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Just as “The Expendables 2″ explodes into theaters, Adi Shankar’s banner 1984 Private Defense Contractors has tapped Dutch Southern to write an all-female riff on the star-studded action franchise.
Shankar (“The Grey”) will produce for 1984 Private Defense Contractors, which plans to fully finance the “Expendables”-inspired project. Company is already in talks with several prominent actresses affiliated with the action genre. 2012 has been a banner year for female-driven actioners like “The Hunger Games,” “Snow White and the Huntsman” and the Gina Carano-toplined “Haywire.” Shankar’s shingle recently co-financed Joe Carnahan’s “The Grey,” Marc Forster’s “Machine Gun Preacher” and Andrew Dominik’s upcoming Brad Pitt-starrer “Killing Them Softly,” as well as Allen Hughes’ thriller “Broken City,” which pairs Mark Wahlberg with Russell Crowe. Southern has a history with 1984 Private Defense Contractors, as back in April 2011, the company acquired his 2010 Black List script “Hoof Harrington’s Greatest Hits,” the story of a semi-retired hitman that has been described as “‘Die Hard’ by way of Wes Anderson.” Southern is repped by the Gersh Agency, Energy Entertainment and Hansen Jacobson.
