Fourteen years after the box office smash hit The Expendables, Jason Statham and Sylvester Stallone are reuniting for the fourth, and possibly the last, run in action-packed glory.
The Expend4bles is due to hit cinemas on September 22, with producers Kevin King-Templeton and Les Weldon revealing to Daily Express what the next 14 years may hold in store for the iconic franchise.
Both producers have been with the project since the very start and insist that âas long as thereâs an appetite for itâ, theyâll keep making more according to Kevin who adds: â Nothing is off the table. We donât know. Itâs all about the fans.â
Les agrees, jokingly noting that Sylvester âwasnât going to be in the second oneâ referring to the 2012 hit which did in fact star the Rocky icon and almost proves nothing is set in stone when dealing with the biggest names in action cinema.
As the 77-year-old is still leading in the fourth rendition, Kevin admits they âdefinitely modifiedâ the stunt and fight sequences, explaining that series newcomers Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais and 50 Cent âtook the heavy load of the fightingâ.
He continued: âYou have to change a little because the cast is getting older. We evolved a little bit. We used the Jackie Chan stunt team so thereâs definitely a lot of that Asian martial arts influence.â
However, Les is quick to say fans should not by any means underestimate the older cast and points out they arenât truly like an average 60 or 70-year-old.
He explained: âThey are these action guys who stay pretty fit. Theyâre all in much better shape than I am even if theyâre older than I am! I think itâs just thatâs who they are.
“They donât just let themselves go so when a movie like this comes up theyâre ready. A lot of them do their own stunts and their own fighting.â
Kevin adds: âEven Jason does a lot of his own stuff. They all pride themselves on it. They take care of themselves because they know theyâve got a job to do.
âThey canât just show up with the script. They have to train. So when people see it, a lot have done their own stuff.â
Thankfully, Kevin noted there were no major injuries reported on set, aside from the odd âstrains and achesâ.
Technically speaking, the Hollywood blockbuster has been in various stages of production for the past nine years with multiple setbacks in pre-production, dealing with daily dangers like stunt scenes, navigating through ever-changing Covid protocols and doubling up on already stringent safety measures following the Rust shooting.
However, throughout the long and arduous journey to get to release day, both Les and Kevin easily agree on the hardest part of the entire Expendables franchise: scheduling.
Kevin jokingly declares: âItâs like herding cats sometimes! Theyâre all big names and busy and doing things in other parts of the world.â
Les adds: âGetting them to commit to a time period and then in that time period one actor may be available for two weeks, another actor for three weeks, another actor for one week.
âTrying to really make sure that when heâs got a scene with this actor who is not available on this date and he canât do this date⊠I would hate to have been the first Assistant Director on any of these movies.â
Kevin concludes: âThe preparation for that was probably the hardest, that was a struggle. Once we were in production it wasnât as hard, it was pretty fluid and smooth.â
Expend4bles will be released in cinemas on September 22.