Sylvester Stallone’s Barney Ross and cohorts are headed back for more action in The Expendables 4, and here is what we know about it up to now. It is a common expression, to the point of being a cliche, they don’t make them like they used to. This may be applied to all, from popular foods and drinks to automobiles, to novels, and obviously, movies. In the event of action films though, they don’t make them like they used to, imagining the”they” in question is Hollywood studios.
When discussions happen about the best action films or action franchises of all time, all the typical suspects are out of the 1980s or’90s, such as Rambo 1-3, Predator 1 and 2, Terminator 1 and 2, Die Hard 1-3, Robocop 1 and 2, Lethal Weapon, and a lot more. That is not to say there have not been fantastic activity films made since then, however, the kind of thematically unrestrained, brutally violent, sometimes wildly over-the-top burst Celtics ups that populated those last decades aren’t much of a thing today when it comes to a mainstream product. That’s precisely the problem Stallone’s Expendables franchise was designed to solve.
Featuring a cast filled with famous action celebrities or real-life badasses, the first two Expendables movies brought R-rated, retro-themed excitement to the masses once more. Unfortunately, Expendables 3 went PG-13 and dropped much of the goodwill. Will Expendables 4 save the day for lovers? Here’s what we know.
The Expendables 4 Is Happening
The Expendables 4 has been in some form of growth since as far back as 2014, the year after Expendables 3 was released to theatres. From 2017 though, Sylvester Stallone had attained a creative impasse with studio Lionsgate, also abandoned the job, taking several of his friends and co-stars together with him. Thankfully, Stallone returned in 2018, but things have still been slow-going in the years since, with various stops and start happening. Back in April 2021, cast member Randy Couture shown The Expendables 4 remains on, using a new version of the script being written, and tentative plans to begin filming in fall 2021.
The Expendables 4 Release Date
Unsurprisingly, since production has yet to start, The Expendables 4 has no firm release date for the writing. Producers previously teased in 2020 that a 2022 release might be potential, which seems sensible, assuming filming wraps up until the end of 2021. That also probably depends upon how fast Hollywood programs snap back after a year of Coronavirus delays.
The Expendables 4 Cast
There aren’t much by means of confirmed casting news for The Expendables 4, with Stallone being the only for-sure lock. One individual who it seems definitely won’t be emerging would be Terry Crews, who dropped to reunite after Avi Lerner, a producer on the franchise, demanded he fall sexual assault allegations he had made against Hollywood representative Adam Venit. A spinoff film starring Jason Statham’s Lee Christmas was likewise reported to maintain development in 2020, so his Expendables 4 return seems probable. Jean-Claude Van Damme has also publicly pitched the idea of playing the twin brother of his Expendables 2 villain Jean Vilain.
The Expendables 4 Story Details
Story details on The Expendables 4 are being kept locked up tight so far, although using a new script being written, any that had formerly been revealed would probably now be moot anyway. The Expendables 3 didn’t seem to be putting up a direct continuation of its narrative, together with Stallone’s Barney Ross and his titular group of mercenaries emerging victorious over Mel Gibson’s arms-dealing celebrity Conrad Stonebanks. The possibilities are wide open right now as to exactly what the team may get around in The Expendables 4 and, mercifully, the plan is to go for an R-rating.
