Say it with me, folks, noooooooooo! Damn you, Friday, you just had to make my last article of the week a total bummer, didn't you? In what is assuredly disappointing news, it's being reported that action-extraordianaire Sylvester Stallone has withdrawn from taking part in the fourth installment of THE EXPENDABLES franchise. Despite the famous actor being offered an upfront sum of over $20 million for the part, Stallone says that his reason for leaving the project is that he and Nu Image/Millennium chief Avi Lerner could not see eye to eye on a new director, the script, or several other elements of the planned sequel.
Furthermore, Stallone also expressed concerns about potentially underwhelming audiences by introducing an installment of the series that he felt could have weak story elements and sub-par special effects. As you well know, the sneer-lipped actor wrote the script to the first film himself with Dave Callaham, then co-wrote all the sequels in addition to directing the first film.
In commenting about the split, Avi Lerner stated, "We’ve got disagreements with Sly, but we’ve had them for over a year and a half. Right now, each one has opinion. We agreed on 95% of things, but there are certain things in production we don’t agree on. I don’t think it’s over, but what write whatever you want. In my opinion, it’s not dead."
Blah. I think it's time for a beer. Thankfully, there are still plenty of muscles to go around for another action-packed sequel to THE EXPENDABLES, though I'm positive the franchise will not feel the same without Stallone's participation.
What do you all think of this news? Who do you think could replace Stallone's Barney Ross as the leader of the team? Let us know in the comments section below!
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