Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Mary-Louise Parker and Helen Mirren are back. So there’s that. Also, if you really liked that first Red movie and felt like all it needed was a little Catherine Zeta-Jones, then you have cause to celebrate. Mrs. Douglas is joining the crew of oldie assassins in the sequel to be directed by Dean Parisot from a script by Erich and Jon Hoeber, along with Byung-Hun Lee (G.I. Joe: Retaliation) [Deadline].

This time the crew is in Europe fighting baddies as they make jokes about being old and stuff like that. And while it’s nice to see Zeta-Jones back in the mix, one hopes she gets a little more creative with her choices as soon as possible. It’s hard to believe she will be given much to do here.

This is a tired franchise that was tired about 5 minutes into the first film. That said, it hits a demographic that most studio films rarely think of, let alone aim to please. So kudos to Summit for their smart thinking. I mean, Parisot did direct Galaxy Quest, so perhaps he will add some flair and real laughs to the proceedings.

Release date already set for August 2, 2013.