Cage Expendable or Not? The EX3 Question!

I'm sure everyone is fed up by now, is this Cage guy in EX3 or not? The EX3 team, from Lerner, the CEO of Lionsgate to Stallone, keeps confirming him but for some very strange reason Cage keeps insisting that he won't be in the movie.

Today again there are 2 contradictory announcements. On one hand the official Expendables Facebook confirmed that Cage was Expendable, on the other hand the movie website I Am Rogue published an exclusive interview with Cage in which he firmly confirms once again that he won't be in EX3. This is becoming ridiculous...

 

The main cast is confirmed and ready to fly to Bulgaria in a couple of weeks or so, so why this mascarade?! Patience is a virtue but it has its own limits too...

3 More Weeks...

EX3 will start filming in exactly 3 weeks on Aug 19 in Port of Varna which is the largest seaport complex in Bulgaria located on the Black Sea's west coast. The cast should arrive in Bulgaria sometime in the week of Aug 12 to start shooting the following Monday. They will spend a few days in Varna filming scenes in the port facilities and surrounding buildings before moving to other parts of Bulgaria and Studio Nu Boyana in Sofia where they will be shooting for a total of 10 weeks. According to one of our sources filming in LA and China seems to be off the table or at least no further confirmation has been communicated.

As for the cast, the mystery persists or almost. Although there is no solid confirmation of Gibson, Li & Seagal, EX3 will still line up one of the most impressive casts of action figures that will include Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Willis, Lundgren, Chan, Snipes & Statham. Fans should rest assured that this chapter will deliver the right dose of action from their favorite stars of the past and present.

So relax and be patient...

A Lundgren Interviw

In an interview that took place back at the start of the year but only published today by Den of Geek, when asked the question about EX3 this is what Lundgren had to say:

"And now inevitably going back to the guns… Expendables 2 was fantastic, have you had any update on The Expendables 3 yet? 

The only thing I’ve heard [about the cast] is there’s some new guys coming on, so I heard names like Wesley Snipes and Jackie Chan, people like that, Nicolas Cage, but I still don’t know anything for sure and I don’t know if I’m in it because I haven’t seen the script, but it certainly is a fun concept and it’s a fun thing to be involved in. It’s a lot of work, because you go off for four months to some godforsaken location, but Sly and I are friends and I enjoy working with him, it’s a lot of fun to work with him, so hopefully it’ll happen. 

When I spoke to you before about who you’d like to see in Expendables 2, you mentioned Van Damme, he then came aboard and was fantastic – have you got anyone in particular who you’d like to see in part three?

Haha! Let’s see… I mean look, there’s obviously guys who are my idols, like Clint Eastwood and Sean Connery and these guys, but there’s probably a slim chance of them being in it. I do like Wesley, I think he’s a good martial artist, he’s a good actor and Jackie Chan, of course, has a huge audience and is a fun guy, so he would add humour to it and you know he’s a terrific person. I met him a few times, a really nice guy and I know Sly likes him so… I’m not in the driver's seat on that one, so I can’t say, but any of the above would be great to work with.

I enjoyed working with Chuck Norris and Arnold and Bruce Willis and these guys, not just because the movie’s great, but just on a personal level, it’s fun to work with them because they’re icons and you put them all in one room and you get to part of that, that’s something you never forget, really. I’m not the only one to feel that way; I think most of the guys, (including the above) felt the same way, so I thought that was a fun part of the project, you kind of realise well it’s not going to happen too many more times in the history of film!  Are you going to get these type of guys in one room, sitting and talking action again – I don’t think so! [Laughs] Strapping on guns and grenades in some little tent in some place in Bulgaria! So it was cool to be there, it felt special you know?"

EXBlog Note: By now we know that Lundgren will be in EX3 with a bigger and badder role. He should start filming in Bulgaria in a month.

'Twilight' Star Kellan Lutz in Talks to Join EX3

As reported by TheWrap

Kellan Lutz, who played Emmett Cullen in "The Twilight Saga," is in early talks to join Sylvester Stallone in "The Expendables 3," an individual familiar with the Lionsgate project told TheWrap.
 

Lionsgate did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
 

Australian filmmaker Patrick Hughes, who has a successful background in commercials, is directing the action-packed sequel, which Stallone is producing with Millennium Films.
 

According to insiders, "Expendables 3" will introduce a younger group of tech-savvy action heroes who initially clash with the older crew, though they eventually team up to save the day.
 

It remains unclear which surviving cast from "The Expendables 2" will join Stallone in the sequel, though action heroes Jackie Chan and Wesley Snipes have been rumored for new roles.
 

While Stallone has hinted on Twitter at the potential casting of Mel Gibson, TheWrap has confirmed that the "Lethal Weapon" star is not officially involved with "The Expendables 3" at the moment. 

The EX3 Cast According to the French Wikipedia

After EX3 got its own English Wikipedia Page which was then taken down a few days later, it's now the French who take a shot at it, and hopefully theirs will last longer. Anyway, interesting cast list from the French, not sure who's behind it but it's pretty close! The page also reports that Eastwood, Ford and Cage all refused to be in the movie.

Milla Jovovich Confirmed

In an interview given at the Comic-Con, Crews confirms another EX3 cast member (hopefully it's official enough for the movie bosses!). Although he sounds clueless and follows the interviewer's lead, he does not deny the addition of Jovovich to the EX3 cast. He also mentions that he has not seen the script, however expects to be in the movie himself but doesn't sound too sure.

In another interview, he further confirms Snipes & Chan, but again sounds uncertain of his own participation in the 3rd chapter. Chances are he's in it but I'm sure Sly has different plans for this third installment. Despite the initial plan for a trilogy, there is strong indication that if EX3 is successful there will be more sequels and Sly is setting the stage for more to come. Arnold has already confirmed that he'll be in all of them.

What Stallone Confirmed at the Comic-Con

Fans & a few media outlets got finally some news out of Stallone on EX3 at the Comic-Con while he was presenting his next movie "Escape Plan". 

Stallone confirmed that the following new actors have signed up for EX3: Gibson, Chan, Snipes & Cage. He also confirmed that Arnold & Bruce were back.

Excited?

Mel Gibson Confirmed in EX3!

It's official, Gibson will be the villain in EX3 as it has been strongly rumored for some time now. Stallone tweeted a few hours ago that it will be "Mad Max vs Barney Ross..."

Excited? Hell Yeah...

EX3 has a New Team Confirms Sly

 
Stallone finally broke the silence and tweeted a little piece of news on EX3. Nothing big but says that "New TEAM a Blessing! Best Group of the year... EXPENDABLES Looking Fresh and Strong".

Last week we reported rumors of Seagal & Chan joining the EX team. Stallone is confirming a new team, well maybe the pieces of the puzzle are starting to come together...

Lost in Translation!

It's sometimes mind blowing how news travel fast nowadays with the invention of the internet. Within 24 hours after I reported on Gibson & Seagal being confirmed in EX3 via the Bulgarian news agencies, some major (and other minor) news websites in the US and in other western countries picked up my post and ran with it. Which I don't mind at all, on the contrary I'm kinda honored every time another website relays one of my posts from EXBlog. What I find interesting is how information can sometimes get lost or misinterpreted after it's passed around.

Last Friday the first American news outlets that picked up my post kept close to its content and just paraphrased it a little bit (probably to make it sound more marketable), no problem there. Later throughout the week my post started to surface on quite a few overseas websites but a little bit distorted at times. The French movie website Premiere for instance has gone as far saying that "the production of EX3 is setting up a huge action scene in Bulgaria. A scene that would involve Sylvester Stallone, Dolph Lundgren, Jason Statham ... And a DUEL between Mel Gibson and Steven Seagal"! Cool, I wish it was true. Another website reported that EXBlog was a Bulgarian fan site (WTF!!!). Although I've been to many countries of Europe, I have not set foot in Bulgaria yet (I'd love to go though while EX3 is being shot there, maybe Stallone will extent me an invitation).

Any way, it's all good, and I'm glad the news has gained such a momentum. Even if Gibson/Seagal are not 100% confirmed through official sources yet, the buzz this piece of news has made might help things move forward a little faster for the fans, at the end it's all about the fans, I'm just a messenger!

Here's a list of some of the websites that reported the Gibson/Seagal news:

AICN 

JoBlo
Cinema Blend 

Movieweb

Moviehole

Dark Horizons

Flickering Myth

The Inquisitr
Renegade Cinema

Premiere

Filmofilia

WorstPreviews
Nuke The Fridge
Sequel Buzz

BZ Film

Cinebuzz
Moviesnet
Quoten Meter
Moviepilot
Nu 

Chan to Save the President in EX3?

Examiner claims that they have news on Chan joining the EX3 cast to play a former team member that aids Stallone and his crew in saving the president! They further report that Li is also to return. 

Examiner does not mention their source of information and the accuracy of their report is questionable, so take this with a grain of salt for now. But you never know! The Expendables on a journey to save the President?

Lundgren Confirms

Lundgren has confirmed via Twitter & Facebook that he will be in Bulgaria for 3 months after 2 months spent in South Africa. No surprise there, given he had already hinted at his participation in EX3 on the Late Night Show. At the time he thought he would be filming in Fall, which kinda concurs with the latest information we have on the EX3 production timeline: production in Bulgaria starts on Aug 20, filming 3 months there would take Lundgren into Fall.  

Lundgren doesn't mention LA, which could lead us to believe that he won't be filming there with Schwarzenegger. It is unclear which part of the movie will be shot in LA so too early to make any assumptions on who dies or does what. 

This is what we know so far:

-Official confirmations (by the actors themselves or Stallone): Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Statham, Lundgren, Couture, Rourke, Snipes.

-Very likely but not confirmed: Crews.

-Strongly rumored or in advanced negotiations: Seagal, Gibson, Chan, Cage, Jovovich. 

-Possible but no confirmation or news at all: Willis, Li, Banderas, Uwais. 

Rare EX2 Promo Pictures

A few rare promo pictures from EX2 that have not been seen before have surfaced on the net thanks to Iron Arnold. Here they are, enjoy...

Insightful Pictures?

Stallone celebrated his birthday yesterday and his brother Franck posted this picture of himself with Stallone & Willis. Obviously we want to share this celebration and wish Stallone all the best, after all it's thanks to this man that we have the EX Franchise. Then ponder on this picture a little bit. I don't want to be the guy who sees clues everywhere but why among all the friends & actors, Willis is the one showing up in the picture. Was this a solicitation attempt for a role in EX3? We have confirmation on all the EX members except for Willis & Li, so hopefully Stallone's birthday party served to convince Willis for a role in EX3, you never know...

Another picture taken a couple of days ago, this time, it's Rourke, the mighty Mickey as Stallone likes to call him. Interesting to see that Rourke's in a good shape, he must have been preparing himself for EX3. Less than a month before production starts.

Less Screen Time for Statham? Seagal is his EX Friend!

It looks like Statham's screen time in EX3 might be shorter this time around. Yesterday he tweeted that he starts shooting #Fast7 in September, in Tokyo, Middle-East and Los Angeles. He is expected to start shooting EX3 in Bulgaria on Aug 20 which doesn't leave him a lot of filming time between then and September. 

A few days earlier he had tweeted that he loved his #Expendable friends @TheSlyStallone @Swarzenegger @sseagalofficial @Dolph_Lundgren @JCVDonline @terrycrews and off course #BruceW. Believing the recent reports that Seagal has joined EX3 as an EX team member, and wondering why Statham would include Seagal in his circle of EX friends, one could think that Seagal is indeed going to join the EX team and given the short filming time Statham could have on set, this all might make sense, you follow?

Stay tuned...

Source: Twitter

Gibson in the Bulgarian News Again, Seagal Confirmed

Today many Bulgarian news sites have reported again that Gibson has negotiated (or is) with Stallone to play the #1 villain role in EX3. In addition to reporting Gibson, there are now new elements in the Bulgarian reports confirming that Seagal will fight Gibson alongside Stallone, Statham & Lundgren, and that the script has been rewritten many times to create enough room for so many stars specially after Schwarzenegger has joined the cast, and to include Chan, Cage, Snipes, Jovovich & Rourke. 

Well the Bulgarian media has been correct at times but not always. Hopefully they have a solid source of information this time. Gibson, Seagal, Chan, Snipes, Cage in addition to the returning EX cast, never thought they would top EX2...

Sources: 24chasa, novini, haskovo