It’s been seven years since The Expendables 3 hit theatres, and fans of the action-packed, star-studded franchise have been eager to see the fourth installment. Franchise star and director of the first Expendables, Sylvester Stallone, has been teasing the possibility of a fourth movie for a while now, but it officially sounds like we’ll be getting a spin-off before the entire gang reunites. Last year, the movie focusing on Jason Statham‘s character, Lee Christmas, currently titled Expendables: A Christmas Story, was supposed to go into production but was presumably postponed due to the pandemic. However, according to a new Instagram post from Stallone, the spin-off is officially going into production in October.
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“This tattoo had to hurt! Off to shoot the spinoff of EXPENDABLES (Temp. working title is, Christmas Story) in OCT,” Stallone wrote. You can check out the sweet photo of the tattoo he shared below:
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DJ Caruso, known for directing films like Disturbia, Eagle Eye, and xXx: The Return of Xander Cage, was previously announced as the director for the new Expendables spinoff, but it’s currently unclear if he’s still signed on to the film, which was written by Max Adams. Millennium Films is producing alongside Nu Image with a production budget of $70 million.
Back in April, Stallone got our hopes up for The Expendables 4 once again by sharing a throwback video of The Expendables 3 cast. “The gang like no other! Miss these guys…,” Stallone captioned the post. In addition to Stallone, the video included big names like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Harrison Ford, Jason Statham, Wesley Snipes, Antonio Banderas, Mel Gibson, and more. “The world’s biggest selfie,” Stallone proclaimed in the video.
While fans eagerly await for Stallone to begin production on the new Expendables spin-off, they can watch him as the voice of King Shark in The Suicide Squad, which is now playing in theatres and is available to watch on HBO Max.
After The Suicide Squad trailer dropped in March, director James Gunn answered some fan questions about the movie on social media and revealed why King Shark was changed from a hammerhead to a great white. “I did tests with the hammerhead design, which I love & originally thought I’d use. But having eyes on the sides far apart made it incredibly awkward shooting interactions with other people. You couldn’t really see him looking at the other person & the shots tended to be too wide,” he explained.
Are you excited about Expendables: A Christmas Story? Tell us in the comments!
