The Expendables (2010 film)
| The Expendables | |
|---|---|
 Teaser poster | |
| Directed by | Sylvester Stallone |
| Written by | Sylvester Stallone |
| Produced by | Avi Lerner Kevin King Templeton John Thompson Robert Earl |
| Starring | Sylvester Stallone Jason Statham Jet Li Dolph Lundgren Eric Roberts Mickey Rourke Steve Austin Terry Crews Randy Couture Brittany Murphy David Zayas Arnold Schwarzenegger |
| Music by | Brian Tyler |
Production companies | Millenium Films Nu Image Films |
| Distributed by | Lionsgate Films (U.S.) California Films (Brazil) |
Release dates |  April 23, 2010 April 23, 2010 |
| Countries | United States Brazil |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $60 million |
The Expendables is an upcoming 2010 action film directed and written by Sylvester Stallone and is set for release in 2010. Filming began on March 28, 2009 in Brazil, New Orleans and Los Angeles and is expected to be released on April 23, 2010. "The Expendables has a seventy million-dollar budget," says Stallone's co-star Dolph Lundgren[1], "and it's an old-school, kick-ass action movie where people are fighting with knives and shooting at each other."
Plot
A team of the world's best and highly-trained mercenaries known as "The Expendables" led by Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone) consisting of Lee Christmas (Jason Statham), Kong Bao (Jet Li), Gunnar Jensen (Dolph Lundgren), Hale Ceasar (Terry Crews), Toll Road (Randy Couture) assisted by an arms dealer known as Tool (Mickey Rourke) are hired by the mysterious Mr. Church to overthrow General Garza (David Zayas), the vicious, violent and ruthless dictator of the island of Corza near Brazil who has caused devastation for over 20 years. The challenge won't be as easy as they thought. In their way is a crooked CIA agent, Monroe (Eric Roberts), his psychotic bodyguard, Dan Paine (Steve Austin), and former British expendable, The Brit (Gary Daniels) who is looking for revenge against the team.
Production
Production began on March 3, 2009 and filming began on March 28 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and other locations included Mangaratiba, Niteroi, Guanabara Bay, and Parque Lage. Filming ended April 25. Filming continued later on May 11 in Elmwood and Downtown, New Orleans, Louisana which included French Quarter, St. Peters Street, Fort Mccomb, Claiborne Avenue and the Interstate 10 Overpass and will conclude in Downtown, Los Angeles, California at the end of June.
Casting
Jean-Claude Van Damme was personally offered a role by Stallone, but turned it down.[2] This reportedly led to Dolph Lundgren being cast instead. The role accepted by Forest Whitaker was originally conceived as a role for Wesley Snipes but later rewritten for Whitaker.[3] Due to a scheduling conflict prior to filming, Forest Whitaker was replaced by Curtis Jackson (aka 50 Cent) for the role of Hale Caesar,[4] who was then in turn replaced by former NFL player Terry Crews due to negative fan reaction on Aint it cool News.[5]
Stallone wanted Sandra Bullock to play the role of Agent Diane Lickson yet Bullock's schedule did not work with the film, and she could not participate. [6]
Ben Kingsley was offered the role of Monroe before Eric Roberts was cast. The role may be combined with that of Agent Will Sands. [7]
The role of the man who hires the Expendables, Mr. Church, has been very difficult to cast. Initially offered to Schwarzenegger, he declined in favor of a smaller cameo in respects to his political career.[8] The role was then offered to Kurt Russell whose agent replied that he was not interested in "Ensemble acting at the moment." [9] Currently, Stallone is looking to find a big action name to cameo as Mr. Church with rumors suggesting that the role has been offered to friend and fellow former Planet Hollywood co-owner Bruce Willis, although he is apparently tied to the filming of Die Hard 5. On May 29, 2009, the script under went a few re-writes which ultimately excluded Brittany Murphy's character.
Cast
- Sylvester Stallone as Barney Ross a.k.a. "The Schizo", a long-time Expendable and the leader of the new team[10]
- Mickey Rourke as Tool, an arms dealer who helps the Expendables and is one of the first expendables from Ross's old team[11]
- Jason Statham as Lee Christmas, a British American Expendable second in command
- Jet Li as Kong Bao, a Chinese American Expendable who was a former mercenary in China [12]
- Dolph Lundgren as Gunnar Jensen, a German Expendable who gets fired from Ross' team and is eventually hired to take them out[13]
- Terry Crews as Hale Caeser, an Expendable and Kong Bao's best friend [14]
- Charisma Carpenter as Lacy, Lee Christmas's fiancee [15]
- Brittany Murphy as Amy, Tool's girlfriend and a singer [16]
- Eric Roberts as Monroe, a rogue C.I.A agent who is trying to prevent the Expendables from killing General Garza
- Steve Austin as Dan Paine, a bodyguard for Monroe and a former Marine[17]
- Danny Trejo as Emanuel, a South American contact who helps the Expendables.[18]
- Randy Couture as Toll Road, a long-time Expendable from Ross's old team with Tool and weapons expert[19]
- Arnold Schwarzenegger in a cameo role (Bar Patron) [20]
- David Zayas as General Garza, the Dictator [16]
- Giselle Itié as Sandra, a native young woman
- Gary Daniels as The Brit, a former Expendable who is General Garza's main henchman and wants to go to war against the Expendables [21]
- Nick Searcy as an unknown role
- Amin Joseph as the leader of a group of Somali pirates that challenge the Expendables
- The Nogueira Brothers as Garza's henchmen [22]
Music
Brian Tyler has been selected to compose the original musical score for the film. Tyler is popular for his excellent action scores, and also scored 2008's Rambo, which most likely led to Sylvester Stallone's decision to choose Tyler to compose another film for him.[23]
References
- ^ "Dolph Lundgren: Direct Contact". SuicideGirls.com. 31 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-02..
- ^ Brunton, Richard (2008-11-29). "Van Damme turned down Stallone's The Expendables". Filmstalker.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
- ^ "Couture signs on to Stallone action film". NBC Sports. December 16, 2008. Retrieved March 20, 2009.
- ^ Sneider, Jeff (March 19, 2009). "50 Cent To Star In Sylvester Stallone Action Film". MTV. Retrieved March 20, 2009.
- ^ "50 Cent is out! Who is in THE EXPENDABLES? Stallone says... - Ain't It Cool News: The best in movie, TV, DVD, and comic book news". Aintitcool.com. 2009-03-21. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
- ^ http://www.joblo.com/bullock-expendable
- ^ http://www.joblo.com/index.php?id=24542
- ^ http://www.truveo.com/Schwarzenegger-Says-He%E2%80%99s-Expendable/id/1442142875
- ^ http://www.chud.com/articles/articles/18638/1/KURT-RUSSELL-IS-NOT-EXPENDABLE/Page1.html
- ^ http://www.aintitcool.com/node/40487
- ^ http://www.aintitcool.com/node/40487
- ^ http://twitter.com/marialascala
- ^ http://www.joblo.com/dolph-on-expendables
- ^ http://twitter.com/marialascala
- ^ http://www.themovieblog.com/2009/03/charisma-carpenter-is-expendable
- ^ a b Borys Kit (2009-04-08). "Brittany Murphy cast in 'Expendables'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2009-04-14.
- ^ http://www.moviehole.net/200817106-expendables-characters
- ^ http://www.slashfilm.com/2009/02/18/danny-trejo-joins-sylvester-stallones-the-expendables-aka-inglourious-old-basterds/
- ^ http://www.aintitcool.com/node/40487
- ^ http://www.iwatchstuff.com/2009/03/schwarzeneggers_expendables_ca.php
- ^ http://www.moviehole.net/200918550-exclusive-daniels-boards-the-expendables
- ^ http://www.yorkblog.com/mma/the-expendables/
- ^ http://www.briantyler.com/credits.html