The fourth installment of the action ensemble film franchise “The Expendables” has already been confirmed for release next year but no specific date has been mentioned thus far.
But retired mixed martial artist Randy Couture, who is also part of “The Expendables” movie series from the start, already confirmed early last month that filming for “The Expendables 4” will begin in China this coming fall.
The news was posted on the Twitter account @TheArnoldFans and it relayed the confirmation made by Randy Couture, which the actor said during the Arnold Sports Festival held recently, reports the Ecumenical News.
In addition to the release date, the final casting for “The Expendables 4” has yet to be confirmed by the producers although if the previous rumors and speculations are to be the basis, the possible additions could include Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Dwayne ‘The Rock” Johnson, Pierce Brosnan, and lately, John Cusack.
But those are mere speculations at this point pending the confirmation from the producers or from any of the regular cast members that include Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Statham, Terry Crews, Jet Li, Randy Couture, Dolph Lundgren, and several others.
Pre-distribution deals
Sometime in the fourth quarter of last year, it has already been reported that production companies Nu Image and Millennium had already made pre-sale distribution deals of “The Expendables 4” in China, notes the Flickering Myth.
China is the biggest market for “The Expendables” film franchise. In fact, if not for the Chinese market, “The Expendables 3” would have had a miserable box-office performance because the movie got a pirated version and was released to the internet before it got shown on theaters, thus affecting its ticket sales significantly.
It seems that the producers have already learned their lesson from the debacle suffered by “The Expendables 3” so they are keeping everything about “The Expendables 4” under wrap just to be on the safe side.
The reason why the movie will be filmed in China and also distributed heavily in the country is because a Chinese interest will be bankrolling the production, which is reportedly pegged at $100 million. That could have been the reason why Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger were seen in China late in 2014.
Stallone will be in it
Meanwhile, there have been reports early this year that Sylvester Stallone shall no longer be in the fourth film of the franchise after being nominated for Best Supporting Actor category in the Academy Awards after 40 years for the movie “Creed.”
Apparently, there is no truth to the rumors as Stallone will be onboard the film regardless of whether he gets an Oscars or not. While he did get the Golden Globes acting award for the same category, he was not able to win the Oscars.
However, it was not a condition that Stallone set on himself or the movie because just like the first three movies of the franchise, he will take the lead in the fourth action ensemble as Barney Ross.
The rumors about Stallone not returning for “The Expendables 4” came out because the information about the movie was few and far in between. At that point, Stallone was making the headlines because of his nomination from the Academy Awards.
So putting two in two together, some came out with the idea that if he wins the Oscars, he would then focus more on “Creed 2” rather than “The Expendables 4,” thus the reports saying that he would take a backseat in the action ensemble franchise.
However, action movie critics believe that those are empty rumors because they know that even Sylvester Stallone is aware that if his character is not in the movie, The Expendables as a band of mercenaries shall no longer be complete.