Big Hollywood names added to the casting line up of Red 2

Red, which starred Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Mary-Louise Parker, Helen Merrin and John Malkovich, became a blockbuster hit in 2010. Following its success, a sequel was announced and is slated for an August 2013 release.

The sequel will see the return of Bruce Willis as Frank Moses, a retired secret ops agent, and Mary-Louise Parker as his love interest, Sarah Ross. Helen Merrin will reprise her Martha Stewart-like retired agent role, Victoria, and John Malkovich will return as the paranoid and conspiracy theorist retired agent, Marvin Boggs. Many Hollywood hitters have been announced to the casting line up for Red 2. Anothony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Byun-Hun Lee were announced this summer. It has now been announced that David Thewlis (DragonHeart, Seven Years in Tibet, Harry Potter) is set to join as well, playing as The Frog, an informant dealer. Red, based on a DC comic, is about a retired CIA special ops agent Frank Moses, played by Bruce Willis, who discovers he’s been labelled RED (Retired, Extremely Dangerous) and will subsequently be hunted down by a new, younger special agent. With the help of former agents, played by Helen Merrin, Morgan Freeman, and John Malkovich, they attempt to foil the plan that will see the execution of all those involved in a mission that took place decades prior. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Red was the first DC comic not made by Warner Bros. Prior to Red, Warner Bros. had rights to all DC Comic movies. However, they repeatedly turned down the project and the creators of Red sought permission to go elsewhere. Summit took the project on as their most expensive budgeted movie to date (at $58 million). In its first weekend in the U.S., Red made over $21 million. By the end of its theatrical run, it took in nearly $200 million worldwide. Red 2 will be filmed later this year in the U.K. and Canada and will hit screens on August 2nd, 2013.