The Expendables 4 is 80% Jason Statham, According to Sylvester Stallone
Jason Statham will take over as lead of The Expendables franchise in the upcoming sequel.
Action star Jason Statham will take over as the lead of The Expendables franchise in The Expendables 4, with his co-star Sylvester Stallone revealing how little screen time he will have in the upcoming sequel. While The Expendables franchise has so far been a buddy outing between Stallone and Statham, the former will step away from the franchise, thus making The Expendables 4 “80 percent” Jason Statham.
“I heard it turned out pretty good. Jason Statham is 80 percent of it. He’s happy with it.”
It certainly sounds like Stallone will play a very small role in The Expendables 4, with the actor having not even seen the finished film. Though thankfully, he does reveal to The Hollywood Reporter that Statham is happy with how things turned out.
So, with Stallone’s Barney Ross out of the picture, Statham’s character Lee Christmas will take the lead in The Expendables franchise moving forward. “This will be my last day,” Stallone said in an Instagram post last year from the set of the sequel. “I’m enjoying it, but it’s always bittersweet when something you’ve been so attached to – I guess since, well now it’s been about 12 years – and ready to pass the baton on to Jason in his capable hands.”
Plot details for The Expendables 4, which will reportedly be known as Expend4bles, are being kept largely under wraps at present. Though it has been revealed that it will find the titular team of mercenaries doing battle with an arms dealer, played by The Raid star Iko Uwais, who commands the might of a massive private army. While Stallone will only play a small part, the sequel is expected to see plenty of familiar faces return alongside Statham, including Dolph Lundgren and Randy Couture.
The Expendables 4 will also add several new faces to the ensemble action thriller franchise, including Transformers star Megan Fox, Southpaw star Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Furious 7 actor and martial artist Tony Jaa, and Academy Award-nominated actor Andy Garcia. The likes of Jacob Scipio, Levy Tran, Sheila Shah, and Eddie Hall have also been cast in undisclosed roles.
Sylvester Stallone Will Lead Tulsa King for Paramount+
While Sylvester Stallone will not play a major part in The Expendables 4, fear not Stallone fans, as the actor will instead be leaping over to the small screen to lead the crime drama series Tulsa King for Paramount+.
Stallone will star in Tulsa King as Dwight “The General” Manfredi, a New York Mafia capo who has just finished a 25-year prison sentence. Upon his release, Dwight is sent to Tulsa, Oklahoma by his boss and told to establish criminal operations there. Not knowing anyone in the area, The General seeks a new crew to help establish his empire. Set to premiere on November 13, 2022, on Paramount+, Tulsa King stars Max Casella, Domenick Lombardozzi, Vincent Piazza, Jay Will, A.C. Peterson, Andrea Savage, Martin Starr, Garrett Hedlund, Dana Delany, and Annabella Sciorra alongside Stallone.
Directed by Scott Waugh, with a script co-written by Spenser Cohen and Max Adams, The Expendables 4 is scheduled to be released in the United States on September 22, 2023, by Lionsgate.
