The fourth movie of the action ensemble movie franchise “The Expendables” is scheduled to hit theaters next year and filming would likely start around the second quarter of this year.
However, there are reports going around that since Sylvester Stallone, who plays Barney Ross in the movie series, is nominated for Best Supporting Actor in the Oscars, there is a possibility that his winning the award may change the complexion of “The Expendables 4.”
Stallone has just won the Best Supporting Actor award during the 2016 Golden Globe held early this year for his role in the “Rocky” spinoff movie “Creed.”
He was once again nominated for the same category in the Academy Awards to be held on February 28 at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, California.
Although technically and logically, Stallone’s winning an Oscars or not has no bearing on the filming of “The Expendables 4,” Terry Crews, in a recent interview, was actually quoted as saying that if Sly wins an Oscars, there will be plenty of things that will be offered to him other than “The Expendables 4” so he might decide to take a backseat in the fourth film of the franchise, notes the Ecumenical News.
Crews is confident that since Stallone has already won the Golden Globe, he is likely to duplicate his feat and win the Oscars as well.
But Stallone considers “The Expendables” as one of his favorite projects so it is unlikely for him to take a backseat or have his role in the series taken over by someone else regardless of whether he gets an Oscars or not.
Thrilled to start working
British action star Jason Statham, who plays Lee Christmas in the action franchise, says that he is already thrilled to start working on the filming of “The Expendables 4.”
Reports have it that Statham will be joined in the movie by fellow Brit in Pierce Brosnan, who once played the role of suave MI6 spy James Bond, notes the Vine Report.
The big bad in the upcoming movie is reported to be Hulk Hogan and he will likely be aided in his bid to stop or make life difficult for The Expendables by Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and Stone Cold Steve Austin, who shall reportedly make a comeback despite his character being seemingly killed during the first “The Expendables” movie shown in 2010.
Stone Cold Steve Austin was part of the first “The Expendables” film where he played as the main henchman of Eric Roberts and they formed the main villains for the movie.
However, those who have seen the first movie actually saw that Stone Cold Steve Austin was left in the dungeon after being defeated by the combined team of Stallone and Jason Statham as the place exploded.
So it is not clear how the producers will intend to bring him back from his seeming death in the first “The Expendables” movie. But as the saying goes in films and TV series, as long as there is no dead body, the character can always find a way to come back.
Three wrestlers for villains
The recent addition of Stone Cold Steve Austin shall bring to three the total number of WWE wrestlers who shall be part of “The Expendables 4,” with the other two being the equally popular Hulk Hogan and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson.
While no specific details on “The Expendables 4” plotline has been made available as of yet, Hulk Hogan confirmed in an interview last year that he has been in casual talks with Stallone where they discussed the possibility of him appearing as the villain in the fourth installment of the action film franchise.
After Hulk Hogan, reports have it that Sylvester Stallone has also considered The Rock to be part of “The Expendables 4” as an offshoot of the wrestler-actor expressing interest in getting involved with “The Expendables 4” after seeing Ronda Rousey being part of the third movie and also on the idea thrown his way by Terry Crews on an online public forum a few months ago.
Apparently, The Rock said then that if he is being asked to become part of “The Expendables” franchise, he would gladly accept it.