Sylvester Stallone may have created The Expendables, but franchise star Jason Statham is the dominant force in the upcoming, fourth installment of the high-octane action series. The film was always designed to be the passing of the baton from Stallone to Statham as the head of the franchise, but according to Stallone, it seems he had fairly little to do with the film itself, with the new movie being primarily a Statham movie. It means fans can expect Statham’s more intense, less personable form of action hero to shape the franchise going forward.
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The cast of the film includes Statham, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Megan Fox, Dolph Lundgren, Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais, Randy Couture, Jacob Scipio, Levy Tran, Andy Garcia, and Stallone. The tagline reads, “They’ll die when they’re dead.” Stallone, Statham, Lundgren, and Randy Couture are reprising their roles from the previous Expendables films. Jackson, Fox, García, Jaa, Scipio, Uwais, and Tran are new additions to the ensemble cast.
“I heard it turned out pretty good,” Stallone told The Hollywood Reporter. “Jason Statham is 80 percent of it. He’s happy with it.”
Last year, Stallone posted a video of his last day on set, saying that he was “ready to pass the baton on to Jason.”
“This will be my last day,” Stallone said in a video with a sigh. “I”m enjoying it, but it’s always bittersweet when something you’ve been so attached to – I guess since, well now it’s been about 12 years – and ready to pass the baton on to Jason in his capable hands. The greatest thing is being able to provide films that somewhat entertain and maybe there’s a little message in there because what I try to convey in my successful films is the human touch. Not so much the action, the action is self-evident, but it’s just relating to the audience in a way that they can identify with whatever the mission is with the characters at hand … Just providing some escapism and hoping there’s a little something extra in there.”
Filming of The Expendables 4 took place in 2021. The movie is expected to earn an R rating, as did the first two films in the series, and was expected to be released later this year, but by the time it finally got a release date, it landed on September of 2023.
