines), from a script by David H. Steinberg (American Pie 2, Miss Dial) and produced by Mike Elliott (The Scorpion King 4: Quest for Power, Death Race 3: Inferno).
Dolph has three other films in post-production while another three have been announced. Since starring in The Expendables movies he has never been as busy. I am still keeping my fingers crossed for Rocky spin off ‘Ivan Drago’ but it does not seem to be happening as of yet! Could he follow Stallone and get Oscar nominated?