Chan, Seagal, Cage & Jovovich: The Untold Story

EX3's Production has wrapped and we know for sure that Chan Seagal, Cage & Jovovich who were strongly rumored and some of them even confirmed by Lerner & Stallone, are not in the movie. 

To me Chan & Seagal are must-have for the Expendables Franchise and if the series end here they will always be missed. So what happened? How come the much sought after Chan, Seagal, Cage and the strongly rumored Jovovich who were in advanced negotiation did not appear in the 3rd installment?

Some might still think that all the talks about the aforementioned actors were just rumors, and some might think that some of them were offered a role and talked to at some point and things didn't work out. Well one thing is for sure, all four actors had roles written for them at some point that either went to other actors or got written off before production begun.

-Chan: He was strongly rumored and even confirmed by Stallone, Lundgren & Crews in different interviews. A role was even written for him but was then taken out of the script after he declined to take part in EX3. Why he didn't want to be in the greatest reunion of action icons, is still unknown. He claimed to have had a conflicting schedule, but some say his ego didn't allow him to accept a supporting role in the movie. Who knows...One thing is for sure, this is the 2nd time the opportunity was missed. 

-Seagal: He was demanded, despite what some of his fans might say about his quarrel with Lerner being the reason for him to never have had the chance to be in the franchise. Stallone tried hard to get him. Earlier rumors about him teaming up with the Expendables to fight Gibson were not unfounded. The role that went to Banderas was initially written for him. What happened; Seagal might have had the same ego problem that some attribute to Chan, or a conflicting schedule? Unlike Chan, Seagal has chosen to remain silent about the whole thing. Another missed opportunity...

-Cage: probably the most mysterious story of all. He was confirmed many times, not only by Lerner, Stallone and other fellow Expendables actors, but by the EX Facebook page itself. Although he kept declining his participation in the movie in many different interviews, the franchise stakeholders kept affirming that he would be in the 3rd installment. As a matter of fact the role of Bonaparte that finally ended up going to Grammer was written for him from the beginning. But obviously Cage didn't want to be in the movie, he probably thinks he's beyond all this, his loss. The franchise doesn't need him as much as it needed Chan & Seagal in my opinion.

-Jovovich: the least important of the four actors, her participation would have been nice but no more than that. She won't be missed. She was supposed to be in the movie until the last minute while EX3 was still in production. The role of Camilla that went to Givaty was hers. But Lerner preferred to keep Jovovich for other movies and went for Givaty who had previously worked for him in Hercules. The announcement of "Survivor" was not a coincidence while EX3 was in production. And there is also the possibility of seeing her in the female version of the Expendables.

Despite missing Chan & Seagal, EX3 has a great cast and is strongly said to be the best of the three. Will we ever see Chan & Seagal in an Expendables movie? 50/50 I'd say. It all depends on how the fourth chapter will be dealt with. With Stallone's recent statement who seems to be seeing EX3 as the last of the series, and Lerrner planning to have it filmed next year, everything is still possible or maybe impossible!