Good article from Vern:
http://outlawvern.com/2011/03/11/expend ... committee/excerpt:
1. JOHN HYAMS
Yeah, you knew that would be my choice, and Sternshein already said it in a comment thread. But the director of UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: REGENERATION would be the perfect man to elevate the EXPENDABLES series. In that superb sequel he executed thrilling action scenes in a style similar to the fake-documentary one that Stallone tried to do in his part 1, but he made them completely comprehensible. Hyams worked with Expendable Dolph Lundgren and potential part 2 cast member Van Damme, and not only knew how to showcase their acting and fighting skills but knew how to use their age as an advantage. So many movies try to polish the stars and pretend they’re younger then they are, but even with them playing clones Hyams was able to use the lines on their faces and exhaustion in their eyes to enhance their characters.
In part 1 Stallone tried to expand the viewership beyond ’80s action fans by bringing in UFC legend Randy Couture. Well, here’s a director who has become somewhat of an expert in MMA competition because of his great documentary THE SMASHING MACHINE. That knowledge helped him to get great fight scenes and villainy out of Andrei Arlovsky.
Hyams also knows alot about bodily harm due to his work on the excellent bullriding documentary RANK.
2. JOHN MILIUS
How ’bout this for a McTiernan backup? True, he’s less known as a director than a writer, but he did give Schwarzenegger one of his second most iconic role (CONAN THE BARBARIAN) and would probly be the very best director to bring out the macho in this cast. He’s into the mercenary nuts and he’d be suggesting all kinds of crazy weapons and everything. And he’s had a hand in multiple eras and segments of macho: great ’70s achievements like APOCALYPSE NOW and that speech in JAWS, Reagan era stuff like CONAN, UNCOMMON VALOR and RED DAWN, in the ’90s he was involved in the creation of the original Ultimate Fighting Championship, and in the 2000s he created ROME (the TV show, not the city). Bringing a guy like this in might be a good balance to the script by some dude who wrote IN THE ARMY NOW. Also he’s worked with Nick Nolte, who I’d like to see in part 2.
3. ISAAC FLORENTINE
Of course I gotta have Florentine on the list. Stallone might not be as into him since his biggest strength is in martial arts, but I think he’d do great. He has done plenty of explosions and vehicle action in movies like SPECIAL FORCES, though he’s admitted that that’s not really his passion, he just puts those in for the producers. But I think if you look at his best movies you can see his skills in working with actors and making them look tough. Scott Adkins, for example, is a very clean cut handsome dude who makes sense as a stunt double for Ryan Reynolds, but Florentine made him convincingly menacing and dirty as Boyka in the UNDISPUTED sequels. And this is another guy who has worked with Dolph and Van Damme and plenty of action stars that could work well in part 2. (I guess his experience with Gary Daniels doesn’t count for nuts though considering the fate of that character.)
4. CRAIG R. BAXLEY
Unfortunately I gotta put Baxley low on the list since he’s been doing sci-fi TV business for years now and has been away from the explosive style of the STONE COLD and ACTION JACKSON days. But I didn’t know he did an episode of “Human Target.” I heard that was a cool show. I should check that out.
Here’s a guy who was stunt coordinator on THE WARRIORS, second unit director on PREDATOR, he directed Dolph in I COME IN PEACE, and he’s from a whole family of stuntmen. I shouldn’t worry. Being around these guys and shooting for the big screen I think he’d get the eye of the tiger and go for broke.
5. Julie Taymor seems to be available.
Okay, that’s not really something I can picture. But if we’re talking fantasy league like the other sights I would have to throw Paul Verhoeven on the list. Maybe Arnold could get him nostalgic about the TOTAL RECALL days and talk him into it. He would make a movie that made RAMBO seem peaceful and reasonable, and Stallone would be totally into it. For Verhoeven it would be sarcastic, for Stallone it would be sincere, and both would be kinda right.
THE DO NOT CALL LIST - Directors I pray don’t get it due to their sloppy, incomprehensible action scenes:
Simon West, Nevildine/Taylor, Neil Marshall, the Texas Chainsaw remake guy, etc.
Remember, if a list of possible directors gets leaked it’s always the worst guy on the list that gets it. Call it the best picture principle.
P.S. Although we don’t know how far along these meetings are I sincerely think it could help for everybody to make suggestions to Stallone in Ain’t It Cool talkbacks and on Stallone’s Twitter feed. If you watched the talkbacks during the casting of THE EXPENDABLES you saw that almost everybody that was discussed ended up being approached for the movie, including people that turned it down like Kurt Russell, Van Damme, Seagal and Scott Adkins. Stallone is eager to please.
maybe james cameron then, 
And I like how Dolph comes along with Sly during the location scouting, maybe he's gonna let Dolph direct the second unit or something? I know, not likely, but still an exciting thought ...
