Sylvester Stallone is going to write, direct, and star in an old school action flick for a new age called “The Expendables” which opens April 23, 2010. The film, which also stars Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke, and Arnold Schwarzenegger, is about a team of mercenaries that head to South America on a mission to overthrow a dictator.
The film is suppose to pay tribute to the blockbuster action films during the 1980s and early 90s or as co-star Dolph Lundgren puts it, “It's an old-school, kick-ass action movie where people are fighting with knives and shooting at each other."
Excited yet?
The role accepted by Forest Whitaker was originally conceived as a role for Wesley Snipes but later rewritten for Whitaker. Due to a scheduling conflict prior to filming, Forest Whitaker was replaced by Curtis Jackson (aka 50 Cent) for the role of Hale Caesar. Are you confused yet, well you might be now because 50 Cent is not in the film. He was replaced by Terry Crews (ex- NFL player).
Stallone was really going all out for this film by trying not to leave any ex-action stars out of the loop. Jean-Claude Van Damme was personally offered a role by Stallone, but turned it down. Steven Seagal was also asked to play a cameo role, but turned down the offer due to some strange beef he had with the producer Avi Lerner.
The role of the man who hires the Expendables, Mr. Church, was first offered to Schwarzenegger, who declined in favor of a smaller cameo due to his political career.
The role was then offered to Kurt Russell whose agent replied that he was not interested in "ensemble acting at the moment." On August 17th Bruce Willis confirmed that he would be playing Mr. Church in the film. The actual scene in the movie will feature himself, Sylvester Stallone, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Take a minute to imagine that! When I first heard the news my first thought was how much is this going to cost? These big name action stars are not going to be in this movie for pennies. It turns out that the film originally had a budget of $100 million, but was cut down to $70 million. Filming officially ended on July 1st of this year, so now it is off to the editing room. Producer Avi Lerner says the film will have two versions, a PG-13-rated edit and an R-rated version. They will then both be screen tested to see which one will be officially released. With this kind of ensemble, does it matter?
Comments