Ever since the very first film in the franchise, the goal of “The Expendables” was made clear – gather as many well-known big names from the action film industry in one place, give them an awesome script full of explosions and fights, and watch them do their magic in a combination that has never before been seen on the big screen. And with each new movie, this trend was being pushed more and more strongly, with names like Harrison Ford, Wesley Snipes, Mel Gibson, Antonio Banderas and countless others making an appearance.
And now, another big name has been announced as being considered for the upcoming “The Expendables 4” – and that’s none other than Jackie Chan. It’s recently been reported that Sylvester Stallone was in the process of recruiting his fellow action star, after a journalist asked Stallone if he would ever consider introducing Asian actors to the cast. The actor’s answer was an excited “yes”, after which he explained that he had been thinking about Jackie Chan and wanted to add him to the film’s cast.
Unfortunately, at this point, this doesn’t seem to be happening – Jackie Chan had denied the invitation, citing his busy schedule as the main reason. According to Stallone, he still hasn’t given up on the idea however, and is planning to do everything possible to make sure that Jackie Chan will join the rest of the famous action actors for the next installment in the franchise.
Jackie Chan isn’t the only Asian actor that’s recently been rumored to be taking part in the upcoming production – Manny Pacquiao has also been mentioned a few times, although nothing concrete has come out of that yet. Rumors started when Pacquiao went up against Chris Algieri, when Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger together went to his locker room to personally wish him good luck in the fight. That’s apparently not all they talked about though, as it was later announced that the two have been recruiting the fighter to take part in the next “Expendables” film, and he reportedly agreed.
This was also met with strong positivity from other cast members when they heard the news, according to reports from behind the scenes, and some of them have apparently been eyeing Pacquiao for a while now. Terry Crews seemed particularly excited about the new addition to the cast, showing a strong appreciation for the fighter, from what could be gathered from his comments. The film will probably still bring a few surprises to the table with regards to casting once it’s finally out, so even though we’re finding out quite a lot about it lately, there’s probably much more to come.