Safe to say, when it came to 2010’s The A-Team movie, the plan didn’t quite come together. Joe Carnahan’s summer action blockbuster – based on the beloved ‘80s TV show – received solid reviews on its arrival, and marshalled a cast including a rising Bradley Cooper, a freshly action-minted Liam Neeson, and support from the likes of Jessica Biel, Patrick Wilson, and Sharlto Copley. But at the box office, it didn’t connect on a significant level, failing to light a fire under audiences.
Looking back on it all over 15 years later, Carnahan feels there was more potential in the team he pulled together. “This is one of those movies where we screwed up the marketing. We should have made three of these,” he tells Empire in a new career retrospective interview. While he went on to helm more big action in the likes of Boss Level, Copshop, and this year’s The Rip, Carnahan sees his A-Team as “close to me making a superhero film”, he says.
Reflecting on his cast, he remembers the camaraderie that formed between his A-Team-ers. “The guys had spent a lot of time together, and there’s a great sense of the cast here,” he says. “Rampage [Jackson], who was not a professional actor, was so good in that BA role. Forget Mr T; Rampage is just a much better actor.” Since you can never count The A-Team out, maybe, even all these years later, it isn’t too late for a comeback.
Read Empire’s full Joe Carnahan interview in the Mandalorian And Grogu issue, on sale Thursday March 12. Pre-order a copy online here. The Rip is streaming now on Netflix.
