Despite making just $25.1 million domestically, Emmett/Furla/Oasis Films has given the green light for a sequel to the 2013 action-thriller Escape Plan. Sylvester Stallone is returning to star as security expert Ray Breslin, but there is no mention of Arnold Schwarzenegger returning as career criminal Rottmayer. Sylvester Stallone is also said to be returning in a supporting capacity, although no further details were given about the story.

Deadline reports that Emmett/Furla/Oasis Films will be selling the foreign rights to buyers at the American Film Market, which starts next month in Santa Monica, California. Miles Chapman, who wrote the original Escape Plan script along with Jason Keller, is returning to write the sequel, with Lionsgate Premiere slated to release the film domestically. No director is attached yet, but that may change soon since this sequel is moving together quickly.

Pre-production will begin January 15, with principal photography scheduled to begin March 15 in Ohio and China. This report claims that there will be a "major Chinese component" involved in the financing of this sequel, since the original action-thriller fared better in China than in any other box office market. Escape Plan earned $40.9 million, more than a third of the film's international total of $112.1 million.

George Emmett, Randall Furla, Mark Canton and Zack Schiller will all return to produce this sequel. Ted Fox, Mark Stewart, Barry Brooker and Stan Wertlieb will serve as executive produce. The original, which earned $137.3 million worldwide, was directed by Mikael Hafstrom, but it remains unclear if he will return to direct the action sequel.

The original Escape Plan was the second of three films in recent years that brought 80s action icons Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger together. Escape Plan followed 2012's The Expendables 2, and was preceded by 2014's The Expendables 3. With filming set to begin in just a few months, we should hear more about the cast of Escape Plan 2 very soon.