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CAST & CREW
SYLVESTER STALLONE ... BARNEY ROSS

JASON STATHAM ... LEE CHRISTMAS


JET LI ... YIN YANG

DOLPH LUNDGREN ... GUNNER JENSEN
ANTONIO BANDERAS ... GALGO



WESLEY SNIPES ... DOC

WITH
MEL GIBSON ... CONRAD STONEBANKS

WITH
HARRISON FORD ... MAX DRUMMER

AND
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER ... TRENCH


Rest of cast:

RANDY COUTURE ... TOLL ROAD

TERRY CREWS ... HALE CAESAR

KELSEY GRAMMER ... BONAPARTE

RONDA ROUSEY ... LUNA

KELLAN LUTZ ... JOHN SMILEE

GLEN POWELL ... THORN

VICTOR ORTIZ ... MARS

ROBERT DAVI ... GORAN VATA
 
Directed by: Patrick Hughes
Screenplay by: Creighton Rothenberger, Katrin Benedikt & Sylvester Stallone
Story by: Sylvester Stallone
Based on Characters Created by: David Callaham
Produced by: Avi Lerner, Kevin King-Templeton, Danny Lerner, Les Weldon
Costume Designer: Lizz Wolf
Music by: Brian Tyler 



SYNOPSIS


Barney (Stallone), Christmas (Statham) and the rest of the team comes face-to-face with Conrad Stonebanks (Gibson), who years ago co-founded The Expendables with Barney. Stonebanks subsequently became a ruthless arms trader and someone who Barney was forced to kill… or so he thought. Stonebanks, who eluded death once before, now is making it his mission to end The Expendables -- but Barney has other plans. Barney decides that he has to fight old blood with new blood, and brings in a new era of Expendables team members, recruiting individuals who are younger, faster and more tech-savvy. The latest mission becomes a clash of classic old-school style versus high-tech expertise in the Expendables’ most personal battle yet.
 

Production Notes

The most star-powered film franchise in history raises the bar to unprecedented heights with a dream team of global superstars, explosive stunts and mind-boggling weaponry in The Expendables 3. For the first time on film, Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jason Statham join forces with Mel Gibson, Wesley Snipes, Harrison Ford and 11 more legends and rising stars in an epic adventure that introduces audiences to a new generation of Expendables.

An assignment to stop a powerful weapon from falling into the wrong hands ends in a shocking turn of events for Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone) and his crack team of mercenaries, known as The Expendables. They discover that the ruthless arms dealer they are pursuing is none other than Conrad Stonebanks (Mel Gibson)—Barney’s former partner and Expendables’ co-founder, and a man he thought he had killed more than a decade earlier.

After an explosive firefight, Stonebanks escapes unscathed, and veteran Expendable Hale Caesar (Terry Crews) is almost killed, forcing Barney to make a momentous decision. He retires his longtime crew and recruits a group of youthful hotshots (Kellan Lutz, Ronda Rousey, Glen Powell, and Victor Ortiz) to bring fresh energy and updated skills to the team.

The conflict turns personal when Max Drummer (Harrison Ford) of the CIA dispatches the new team to bring Stonebanks to justice and the wily weapons smuggler makes it his mission to destroy The Expendables—including his former partner. When the intricate operation goes awry and the new team is captured, Barney embarks on a no-holds- barred rescue effort, aided by his comrades-in-arms, Lee Christmas (Jason Statham), Galgo (Antonio Banderas), Yin Yang (Jet Li), Doctor Death (Wesley Snipes), Gunner Jensen (Dolph Lundgren), Toll Road (Randy Couture) and Trench Mauser (Arnold Schwarzenegger).

Classic old-school tactics meet high-tech expertise as the combined teams battle to survive an epic onslaught by Stonebanks’ militia in the most spectacular chapter to date of the blockbuster film franchise.

Academy Award® nominee Sylvester Stallone (Best Actor, Rocky, 1976; the Rocky and Rambo franchises), Jason Statham (The Italian Job, the Transporter franchise), Jet Li (Badges of Fury, Unleashed), Dolph Lundgren (Universal Soldier, Rocky IV), Randy Couture (Ambushed),

Terry Crews (Blended, Draft Day), and Arnold Schwarzenegger (The Terminator franchise, True Lies) return for a third bone-shattering chapter, joined by action veterans Mel Gibson (Braveheart, Lethal Weapon franchise), Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones and Star Wars franchises), Antonio Banderas (Desperado, The Mask of Zorro), Wesley Snipes (Demolition Man, Blade franchise), Kelsey Grammer (X-Men: The Last Stand, Transformers: Age of Extinction) and Kellan Lutz (The Legend of Hercules, The Twilight Saga). The cast also introduces UFC and MMA champion Ronda Rousey, WBC welterweight boxing champion Victor Ortiz, and Glen Powell to the blockbuster franchise.

Patrick Hughes (Red Hill) directs from a screenplay by Stallone and Creighton Rothenberger & Katrin Benedikt (Olympus Has Fallen). Producers are Avi Lerner (The Legend of Hercules, Olympus Has Fallen), Kevin King-Templeton (Grudge Match, The Expendables), Danny Lerner (The Expendables 2, The Mechanic), Les Weldon (The Expendables, The Expendables 2), and John Thompson (The Expendables, The Expendables 2).

Executive Producers are Trevor Short (The Expendables, The Legend of Hercules), Boaz Davidson (The Legend of Hercules, Olympus Has Fallen), Jon Feltheimer (Brothers, Rambo), Jason Constantine (Saw, All is Lost), Eda Kowan (Conan the Barbarian, The Expendables), Basil Iwanyk (The Town, Clash of the Titans), and Guymon Casady (“Game of Thrones,” The Expendables). Co-producers are Robert Earl, Samuel Hadida, Victor Hadida, Guy Avshalom, and Zygi Kamasa.


Director of Photography is Peter Menzies Jr., ACS (Clash of the Titans, The Incredible Hulk). Editors are Sean Albertson, A.C.E. (Warrior, Grudge Match) and Paul Harb (The Legend of Hercules, The Expendables). Production Designer is Daniel T. Dorrance (A Good Day to Die Hard, Collateral). Costume Designer is Lizz Wolf (Escape Plan, Rambo). Composer is Brian Tyler (Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World).


ABOUT THE PRODUCTION

In 2010 Academy Award® nominated screenwriter and pioneer of the contemporary action film Sylvester Stallone brought together some of the most popular and successful modern-day movie tough guys for one incredible adventure. The Expendables and its sequel The Expendables 2 combined unparalleled physicality with dazzling star power, grossing more than half a billion dollars at the global box office.

For the third hard-hitting installment in the franchise, Stallone reteams with his partners at Lionsgate and Millennium Films. “Sly is a legend,” says Millennium chairman Avi Lerner. “He may be the only guy in the world who has created and starred in three successful film franchises—Rambo, Rocky and The Expendables. He’s a great moviemaker—a writer, director, producer, and star. The only job we haven’t given him yet is craft services.”

The filmmakers have guaranteed fans of the adrenaline-fueled series that each new episode of The Expendables will take the franchise’s trademark over-the-top style to ever- ascending heights. For The Expendables 3, that meant first putting together a powerhouse cast that would outstrip even the mind-blowing rosters of screen legends assembled for the first two installments.

“To top the first Expendables, we added a few more names to the second film,” explains producer Kevin King-Templeton. “On this one, we wanted to find a way to keep the concept fresh and excite audiences all over the world, so we invited every action star we could think of to join the cast.”

Lerner, who has produced some of the most successful action films in history, leveraged a lifetime’s worth of relationships to assemble this cast. “I believe this is the best cast that has ever been together in a movie,” he says. “Seven of our stars have at least one blockbuster franchise to their names. Some, like Harrison and Sly, have two or three.”

The result is a star-spangled line-up the likes of which audiences have never seen before—and will likely never see again. “The Expendables franchise is extraordinary,” says Jason Constantine, head of acquisitions and co-productions for Lionsgate. “It takes the whole idea of a star-driven action movie to the next level. Sly’s script about a group of mercenaries played by the greatest action heroes of all time is a wish fulfillment for the audience. The Expendables is basically the fantasy league of action movies, only it’s not a fantasy. We bring the legends and icons of the genre together in one scene after another.”

Initially, Stallone considered returning to the director’s chair. “But you know, the first movie was an experiment that worked,” he says. “And I still haven’t recovered from it. I was acting and trying to run four units at once, so it was a grueling experience.”

Instead, the filmmakers put their faith in director Patrick Hughes, based on his work on the low-budget Red Hill. “Patrick Hughes’ previous movie resonated very deeply with Sly,” says King-Templeton. “It reminded him of First Blood. We thought let’s see what happens if we give this guy bigger resources and a massive cast. We were not disappointed.”

“Patrick brought incredible vitality and energy to the project,” agrees Stallone. “We threw him into the deep end of the pool when he took this gig and he swam. Patrick went into this film to make a stand-alone version of The Expendables. The movie completely reboots the whole concept. It’s an entirely new vision, a real departure from the previous two.”

Hughes won the producers over by pitching his vision for the film, not himself, says producer John Thompson, head of production at Millennium Films. “In fact, he didn’t talk much about himself at all. He did speak very knowledgeably and passionately about the production, which made him a shoe-in. Sly and Avi were quick to see that this young man had more than just talent. Even with talent, when you’re faced with 17 movie stars, you can freeze. Patrick was in command. Everyone respected and responded to that.”

More than 1,000 people worked on the film, according to executive producer Boaz Davidson. “It’s history in the making,” he continues. “This could be a shock for any director, but Patrick just took control.”

Helming a big-budget action movie was a dream come true for Hughes. “Here’s an opportunity to work on a proven franchise with some incredible talent—working alongside Sylvester Stallone,” he says. “I got a chance to take an idea from the ground level, because we didn’t have a script at that stage, just a concept. It’s a huge film that fulfilled all sorts of childhood fantasies for me.”

The biggest challenge for Hughes was ensuring the proper tone for the film. The first two pictures were more focused on hard-core action. This time, Hughes says, he tried to inject as much fun and humor into the proceedings as possible.

“It was a bit of a balancing act. Alfred Hitchcock said that some films are a slice of life and some are a slice of cake. This movie’s a big fat slice of cake with a sugar coating on top. Balancing the comedy with the emotional weight and drive of the story became critical.

The Expendables are dealing with the possible loss of one of their team. We added characters like Galgo, played by Antonio Banderas, to bring out the humor.”

Hughes also introduces a new, younger group of Expendables, whose ascendancy sparks a competition between old school and new. “When I first sat down with Sly, what dawned on me was the twin themes of redemption and education,” he says. “The older Expendables know their days are numbered. Barney is letting them go because he doesn’t want to lose them. The younger team takes over, but they are going to have to go through hell to learn what it is to be an Expendable. Through conflict, they all learn to work together and become the ultimate Expendables. So it’s a little bit of an origin story as well.”

“This movie takes The Expendables to a place they’ve never been before,” says producer Les Weldon. “Barney and his longtime crew come to the understanding that they might be at the end of the line. But he still has one more mission to accomplish, and he tries to protect his guys by bringing in a younger team, so he can keep it impersonal. What he comes to realize is that there’s nothing impersonal about it.”

Stallone worked with husband-and-wife screenwriting team Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt to craft an entirely new narrative for a film that can proudly stand on its own, while also celebrating the legacy of the first two movies. Rothenberger and Benedikt’s first produced screenplay, 2013’s Olympus Has Fallen, had been a huge success for Millennium Films.

“We knew from the job they did on Olympus Has Fallen that they have talent,” says Lerner. “We always want to emphasize storytelling and they have crafted a very simple story, but also a very real story. They worked with Sly to perfect that and continued working throughout casting as each of the actors was added.”

As the project evolved rapidly during pre-production and production, the writers had to work quickly to tailor roles to stars or scenes to changing locations. “Sylvester Stallone is a perfectionist,” says Thompson. “And every time Sly thinks something is perfect, he wants to make it more perfect. Once we were on set, he was very open to the actors’ ideas. They brought in lines and new perspectives. Sly will always go with a good idea.”

The Expendables 2 incorporated a wisecracking, tongue-in-cheek approach along with the mad combat skills and take-no-prisoners attitude that made the first film an action lover’s dream. Stallone wanted to play that up even more in this outing, giving his tough-as- nails protagonists a non-stop stream of irreverent and unexpected one-liners.

“Sly is a genius when it comes to dialogue and he can nail characters like nobody I’ve ever seen,” says Weldon. “He’s an Oscar®-nominated writer, as we all know, but the most amazing thing about him is his willingness to always do what’s best for the film. He is so collaborative, and that’s why he is so successful.”

Coordinating the schedules of a cast that included Stallone, Jet Li and Jason Statham as well as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford and Wesley Snipes was a massive undertaking. “It’s hard enough when you have one movie star,” says Davidson. “These guys are very busy and there are a lot requirements to fulfill before you can get them on set. Sometimes, it seemed like mission impossible.”

As massive as the production is, for Stallone, the biggest spectacle of all was seeing this many iconic film legends join forces for one movie. “To have a cast like this is unprecedented. The effort to bring everyone together was herculean and it has paid off in a huge way. A cast like this has never been seen before. To get them all together for one movie is nothing less than miraculous.”

“You might as well try reach up into the skies and corral the real stars in the heavens,” says Weldon. “There had to be a perfect alignment of the planets to get them all into one place. It just doesn’t happen every day, and it may not happen ever again.”

But once they were on set, no one was quite sure how the chemistry between such a large group of outsize personalities would work. “When you get this many icons together in one place, it’s like putting together an amazing dish using all of the best ingredients,” Weldon says. “But you become a little anxious that all these amazing flavors won’t gel. The most surprising thing about the whole experience was how unbelievably cooperative and happy the whole cast was. I think it was just as much a thrill for them to work together as it will be for the audience to see them.”

The young guns were the most pleasant surprise of all, he adds. “We took quite a bit of time choosing the actors, because we want the younger moviegoers to connect with them as strongly as we all have connected with Arnold, Sly and Harrison.”

Each actor was handpicked by Stallone on the basis of acting ability, charisma, and aptitude for the physical demands of the job. “Sly has an uncanny ability to spot action talent,” says King-Templeton. “Remember, he picked Dolph Lundgren out of relative obscurity all those years ago and Dolph became a household name.”


What it takes to be a top action star can’t be fabricated, according to Stallone. One has to be born with it. “There has to be something that the audience can relate to,” he says. “They have to be approachable and real, even somewhat flawed. The characters have to be part of the audience, and the audience has to want to mentally push the character forward.”


THE GANG’S ALL HERE

Sylvester Stallone returns to the third chapter of The Expendables in the role of Barne Ross, the team’s iron-willed founder. Protective, loyal, and emotionally reserved, Barney can also be ruthlessly vengeful. The fastest sharpshooter and re-loader on the team, Barney’s weapons of choice include assault rifles, handguns and revolvers, like his dual- modified Kimber Gold Combat II, first made in the late 1800s for Western gunfighters.

“Barney has access to all this modern equipment, but his good-luck charm is a classic six-shooter,” says the Stallone. “He is a quick-draw artist, as we established in the first film. Watching the movie, people might think it’s not possible to be that fast, but that is actually as fast as I move. In fact, my speed is half the speed of what the real fellows can do. It’s incredibly cinematic and still realistic.”

Jason Statham is also back as blade expert Lee Christmas, Barney’s second-in- command and closest friend. A former British Special Air Service soldier, Christmas is a knife-wielding killing machine. Relentlessly competitive, he and Barney share a barbed wit that shows up in their pointed exchanges of good-natured verbal jabs and one-liners.

“The relationship between Christmas and Barney is so good,” says Stallone. “They’re a great team with real affection for each other, but they’re constantly bickering.”

Statham says his character is the kind of guy he’d want to share a beer with, which is a tribute to Stallone’s writing. “He creates real characters with soul and heart,” Statham notes. “Superheroes in capes are great, but Sly writes about real heroes. He’s played a hero for his whole career. No one does it better.”

Arnold Schwarzenegger also returns as Trench Mauser, Barney’s former teammate and sometime rival. Always somehow managing to show up just when he’s needed, Trench is a man of many talents. Seemingly capable of surviving just about anything, he is a loner and an expert with an Auto Assault-12.

“This is the ultimate action film,” says Schwarzenegger, who has starred in nearly two dozen. “But it also has a great emotional rollercoaster ride and interesting characters. Sly really knows how to tell a story and how to use each actor’s talents in the best possible way.” Working with a cast packed with iconic actors was surprisingly relaxed, he says.

“There was no fighting about who had more lines or more close ups. It’s really an ensemble piece that allows everyone to shine. We all have our own talents and to bring them all together was fantastic. There was a little bit of competition maybe, because everyone wanted to do their best and I think that was really good for the film.”

Completing the original Expendables lineup are Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Jet Li and Terry Crews. Nearly 30 years ago, Lundgren was personally chosen by Stallone to play the Russian fighter Ivan Drago in Rocky IV. His Expendables character, Gunner Jensen, is a classic tough guy who has nearly been undone by too much adrenaline, drinking and combat stress. Enforced retirement may just be the last straw.

“Stallone has a knack for knowing what audiences like,” says Lundgren. “He’s created a group of different, accessible and colorful characters that you can feel for. Adding all these new names brings another layer to it. When I am playing a scene with Wesley Snipes or Harrison Ford, I am going to work a little harder.”

Lundgren says that part of the fun for the audience is experiencing the actors’ real- life physical prowess. “We really can do this stuff,” he explains. “I was a karate champion. Jason was an Olympic diver. Stallone has done a lot of training. Arnold, of course, was Mr. Universe. Terry Crews played pro football. We got the MMA champ, Randy Couture, not to mention the new people. We have a lot of people with real skills. When Terry picks up a hundred-pound Gatling gun with one hand, that’s him doing it and I think that adds a certain reality to the whole experience.”

Retired three-time UFC world champion and mixed martial artist Randy Couture is back as Toll Road, The Expendables’ resourceful demolitions expert. His signature weapon is an M4A1 assault rifle. Toll Road has been a close friend of the group’s heavy arms specialist, Hale Caesar, played by Terry Crews.

“The movie is a who’s who of action films,” says Couture. “And with the new kids, we now have three cast members who come from a professional fighting background. I think that lends itself to an authenticity you don’t find in a lot of other movies. It’s pretty neat.”

“We have Rocky, The Terminator, Indiana Jones, The Transporter, Mad Max, Desperado and Blade,” former NFL football player-turned-actor, Crews says. “It’s Stallone’s version of The Avengers. It’s the biggest roster of action screen icons ever assembled, and these guys depend on brute strength, brains and determination to get the job done.

“And then we also have the young Expendables, who are potentially the next generation of action stars,” Crews adds. “It’s not just a movie—it’s a once-in-a-lifetime event.”

Tough, loyal and great with an automatic shotgun, Caesar is also always armed with a quip. He unleashes a new toy for The Expendables 3: a Dillon M-134D Gatling gun with six spinning barrels that spits out 3,000 rounds per minute—an awesome weapon that makes his beloved AA-12 look like a pop gun.

Also on hand is world-renowned martial artist and beloved movie star Jet Li, playing Yin Yang, the Asian-American martial arts master. An expert in Fanziquan Kung Fu (Eagle Claw), Yin can bring an enemy down with throwing stars and shurikens.

With the core team in place, the filmmakers literally aimed for the stars to complete the historic cast. Uber-villain Conrad Stonebanks makes his first appearance in the Expendables franchise. As played by Mel Gibson, Stonebanks is an original co-founder of The Expendables. He and Barney survived the Vietnam War together, but their relationship soured as Stonebanks’ darker side took hold. When he became an illegal arms trader, Barney was forced to kill him—or so he thought. Now wanted for crimes against humanity, Stonebanks has an actual army at his command. He plans to prevail or die trying.

“Mel is very strong,” says Stallone. “He’s such a handsome man and he’s gotten powerful too. When I look back to when we started our careers, we were real physical lightweights. I was about 165 pounds and now we’re about 200 pounds. We’ve grown in many ways.”

Gibson was excited at the idea of playing a villain who faces off with Stallone in a Rambo versus Mad Max final confrontation. “This film was great fun for me,” he says. “How often do you get a chance to just hang with the guys and blow a bunch of stuff up? I think the fact that no one is taking themselves too seriously is a big part of the appeal.”

The actor says he got into the best shape of his life for the role. “I wanted to make sure that Sly didn’t look like he was beating up a fat old man,” he adds. “So I went to the gym and worked every little muscle group, stayed off the carbs and got my strength up. This stuff doesn’t get any easier, but it was incumbent on me to keep up with the rest of the tribe.”

Stallone points to the mano a mano showdown as one of the highlights of the movie. “Punches are cheap, but history and character development take time,” he says. “Mel made Stonebanks a solid character, which helped make the movie’s final confrontation a very personal fight. I’ve shot a handful of fight scenes in my life, but this one’s truly special. It’s clean, it’s economical and it’s brutal, but what makes it really good is the history and character development between the two guys.”

Also new to the franchise is Harrison Ford, playing Max Drummer, an elite CIA field operations officer responsible for commissioning Barney and his renegade team to track down Stonebanks. In addition to supplying The Expendables with intelligence, Drummer, like the actor playing him, is a pilot of considerable skill, which Ford demonstrates in a Bell 412 helicopter.

“I had the best time working with Sly,” says Ford. “He’s a very talented actor who long ago won the battle of whether or not he should be taken seriously. He’s a real filmmaker.”

About the director Ford says: “Patrick is young but he’s also tremendously focused and very aware. He sees detail and he recognizes opportunity. His understanding of the importance of tone was extremely impressive. The movie has tons of humor, there’s a lot of energy and action, but it’s well phrased and controlled.”

Veteran action icon Wesley Snipes joins the franchise as Doctor Death, one of the original five Expendables. The role was tailor-made for Snipes. A former medic, Doc has been off the grid for eight years. The scene where we first meet Doc involves an over-the- top, unbelievable action sequence that will go down in Expendables history. And his expertise with blades (“the knife before Christmas,” as he describes himself) becomes a flashpoint for competition between him and Jason Statham’s Lee Christmas.

“At first there is tension between Christmas and Doctor Death, but once the circumstances escalate and the mission gets serious, they come together like knives from the same block. Unlike our characters, Jason and I got along wonderfully right off the bat. I like his accent and he likes mine!”

As impressed as he was by the veteran cast, the actor also enjoyed working with the rookie Expendables. Snipes himself comes from storied marital arts background so combining his expertise with that of the next generation of champions like Victor Ortiz and Ronda Rousey created a dynamic result. Snipes says, “It was a pretty spectacular experience and I’m honored to be a part of it.”

Also joining the team is Galgo, played by Antonio Banderas. A former Spanish Armed Forces soldier, Bosnian war veteran and expert sharpshooter, Galgo, like his namesake, the greyhound, is wickedly fast, both with words and his weapon, and provides hilarious comic relief to each scene he takes part in.

“Galgo is very excited to be part of The Expendables,” says Banderas. “He talks a lot and that adds humor to the whole situation. That is actually one of the most interesting things about the films to me. Everybody involved has the capacity to laugh at themselves, which elevates this beyond all the action movies that we already have seen. It’s a wink at audiences.”

Banderas is as excited to be an Expendable as his character is. “This is more than a movie,” he says. “It’s an event. You don’t see people like Harrison Ford, Wesley Snipes and Sylvester Stallone together very often. If I had not been invited to do this, I would have thought, hey, I did some action films. Why I am not there?”

While technically not an Expendable, Bonaparte, played by Kelsey Grammer, is an important support element for the team. A retired mercenary who makes a lucrative living as a “procurer of mercenary talents,” as Grammer puts it, he is world weary and brutally honest, with a keen eye for battle skills. For Barney, Bonaparte recruits individuals who are younger, faster and more tech-savvy—the new Expendables.

“I actually campaigned for this role,” says Grammer. “I’m not known as a fighter, but you never know, people might see me in a different light. I’d always wanted to work with Sly and I really like the first two films. It’s a great idea to gather up a bunch of guys famous for franchises and put them all in one. These are people the world loves, some of them for 30 years or more. To see them all together is a kick.”

The new Expendables include Victor Ortiz, a boxing champion in real life; Ronda Rousey, a top MMA fighter; Kellan Lutz, who starred in the Twilight franchise; and up-and- coming young actor Glen Powell. “These four people and their chemistry inject a kind of energy that we haven’t seen in the previous Expendables movies and the Ronda Rousey fight sequences are amazing,” says Jason Constantine.

Lutz plays John Smilee, a stone-faced former Navy SEAL and key member of the new Expendables. A fearless fighter and a skilled motocross motorcycle enthusiast, Smilee sports a scruffy beard, biker tattoos, a worn T-shirt and jeans, which do nothing to obscure Lutz’s matinee idol looks.

Ronda Rousey makes her acting debut as newcomer Luna, discovered by Bonaparte while working as a nightclub bouncer. The only female member of the team, Luna is an expert at close-quarters physical combat and proves to be an effective decoy during covert operations.

Rousey is the No. 1 female mixed martial artist in the world, the first and current UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion and the first American woman to earn an Olympic medal in Judo. In June 2014 Rousey was ranked No. 42 on the Maxim Magazine Hot 100.

“I was super-excited to even be considered for this,” says Rousey. “I hold Sylvester Stallone in such high regard and I want to be an action movie star. I believe that I am the most dangerous unarmed woman on the planet and that’s who I’m playing.”

Stallone remembers the first time he saw Rousey. “I said, ‘This one’s a natural.’ We wanted to add a woman who could not only hold her own in a real fight, but be able to beat up all The Expendables. I think she could—except maybe Randy.”

Welterweight boxing champion Victor Ortiz also makes his big-screen debut as Mars, a sharpshooter, lightning-fast boxer and lethal soldier. Mars has been court-martialed five times in the past three years. The only reason the Army has held onto him is that he’s the best at what he does—which is handling a laser-ranged XM25 assault rifle with 25mm high-explosive airburst rounds that can be programmed to detonate over or behind a target. Mars’ Achilles heel is his deathly fear of heights.

Ortiz was thrilled to be handpicked by Stallone for the role. “It was surreal to be called in to meet a legend,” he says. “I grew up on the Rocky movies and I idolize the guy. In fact, Sylvester Stallone as Rocky was the reason I became a boxer, he inspired me to become World Champion and now I can say I got to shoot an incredible movie with some of the greatest actors of all time.”

Last but not least is Thorn, played by Glen Powell. One of the new tech-savvy breed of mercenaries, Thorn is a drone pilot and hacker extraordinaire. He once hacked into Seattle’s Central Operating System and shut down the whole city for three days—which landed him an 18-month prison term. He is a death defying free-climber who is unafraid to throw down when the situation calls for it.

“I’m a huge fan of the franchise in general,” says Powell. “But this third one is not only a great third installment, it’s an amazing action movie on its own. A group of professional soldiers is forced to deal with their own mortality. They’re expendable and they are about to be expended. I think it’s really cool to see the ultimate badass guys now asking, ‘Are we still badass?’ And the answer is yes, they are, but so are we.”

Reflecting on the wealth of younger talent added to The Expendables, Stallone says, “They are all fresh, all new. Some of them are already quite accomplished in the sports world, so they bring that fire in the gut, which is exactly what I was looking for. This isn’t Shakespeare in the Park. I was looking salt-of-the-earth individuals that the audience can identify with.”

“Each of the young Expendables brings something unique to the role,” says Templeton. “It’s a new and a very welcome twist. These actors are just starting their journey, so I think it’s been a good adventure for them to watch and learn and grow.”


A WORLD AWAY

To capture the epic-scale action and intricate stunt choreography of The Expendables 3, the filmmakers returned to familiar ground: Bulgaria, where many of the most breathtaking scenes of The Expendables 2 were set. For more than 10 action-packed weeks, two units operated simultaneously in the former Eastern Bloc nation situated in southeastern Europe and bordering on Serbia, Greece, Romania, the Republic of Macedonia, and Turkey. With a wealth of diverse locations that range from derelict shipyards along the Black Sea coastline to pristine mountains and picturesque hamlets, posh cosmopolitan cities and forgotten Cold War-era military bases, Bulgaria offered everything they needed.

“Our team in Bulgaria, led by Danny Lerner and Les Weldon, created the illusion that we traveled all over the world,” says Thompson. “They even locked down a harbor in Varna on the Black Sea—something that could never be done in the United States or in most of Western Europe.”

“Bulgaria gave us give us a lot of leeway to shoot in places and situations that we could absolutely not do anywhere else in the world,” agrees Weldon. “We had a helicopter land on top of a moving train. We were on the tarmac of the international airport. That could never have happened at LAX.”

Enormous sets were also constructed, including a replica bridge on a former military airstrip for a huge night shoot. “The scope of some of these locations just takes my breath away,” Stallone says. “They are massive and Patrick shot them in a way that has extraordinary appeal.”

In addition to Bulgaria’s unique practical locations, the production utilized the stages at the Nu Boyana Studios, nestled in a mountainside near the capital city of Sofia. Launched in September 1962, when the country was still a Soviet satellite, the studio became one of the largest film producers in Europe, churning out about 50 feature films annually. By 1989, political and financial unrest destabilized Bulgaria and the studios fell into disrepair. In 2006 Nu Image/Millennium Films became Boyana Film’s new owner and began a comprehensive plan of renovation.

After extensively refurbishing and modernizing the sprawling soundstages and other facilities to Hollywood standards, Nu Image/Millennium renamed it Nu Boyana. With a total of 13 soundstages and state-of-the-art production support facilities, the studio offers an extensively detailed and still growing set that can replicate city streets in Manhattan and other major metropolises, a full-scale Roman Coliseum, an extensive armory, a leading-edge visual effects facility, and a modern Kodak film lab.

“I’d have no qualms about coming back here,” says King-Templeton. “The resources in Bulgaria were so vast and diverse. We had the desert, the waterfront, the Eastern European countryside. The crews are excellent and the Bulgarian people are great. The country is now a hub for film and TV production in Europe.”

In addition to expanding the cast, the filmmakers have differentiated The Expendables 3 by pulling out all the stops when it comes to action scenes. “The most important thing for me beside the story is the action,” says Lerner. “We have huge action, bigger than in the first two, because that is what our audience wants.”

To ensure that, the filmmakers brought in Dan Bradley, one of Hollywood’s most admired second unit directors. “We had the equivalent of two full films shooting simultaneously,” says Weldon. “Dan has been the top action second-unit director in the business for many, many years. When you have a guy of that stature, you have to provide a full unit so that he can do what he does best. Otherwise, you’re just wasting time.”

Working with Allen Hall, an Academy Award®-winning special effects expert, and J.

J. Perry, one of the industry’s top stunt coordinators, Bradley has created breathtaking set pieces that give lie to the belief that CGI has become the only way to go.

“One of the things audiences have come to expect from us is mind-blowing action like they’ve never seen before, done without a green screen or a lot of CGI,” says Constantine. “Dan Bradley, our second unit director, created some of the most jaw-dropping situations and put his movie stars in the middle of them. These are real movie stars and stuntmen accomplishing incredible things. It’s our biggest film yet.”

The cast members were confident they were completely safe with Bradley as they took part in some mind-blowing action sequences. “The second unit and the stunt guys were fabulous in this one,” says Lundgren. “They put us right in the middle of the action. I think the audience is going to love knowing that when something blows up or a truck goes off the edge, we are really in the middle of it.”

Perry, the stunt coordinator, says this was the most massive script he had ever undertaken. “It’s as big as three movies rolled into one,” he says. “I only do action films where big dudes are smashing other big dudes and things are getting blown up and people are getting shot in the face. That’s what Expendables is all about, so I felt right at home.”

The climactic final sequence, which the filmmakers refer to as “the block,” was shot in a vast expanse of twisted metal and concrete rubble that was once a Bulgarian steel foundry. “That was an absolutely amazing location,” says Stallone. “The scale of it is mind- boggling. You don’t realize something this big exists. It’s pretty decrepit now, which was fantastic for our film. It looks like Armageddon.”

The sequence is non-stop, wildly inventive, meticulously staged mayhem, says Perry. “All the young Expendables have been taken hostage and Sly has to go with his old team and rescue these kids. There’s a huge shootout with helicopters and tanks and 1,000 troops.”

With the film wrapped and ready to go, even Stallone looks back at the experience with a little bit of wonder. “This is the only job in the world that lasts for a short period of time and then it is over, so you turn in your wardrobe and you go back to your civilian life knowing you can’t come back and do it again. You can never relive these moments on set. But we have it all on film. That’s the beauty of it.”


ABOUT THE CAST 

SYLVESTER STALLONE (Barney Ross)

Sylvester Stallone has established worldwide recognition as an actor, writer and director since he played the title role in his own screenplay of Rocky, which won the 1976 Academy Award® for Best Picture.

Since that seminal motion picture, Rocky grew to a franchise of five sequels and in 2006 Stallone concluded the series with Rocky Balboa, a critical and audience success which resolutely confirmed both Stallone and Rocky as iconic cultural symbols. In addition, to commemorate a character which has become as real as any living person to film-going audiences around the world, a statue of Rocky Balboa was placed at the foot of the now- famous steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum at a dedication ceremony presided over by the Mayor.

In more recent times, Stallone wrote, directed and starred in Rambo, which continued the saga of Vietnam vet John Rambo twenty five years after the debut of Rambo: First Blood. For the latest installment, Stallone took the company on location to the inner jungles of Burma basing the compelling story in a country where crimes against humanity, civil war and genocide have existed for over 60 years – and no one is doing anything about it.

Stallone then released his a most ambitious project, the action thriller The Expendables, which he has wrote, directed and starred in, and for which he hired an all-star cast including Jason Statham, Mickey Rourke, Jet Li, Eric Roberts, Dolph Lungren and Steve Austin – as well as Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger, which opened to Number One at the Box Office – making him the only actor to open a number one film across five decades. Sly took the company on location to the interior of Brazil and the city streets New Orleans, filming over just a few short months.

Born in New York City, Stallone attended school in suburban Philadelphia where he first started acting and also became a star football player. He then spent two years instructing at the American College of Switzerland in Geneva.

Returning to the United States, he enrolled as a drama major at the University of Miami and also began to write. Stallone left college to pursue an acting career in New York City, but the jobs did not come easily. By 1973, Stallone had auditioned for almost every casting agent in New York and had gone on thousands of acting calls with little success.

During this period, he turned more and more to writing, churning out numerous screenplays while waiting for his acting break. The opportunity first came in 1974 when he was cast as one of the leads in The Lords of Flatbush. He also received his first writing credit for “additional dialogue” on this film.

With the money earned from that film, Stallone left New York for Hollywood. He again began to make the rounds of studios and casting agents, managing to get a few small roles in television and movies. He also continued to pursue writing.

Prize fighter Rocky Balboa was born and given life in a script Stallone wrote in longhand. Several producers offered to buy the screenplay, wanting to cast a name star in the title role, which Stallone insisted on playing himself.

Although his bank balance was barely $100, Stallone held fast with his perseverance finally paying off in a big way.

In addition to Rocky Balboa and Rambo, Stallone’s credits as actor/writer/director are Rocky II and Paradise Alley. As actor and co-writer, Stallone filmed F.I.S.T., First Blood, Rambo: First Blood Part II, Rhinestone and Rambo III. He co-wrote, directed and produced Staying Alive and starred in Nighthawks, Victory, Tango & Cash and Lock Up. Rocky V, starring and written by Stallone and directed by John Avildsen, opened in 1990.

He also starred in Demolition Man, which set box-office records for its Fall 1993 release and in the films The Specialist, Assassins and Daylight.

Stallone starred in the challenging and unique role of Freddy Heflin, in the Miramax feature film Copland, which has garnered him further international critical and audience acclaim.

He had the starring role in Get Carter for Warner Bros. co-starring Michael Caine, which opened in the Fall of 2000. Stallone wrote and starred in the number one box office race-car thriller Driven, co-starring Burt Reynolds and Christian de la Fuente. In addition, he filmed Avenging Angelo, co-starring Madeline Stowe. Both films were for the Warner Bros. He also starred in the role of “The Toymaker” for director Robert Rodriguez in the hit film Spy Kids 3, the final installment of that successful film franchise.

He was associated with “The Contender,” a powerful and action-packed unscripted series which aired on the NBC Television Network and then ESPN.

In 2002 Stallone was honored by the Video Dealers Software Association when he was presented with the “Action Star of the Millennium Award” at the Organization’s 21st Annual Convention.

In addition, Stallone’s influence and appreciation are acknowledged worldwide. In 2008 The Zurich Film Festival presented him with the Festival’s Inaugural Golden Icon Award, which recognized his achievements as a great American Actor and Filmmaker and in 2009, The Venice Film Festival honored Stallone with their Glory to the Filmmaker Award.

For the release of The Expendables Stallone was honored at the Spike TV’s Guy’s Choice Awards with the coveted GuyCon Award, presented by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. He was also feted at the 2010 Los Angeles Film Festival as the event’s Honored Guest and received the Visionary Award at the Hollywood Reporter Key Arts 2010 Event. At the 2010 Comicon Convention, he was the first inductee into the IGN Action Hero Hall of Fame.

The Expendables 2, the highly-anticipated sequel opened to number one at the Box Office. Shot on location in Bulgaria, Stallone wrote and starred in the film along with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis Jason Statham and the original Expendables cast. Liam Hemsworth, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Chuck Norris also starred.

Stallone recently appeared in Bullet To the Head for director Walter Hill and producer Joel Silver for Warner Bros., and Escape Plan co-starring with Arnold Schwarzenegger for Summit Entertainment. At Christmas 2013 he was seen starring in Grudge Match co-starring with Robert DeNiro.

In March, 2014 Rocky the Musical opened at The Winter Garden on Broadway. The Musical is based on the original film written by Stallone with music by Stephen Flaherty and Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens.


JASON STATHAM (Lee Christmas)

Jason Statham is an international star best known for his hard-hitting action thrillers. Most recently he was seen besides James Franco and Kate Bosworth in Homefront, and in screenwriter Steven Knight’s (Dirty Pretty Things, Eastern Promises) directorial debut Redemption. Other films slated for 2014 release include HEAT and Fast and the Furious 7.

Born in Sydenham, England, Statham was one of the top divers on the British national team, eventually placing 12th in the world. When he trained at the famed Crystal Palace National Sport Center in London, film crews and photographers pursued him as new talent and he eventually met the executive producer of an upcoming film. Statham then met with the director, Guy Ritchie, and that’s how he made his film debut as Bacon in Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels (1998).

Statham went on to work with Ritchie again in Snatch (2000), starring opposite Brad Pitt and Benicio Del Toro. He was then cast by French film impresario Luc Besson in the title role of Frank Martin in The Transporter (2002); starred as Handsome Rob in the blockbuster remake of The Italian Job (2003); and kept moviegoers’ hearts racing as Chev Chelios, the adrenaline-compromised action hero who powered Crank (2006).

Statham returned as Frank Martin in Transporter 2 (2006) and Transporter 3 (2008) before starring in Roger Donaldson’s The Bank Job (2008), the critically acclaimed true story of the 1971 Baker Street bank robbery. He also top lined the action remake Death Race (2008), starring opposite Ian McShane.

Next Statham reprised the role of Chev Chelios in Crank 2: High Voltage (2009) and teamed up with some of the world’s biggest action stars in Sylvester Stallone’s The

Expendables (2010). Statham followed up with a remake of The Mechanic (2011), which originally starred Charles Bronson as professional hit man Arthur Bishop.

Statham’s other film credits include Killer Elite (2011) based on a true story written by Ralph Fiennes and starring Robert Deniro and Clive Owen, Safe (2012), directed by Boaz Yakin and produced by Lawrence Bender, and the action packed sequel Expendables 2 (2012). He then went on to star opposite Jennifer Lopez in the thriller Parker (2013).


ANTONIO BANDERAS (Galgo)

Since his introduction to American cinema in the highly acclaimed Mambo Kings, Antonio Banderas is irrefutably one of the leading international actors of his generation. He has received critical praise for his performances in film, television and theater, as well as behind the scenes as a feature film director. In 2005, he was honored with a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

His second directorial feature is the Spanish film El Camino De Los Ingleses (titled Summer Rain in the U.S.). A coming of age story, the film follows the first loves, lusts and obsessions of friends on vacation at the end of the 1970s. He made his directorial debut with Crazy in Alabama starring his wife Melanie Griffith.

In 2003, Banderas earned a Tony Award® nomination for Best Actor in a Musical for his Broadway debut in the Roundabout Theater Company production of NINE, a musical inspired by Fellini’s 8 ½. He also received a Best Actor Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, Drama League Award and Theatre World Award. NINE, directed by David Leveaux, also starred Chita Rivera.

Banderas has worked with some of Hollywood’s best directors and leading actors including Robert Rodriquez’s Desperado opposite Salma Hayek and the sequel Once Upon a Time in Mexico opposite Johnny Depp; Original Sin opposite Angelina Jolie; Alan Parker’s Evita opposite Madonna, in which he received his first Best Actor Golden Globe® nomination; Martin Campbell’s The Mask of Zorro opposite Catherine Zeta-Jones, in which he received his second Best Actor Golden Globe® nomination, and the sequel The Legend of Zorro; Neil Jordan’s Interview with a Vampire with Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt; Jonathan

Demme’sPhiladelphia opposite Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington; Bille August’s House of the Spirits with Meryl Streep and Glenn Close; and Brian de Palma’s Femme Fatale. He was nominated for his third Best Actor Golden Globe® for his performance as the infamous Pancho Villa in HBO’s 2003 release of And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself.

Born in Malaga, Spain, Banderas attended the School of Dramatic Arts in his hometown, and upon graduation he began his acting career working in a small theater company based there. He later moved to Madrid and became an ensemble member of the prestigious National Theater of Spain.

In 1982, Banderas was cast by writer/director Pedro Almodovar in Labyrinth of Passion. It was the first of seven films Banderas would do with Almodovar, the others being Matador, Law of Desire, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown and Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! The international success of these films introduced to him to Hollywood. Banderas can also be seen in La Piel Que Habito (The Skin I Live In) and I’m So Excited, also written and directed by Almodovar.

Other film credits include: Justin and the Knights of Valour, Ruby Sparks, Haywire, Black Gold, Day of the Falcon, Puss In Boots, You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger, The Big Bang, The Other Man, Shrek 2 and Shrek the Third, Shrek Forever After, Take the Lead, Spy Kids trilogy, Miami Rhapsody, Four Rooms, Assassins, Never Talk to Strangers, Two Much, The 13th Warrior, Play it to the Bone and Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever.

Banderas can most recently be seen in Machete Kills, directed by Robert Rodriguez starring alongside Mel Gibson, Amber Heard, and Jessica Alba. Banderas signed on to play Jacq Vaucan in Gabe Ibanez’s Sci-Fi Thriller Automata alongside Dylan McDermott and Melanie Griffith.


JET LI (Yin Yang)

Jet Li is a world-renowned martial artist, movie star, philanthropist, and entrepreneur.

Born in Beijing in 1963, Li began practicing Chinese Wushu at the age of 8, and became the five-time consecutive All-Around National Wushu Champion of China (1975-

1979). As a child, he was selected by the Chinese government to perform at various diplomatic functions in over 45 countries, including for President Richard Nixon of the United States.

At 17, Li kicked off his 30+ year film career with the timeless classic Shaolin Temple. Since then, he has starred in countless Chinese martial arts epics, such as Once Upon a Time in China, Fist of Legend, Hero, and Fearless. His film credits also include numerous Hollywood hits such as Leathal Weaon 4, Romeo Must Die, The Mummy 3, and The Expendables series.

As a philanthropist, Li has made tremendous social impact in China with his foundation, the One Foundation. With its innovative model of broad-based participation and micro-philanthropy as a way of life, the One Foundation has become a major force in the development of China’s nascent philanthropy sector.

Today, Li is focused on his new start-up, Taiji Zen. Rooted in ancient Chinese wisdom, Taiji Zen seeks to inspire and enable a modern, balanced lifestyle through a suite of unique mind-body training programs and products – the Taiji Zen lifestyle. Visit www.taijizen.com for more information.


WESLEY SNIPES (Doc)

Wesley T. Snipes is a globally celebrated actor, film producer, master in various martial arts, and a loving father and husband. Born in Orlando, Florida on July 31, 1962, he spent his childhood between Orlando, Florida and Bronx, New York while attending the High School of Performing Arts in NYC and graduated from Jones High School in Florida.

While attending the High School for Performing Arts, Snipes started performing off Broadway where he started to fine-tune his craft as a drama and musical theater artist. He later founded a bus-n-truck street troupe with his friends called “Struttin Street Stuff” which took him into central parks, dinner theaters, and regional productions in Florida before his college years at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Purchase.

Snipes’ performances in TV commercials and off Broadway soon caught the attention of soon to be Chairman of 20th Century Fox, Joe Roth, who cast Snipes as an Olympic hopeful boxer in Roth’s directorial debut, Streets of Gold. Snipes was then handpicked by award winning director Martin Scorsese and legendary record producer Quincy Jones to play the gang leader in Michael Jackson’s Bad music video. Snipes movied on to Wildcats (1986) and then worked with Spike Lee in Mo’ Better Blues (1990) and Jungle Fever (1991).

The unique diversity of Snipe’s acting ability and his proficiency in martial arts of various styles, coupled with his tall, charismatic looks garnered him the attention and roles alongside some of the industry’s biggest names – Directors such as Martin Scorsese and Walter Hill and actors Robert De Niro, Sean Connery, Dennis Hopper and Sylvester Stallone all took notice of his talents. These roles include Major League (1989), Passenger 57 (1992), Rising Sun (1993), Boiling Point (1993), Demolition Man (1993), Drop Zone (1994), The Fan (1996), Future Sport (1998), and Undisputed (2002), all of which made him a most favored African American action figure not only in Hollywood, but internationally.

Snipes has not limited himself into just being an action hero, and continues to pleasantly surprise his fans and audiences with his versatile dramatic acting skills, evident in his award winning roles in The Water Dance (1992) and as a drag queen in the drama To Wong Foo: Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar (1995). In 1997, Snipes was awarded the Volpi Cup for Best Actor of the Year at the Venice Film Festival, and for One Night Stand (1997), he received the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Motion Picture NAACP Image Award.

Other notable dramatic roles include Disappearing Acts (2011), Murder at 1600 (1997) and US Marshals (1998). In 1998, although faced with strong opposition and concerns, Snipes’ acumen saw the need for an urban action hero. Hence Blade, a lesser known Marvel character, was adapted and released. As he had envisioned, Snipes successfully brought the comic character Blade alive in action-packed fight sequences, which he choreographed himself. The Blade Trilogy is currently one of the highest grossing adaptations worth $1.5 billion worldwide. In the same year, 1998, the success of Snipes film career got engraved into the Hollywood Walk of Fame and once again was affirmed by him receiving an honorary doctorate from his alma mater at SUNY Purchase.

Snipes has also expanded his working space abroad, widening his global fan base doing independent projects which have established him as one of the industry’s top internationally bankable stars.

Beyond film and TV, Snipes, as a producer, has ventured into documentaries. His award winning documentaries include: John Henrik Clark: A Great Mighty Walk, and Dr. Ben, about historically significant African American teachers and historians (2001). Added to that list are Blade (1998), Dr. Maya Angelou’s directorial debut, Down in the Delta (1998), Big Hit (1998), Futuresport (1998), and Masters of Martial Arts (1998), which was one of the highest grossing projects on TNT featuring the 50 top male and female Grand Masters. The Art of War (2000), Disappearing Acts (2000), Blade II (2002), Blade: Trinity (2004), Julius Styles: The International-IOS Game (2011), OM5 (2011), web graphic novels and mobile games are all additional testaments to Snipes’ producer talents. Snipes was one of the first Actor/Producers to formally enter integrated digital media services market in 1997, with the creation of Mamisi Digital Media Studio, further bridging the gap between computer technology and the entertainment industry before there was a Myspace, Facebook or Twitter.

Snipes ranks among the highest paid African American actors with gross earnings worldwide estimated at approximately $2 billion. His highest box office hits include The Blade Trilogy (1998-2004), White Men Can’t Jump (1992), Money Train (1995), and New Jack City (1991).

Snipes has been married to Korean artist Nikki Park since 2000. He has four children with her and an older son from a previous marriage.

DOLPH LUNDGREN (Gunner Jensen)

Hans Dolph Lundgren was born and raised in an academic middle-class family in Stockholm, Sweden. Despite an early interest in playing the drums and clowning around in high school comedies, Dolph decided to follow in his father’s and older brother’s cerebral footsteps and pursue an engineering degree. After having completed his military service in the Swedish Marine Corps, Dolph enrolled in the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, studying the same subject as his older brother: Chemical Engineering. He attended both Washington State University and Clemson University in South Carolina, studying Chemistry on various scholarships. He graduated from The Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, completing his Master’s Degree in Chemical Engineering on an exchange program with the University of Sydney in Australia. Graduating at the head of his class, Dolph was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston, one of the world’s top engineering schools.

That same year the young Ph.D. student met the exotic singer Grace Jones and fell in love. He decided to move to New York City and take up modeling to make some extra cash. A bit too muscular for a model’s size 40, Dolph was to begin at MIT a few months later. On a friend’s advice: “Hey man, you look like you should be in the movies”…this is where it all began.

His motion picture debut came in the James Bond feature A View To A Kill in 1985. However, it was Dolph’s memorable performance in Rocky IV later that year that definitely got him noticed worldwide. After a nine month audition process, among 5,000 hopefuls, Dolph was cast by writer-director Sylvester Stallone as his fearsome Russian opponent, Captain Ivan Drago. Dolph grit his teeth and managed to build quite a career as an international action-hero and has since starred in more than 50 feature films.

Throughout the ups and downs of Hollywood, Dolph has always stayed close to the Martial Arts: “Karate and physical fitness have kept me reasonably sane in a very tough and often spiritually empty business.” After completing a grueling examination, Dolph was awarded his third degree black belt by the World Karate Organization in Tokyo. His other athletic accomplishments include being the captain of the Swedish National Karate Team and the individual champion of the Swedish, European and Australian Heavyweight Full Contact Divisions. In addition to his Karate expertise, Dolph was selected by the U.S. Olympic Committee to serve as the Team Leader of the U.S. Olympic Pentathlon Team during the 1996 Atlanta Games.

After getting married, Dolph spent considerable time in Europe, raising his two daughters. In 2009, Dolph received a call from his old friend Sly Stallone: ‘Yo, Dolph. I got this script…’ He ended up co-starring opposite Stallone, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger in the box office hit, The Expendables. “It was terrific working with Sly again and he had created a very colorful character for me the picture,” says Lundgren. “It also felt great to be back on the big screen again’. Soon, The Expendables 2 followed and last year, Dolph reprised his role as comedic action-man Gunner Jensen in the highly anticipated The Expendables 3, coming out in August. This time featuring an even bigger star-studded cast, adding Mel Gibson, Wesley Snipes, Antonio Banderas and Harrison Ford to the worldwide action franchise.

As well as being a seasoned actor, Dolph has directed five feature films. His production companies Thor Pictures and Red Orm Productions are currently developing several projects, in which he will produce, star and direct. His latest directorial project was a feature he co-wrote and directed: Command Performance produced by Avi Lerner at NuImage Films.

Dolph is currently producing and starring in Skin Trade, an action-thriller about human trafficking, that he also co-wrote. ‘This is a script I’ve had for seven years and I never thought it was going to get made’, says Dolph. ‘It’s incredibly exciting to finally stand on the set and realize that it is actually happening. Especially working with actors like Ron Perlman, Peter Weller, Michael Jai White, Celina Jade and Thai martial arts legend Tony Jaa.’

Dolph is also a founding member of ‘Group of Eight’ an off-Broadway theatre group started in the 90’s.

Shortly after ROCKY IV, Dolph released his workout video, Maximum Potential. He is currently working on a fitness book for men: Train Like An Action Star, which will be released this fall by Sky Horse Publishing in New York. In addition to the book, Dolph is also developing a personalized organic brand of vitamins and supplements.

He has two teenage daughters, Ida and Greta, who reside in Europe. Dolph is currently living in Los Angeles with his fiancé Jenny Sanderson, a Swedish artist and photographer.


RANDY COUTURE (Toll Road)

As a 6-time World Champion and Hall of Famer in the fastest growing sport in the world, Randy Couture is a true icon in the sport of Mixed Martial Arts and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). In addition to his stellar standing in combat sports, Randy is also a successful business man, best-selling author and actor.

Randy’s growing career in acting includes the hit films The Expendables and The Expendables 2, opposite Sylvester Stallone and Bruce Willis. He has most recently starred in Ambushed opposite Dolph Lundgren and Vinnie Jones and also filmed Stretch opposite Patrick Wilson and Ed Helms. On the television front, as a part of his multi-year talent, development and production deal with Spike TV, Randy served as a coach on the first season of “Fight Master: Bellator MMA” in summer 2013 and will next appear in Spike’s new reality show “Gym Rescue,” for which he also serves as an executive producer, slated to premiere in August.

Born in Lynnwood, Washington in 1963, Randy served 6 years in the U.S. Army after graduating from high school during which time he took up boxing. Having completed his service, Randy decided to begin working as an assistant wrestling and strength conditioning coach at Oregon State University. By December of 1997, at the age of 33, Randy made his debut into the world of professional fighting claiming victory in the Heavyweight division of his first appearance in the UFC and soon earning the moniker of “Randy ‘The Natural’ Couture.” Randy eventually moved down a weight class to the Light- Heavyweight division, where he would spend the remainder of his UFC career. Randy is to this day, the only UFC competitor to hold titles in both the Heavyweight and Light- Heavyweight divisions.

In June of 2006, Randy became the 4th professional fighter to be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame and that same year also retired. In March of 2007, Randy came out of retirement at the age of 44 shocking the world by re-capturing the UFC Heavyweight belt and becoming the first man in UFC history to win the Heavyweight title a total of three times. “The Natural” retired once and for all at the age of 47 but continues to be a highly respected presence in combat sports.

Randy’s other film credits include Lionsgate’s Set Up opposite Bruce Willis, David Mamet’s Red Belt for Sony Classics followed by a starring role in Universal’s The Scorpion King: The Akkadian. Additionally, Randy played a recurring character on CBS’s “The Unit,” in a role written specifically for him. Randy also dedicates time to running his own chain of gyms, Xtreme Couture MMA; a thriving clothing line, Xtreme Couture MMA Clothing; a supplement company, Xtreme Couture Pharmaceuticals (XCAP); commentating for the UFC on FOX fight nights and giving back through his foundation, the Xtreme Couture GI Foundation dedicated to honoring the veterans of America’s Armed Forces. Additionally, Randy created MMAthletics with Fox Sports’ own Jay Glazer, a company focused on training professional athletes from various sports in the ways of Mixed Martial Arts and teaching them how that training can be applied to their respective sport’s discipline.

Randy currently resides in Las Vegas, Nevada and is an avid outdoorsman with a passion for motorcycles and hunting.


TERRY CREWS (Hale Caesar)

Since retiring from the NFL, TERRY CREWS has traded in his helmet and cleats to pursue an acting career while also becoming the ultimate family man and fitness enthusiast. Over the past few years, Crews has been one of those actors you see almost everywhere; whether he’s the overworked dad on “Everybody Hates Chris,” a tough guy in The Expendables series, the loveable goofball in White Chicks, Will McAvoy’s bodyguard in “The Newsroom,” or randy congressman Herbert Love in “Arrested Development,” Crews has proven that he’s adept at both drama and comedy. He’s currently a series regular on FOX’s Golden Globe® Award-winning comedy series “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” alongside

Andy Samberg and Andre Brauger as Sgt. Terry Jeffords, whose ripped exterior belies a sensitive and beleaguered interior. This year Crews has a number of films including Tyler Perry’s Single Mom’s Club, Draft Day with Kevin Costner, Blended with Adam Sandler, as well as reprising his role in the third installment of the Expendables franchise. Not one to limit himself, Crews will also add author to his resume this year with the release of his first book, Manhood, this May.

Crews was born in Flint, Michigan, and attended Flint Southwestern Academy. He earned an Art Excellence Scholarship to attend the Interlochen Center for the Arts and then Western Michigan University. While completing his studies as an art major, Crews was a key member of the WMU football team, earning all-conference honors as a defensive end. Crews was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in the 1991 NFL Draft. He carved out a career that lasted six seasons, including stints with the Rams, San Diego Chargers, Washington Redskins and Philadelphia Eagles.

Crews lives in Los Angeles with his wife of nearly 25 years, Rebecca. They have five children.


MEL GIBSON (Conrad Stonebanks)

Mel Gibson was born in upstate New York and moved with his family to Australia when he was 12 years old. Gibson attended the National Institute of Dramatic Arts at the University of New South Wales in Sydney. His stage appearances include "Death of a Salesman."

Gibson was eventually brought to the attention of director George Miller who cast him in Mad Max, the film that first brought him worldwide recognition. This was followed by the title role in Tim. Gibson's portrayal of a handicapped young man won him an Australian Film Institute Best Actor Award.

He was further established as an international star by the two hit sequels to Mad Max-- The Road Warrior and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome--along with Peter Weir's Gallipoli, which brought Gibson a second Australian Best Actor Award. A few years later, Weir and Gibson again collaborated on The Year of Living Dangerously.

Gibson made his American film debut in The River. Also, he starred in the worldwide record breaking Lethal Weapon (1, 2, 3, and 4) franchise. Gibson's other films include The Bounty, Mrs. Soffel, Tequila Sunrise, Bird on a Wire, Air America, and Hamlet. Hamlet, directed by Franco Zeffirelli, was the first film produced by Gibson's production company, Icon Productions. The role brought him the William Shakespeare Award from the Folger Theatre in Washington, DC. Also, he starred in the Icon produced Forever Young and Maverick. Gibson made his directorial debut and starred in The Man Without A Face, another Icon production. The company has also produced Immortal Beloved and Airborne, among others.

In 1995, Gibson produced, directed and starred in the critical and box office success Braveheart, which was the recipient of five Academy Awards® including Best Picture and Best Director, after receiving a leading 10 nominations. Gibson received a Golden Globe® Award for Best Director as well. Also, he received a Special Achievement in Filmmaking Award given by the National Board of Review and was honored as the 1996 NATO/ShoWest Director of the Year, as well as being the recipient of the Best Director Award given by the Broadcast Film Critics Association.

In 1996, Gibson starred in Ransom, directed by Ron Howard for Disney’s Touchstone Pictures. A remake of the 1956 MGM picture tells the story of a New York millionaire who must employ daring tactics to retrieve his kidnapped son. He received a Golden Globe® nomination for Best Actor in a Motion Picture (Drama), as well as winning the People’s Choice Award for Favorite Motion Picture Actor.

In August of 1997, Gibson starred in the romantic-thriller Conspiracy Theory, co-starring Julia Roberts and directed by Richard Donner for Warner Bros. In July of 1998, Gibson starred in Lethal Weapon 4, grossing close to $300 million worldwide.

In February of 1999, he starred in the hard-edge thriller Payback, an Icon Production based on Donald F. Westlake’s (writing as Richard Stark) novel The Hunter. Payback was distributed in the U.S. and Canada by Paramount Pictures and internationally by Warner Bros. In 2000, Gibson became the first actor in history to star in three $100 million films (domestic gross) during the same year. In the summer, Gibson starred in the emotionally charged adventure The Patriot as Benjamin Martin, a reluctant hero who is swept into the American Revolution when war reaches his home and threatens his family. The Columbia Pictures release was written by Robert Rodat (Saving Private Ryan) and directed by Roland Emmerich. Also, Mel lent his voice as the all-American rooster named Rocky; in the critically acclaimed DreamWorks SKG animated adventure comedy, Chicken Run.

Later that year, he starred as Nick Marshall, the chauvinistic advertising executive who gets in touch with his feminine side in the Paramount Pictures/Icon Productions, smash hit What Women Want. The romantic comedy, directed by Nancy Meyers and co-starring Helen Hunt opened at $33.6 million, that December. For his portrayal, he was nominated for a Golden Globe® as “Best Actor, Motion Picture Comedy.”

In 2002, Gibson starred in We Were Soldiers, a film based on the book We Were Soldiers Once...And Young, telling the story of the first battle between U.S. and Viet Cong troops, in which 400 soldiers were helicoptered in and surrounded by 2000 enemy troops, as told from the vantage point of Harold Moore, commander of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, and Joseph Galloway, a reporter who was on the scene for the 34-day battle. It was directed and written by Randall Wallace, who was nominated for an Academy Award® for writing Braveheart.

Later that year, he starred in M. Night Shyamalan’s thriller, Signs, for Disney, setting Gibson’s opening weekend box office record of $60 million and grossed an all-time individual record of over $400 million.

In 2004, Gibson produced, co-wrote and directed The Passion of The Christ starring Jim Caviezel, Maia Morgenstern and Monica Bellucci. The Ash Wednesday release on February 25 grossed an industry-record average of $41,295 per screen (3043 theaters) totaling a five-day gross of $125.2 million; giving it the best five-day opening ever, at that time, for a film with a Wednesday opening. The previous record-holder had been The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King ($124.1 million). The opening three-day weekend numbers totaled $83,848, 082 (Fri. - $22.9 million, Sat. $33 million, Sun. $27.8 million), making it number eight on the all-time opening weekend box-office chart at the time. The Passion of The Christ had a worldwide box-office gross of $610 million, making it the highest-grossing R-rated film and highest grossing independent film in film history. The film was nominated for three Academy Awards®.

In 2006, Gibson brought to life his latest epic, visceral action thriller, Apocalypto. Gibson produced, co-wrote and directed the thriller that follows one man's heart-pounding race through primeval jungles to rescue his family during the fading days of the mysterious, ancient Mayan civilization. Apocalypto opened at number one in its opening weekend grossing $15.2 million and garnered three Academy Award® nominations.

Gibson returned to acting in 2009 with GK Films’ Edge of Darkness, where he starred as Thomas Craven, a Boston detective who uncovers sinister government conspiracies when he investigates the brutal shooting death of his only daughter. The psychological action thriller was directed by Martin Campbell.

Gibson was in The Beaver, directed by Jodie Foster, about a man who finds unusual solace in his beaver hand-puppet.

Gibson produced, co-wrote and starred in the Icon Production Get The Gringo, which centers on a career criminal who gets caught by Mexican authorities and is sent to a drug and crime filled prison where he learns how to survive with the help of a 9-year-old boy. Icon Productions teamed with Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment on a domestic direct-to-consumer release in partnership with DIRECTV in May 2012.

Gibson recently starred in Open Roads Film Machete Kills, directed by Robert Rodriguez.


HARRISON FORD (Max Drummer)

Harrison Ford has starred in some of the most successful and acclaimed films in cinema history, including the landmark Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises and a total of eight Best Picture Oscar®-nominated movies. Ford earned an Academy Award® nomination for his compelling portrayal of Detective John Book in Peter Weir’s 1985 Oscar®-nominated hit Witness, for which he also received Golden Globe® and BAFTA Award nominations, all for Best Actor. Ford subsequently garnered three more Best Actor Golden Globe® nominations: for his performances in Weir’s 1986 drama The Mosquito Coast; the 1994 Oscar®-nominated blockbuster The Fugitive, for director Andrew Davis; and Sydney Pollack’s 1996 remake of Sabrina.

Over the course of his illustrious career, Ford has also been repeatedly honored for his contributions to the film industry, including the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s Cecil B. DeMille Award, in 2002, and the American Film Institute’s Lifetime Achievement Award, in 2000. In 1994, the National Association of Theater Owners named him the Box Office Star of the Century.

Ford most recently starred in Brian Helgeland’s acclaimed drama 42, the true story of legendary baseball player Jackie Robinson, who broke baseball’s color line. Ford has received widespread praise for his portrayal of Branch Rickey, the General Manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers who changed history when he signed Robinson to the team.

A native of Chicago, Ford launched his film career in 1973 with the breakthrough role of hot-rodder Bob Falfa in George Lucas’s seminal hit, American Graffiti. Four years later, he reunited with Lucas to play the iconic role of Han Solo in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope. The sci-fi epic earned 12 Oscar® nominations, including Best Picture, and went on to become the top-grossing film in history, a record it held for 20 years. Ford reprised the role of Han Solo in the sequels The Empire Strikes Back and The Return of the Jedi.

In 1981, Ford created another legendary screen character, Indiana Jones, in Steven Spielberg’s Oscar®-nominated mega-hit Raiders of the Lost Ark. During the 1980s, he starred in the blockbuster sequels Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. In 2008, he returned to the title role in the hugely successful Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Ford’s many other film credits include Francis Ford Coppola’s Oscar®-nominated features The Conversation and Apocalypse Now; Ridley Scott’s 1982 science fiction classic Blade Runner; Mike Nichols’ Oscar®-nominated romantic comedy Working Girl; the title role in the Nichols-directed drama Regarding Henry; Alan J. Pakula’s Presumed Innocent; Philip Noyce’s Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger, both based on the Tom Clancy bestsellers; Wolfgang Petersen’s Air Force One; Robert Zemeckis’s What Lies Beneath; Kathryn Bigelow’s K-19: The Widowmaker, which he also executive produced; Roger Michell’s Morning Glory; Jon Favreau’s Cowboys & Aliens; Robert Luketic’s Paranoia; and Gavin Hood’s Ender’s Game.

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (Trench)

Arnold Schwarzenegger is one of the most recognized individuals on the planet, having led an amazing life and achieving beyond his dreams in Hollywood, fitness, and public service.

This world-famous athlete, actor and politician was born in Thal, Austria in 1947. By the age of 20, Schwarzenegger was dominating the sport of competitive bodybuilding, becoming the youngest person ever to win the Mr. Universe title. By generating a new international audience for bodybuilding, Schwarzenegger turned himself into a sports icon. With his sights set on Hollywood, he emigrated to America in 1968, and went on to win five Mr. Universe titles and seven Mr. Olympia titles before retiring to dedicate himself to acting.

Schwarzenegger, who worked under the pseudonym Arnold Strong in his first feature, HERCULES In New York, quickly made a name for himself in Hollywood. In 1977, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognized him with a Golden Globe® for New Male Star of the Year for his role in Stay Hungry opposite Sally Field. His big break came in 1982 when the sword and sorcery epic, Conan The Barbarian, hit box office gold. In 1984, Schwarzenegger blew up the screen and catapulted himself into cinema history as the title character in James Cameron’s sci-fi thriller, Terminator. He is the only actor to be in both categories of the American Film Institute’s Hundred Years of Heroes and Villains for roles he played in the film. To date his films have grossed over $3 billion worldwide.

In an effort to give back to the country that allowed him to accomplish so much, Schwarzenegger ran for public office and was elected California’s 38th Governor. As governor, Schwarzenegger worked with leaders of both major political parties to address the greatest challenges facing the state in a bold and historic manner. His leadership put California at the forefront of the nation in addressing climate change, pushing for the development of renewable energies, rebuilding critical infrastructure, investing in stem cell research, and putting in place health care and political reforms.

Since leaving office in 2011, he has continued to promote state and local clean energy efforts by founding the non-profit R20: Regions of Climate Action. Just last year, he established the USC Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy, devoted to seeking bipartisan solutions to environmental, economic, and other public policy issues.

Most recently Schwarzenegger has combined his love of global issues and entertainment, to serve as executive producer and correspondent on Showtime’s climate change docu-series, Years Of Living Dangerously, which debuted in April 2014. In addition to being a legend on the silver screen, Schwarzenegger has also captivated the digital world with a string of self-produced viral videos, including “Arnold Works At Gold’s Gym,” a fundraiser for After-School All-Stars, which has garnered nearly 18 million views on YouTube and 1 million dollars in charitable donations for the organization. Schwarzenegger is also the top draw on Reddit’s Ask Me Anything and boasts more than 3 million Twitter followers. Beyond his social media domination, Schwarzenegger fans have much to look forward to in 2015 and beyond as the star heads into production, reprising some of his most beloved roles for Terminator: Genesis, Triplets, the sequel to Twins and The Legend Of Conan.


ROBERT DAVI (Goran Vata)

Robert Davi is an award-winning actor, screenwriter, director, producer and jazz vocalist. An entertainer few can rival, he is a movie star and is being hailed by many as one of today's great interpreters of song.

From his portrayal of the opera singing baddie in Goonies and one of the most popular James Bond villains Franz Sanchez in License to Kill, to FBI Special Agent Big Johnson in Die Hard to Al Torres in Showgirls to most recently Leo Marks in The Iceman, Robert Davi is one of the film industry's most recognized tough guys. He has also starred in the small screen in hit shows like “Profiler,” “Stargate Atlantis,” “Criminal Minds,” and “CSI.” With over 140 film and TV credits he has frightened us, romanced us, made us cry or split our seams laughing.

Robert is also one of the top vocalists of our day in interpreting the Great American Songbook. In addition to recently thrilling audiences and critics alike on his Australia tour, Robert has played top venues like the Venetian and Orleans hotels in Las Vegas and performed for 10,000 people at the Harry Chapin Theater in East Meadow, Long Island. His debut album “Davi Sings Sinatra: On the Road to Romance” produced by Phil Ramone shot to number 6 for more than several weeks on Billboard's Jazz Charts. Broadway luminary Chazz Palminteri recently remarked after catching a performance: “Once there was Sinatra and now there is Davi. Robert Davi sang and left the audience breathless.” Music icon Quincy Jones also shared his praises: “I have never heard anyone come this close to Sinatra’s sound and still be himself. Many try but Robert Davi has the voice, the tone, the flavor and the swagger. He absolutely touched me down to my soul and brought back the essence and soul of Ol’ Blue Eyes himself.”

In his early acting years, Davi attended Hofstra University on a drama scholarship. He then moved to Manhattan, New York where he studied with the legendary acting coach Stella Adler, who became his mentor. Davi became a lifetime member of the Actors Studio, where he studied with acting teacher Lee Strasberg. Always perfecting his craft, Davi studied under Sandra Seacat, Larry Moss, Milton Katselas, Martin Landau, Mala Powers and George Shdanoff, the creative partner and collaborator with Michael Chekhov. Davi was introduced to film when he was cast opposite Frank Sinatra in the telefilm, "Contract on Cherry Street." Later, his work as a Palestinian terrorist in the award-winning television movie, "Terrorist on Trial: The United States vs. Salim Ajami" brought him critical acclaim and caught the eye of legendary James Bond producer Albert R. Broccoli and writer Richard Maibaum, who cast Davi as Colombian drug lord and lead villain Franz Sanchez in the Bond film License to Kill. Today, Davi is one of the top Bond villains of all time ranking at the top of many fan favorite lists. Davi also received critical acclaim within the industry for his provocative portrayal of Bailey Malone in "Profiler." The show struck a chord with audiences, paving the way for such shows as "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," "Without a Trace," "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," "Criminal Minds" and many others. In 2004, Davi joined the cast of television's "Stargate: Atlantis," which earned him many science fiction fans. He has also shown his comedic strength in films such as The 4th Tenor with Rodney Dangerfield and The Hot Chick, produced by Rob Schneider and Adam Sandler.

Having appeared in more than 130 motion pictures, some of Davi's most notable film credits span 30 years and include cult-classics and blockbuster hits with roles as Jake Fratelli in The Goonies, Max Keller in Raw Deal, Special Agent Big Johnson in Die Hard, Al Torres in Showgirls, and Leo Marks in The Iceman with Michael Shannon, Winona Ryder, Ray Liotta, Chris Evans and James Franco. He has worked with such directors as Steven Spielberg, Richard Donner, Blake Edwards, John McTiernan, Paul Verhoeven and Patrick Hughes. In addition, he has worked on film projects with acting talent such as Marlon Brando, Roberto Benigni, Bruce Willis, Clint Eastwood, Christopher Walken, Benicio Del Toro, Danny Glover, and Catherine Zeta Jones, to name a few.


ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS


PATRICK HUGHES (Director)

Patrick Hughes is a highly-acclaimed feature and commercial director. He has won numerous accolades, including a Gold Lion at the 2009 Cannes Advertising Awards, for his work with PlayStation, BMW, Mercedes, Xbox and Schweppes. Patrick’s debut feature, the modern-day Western Red Hill, premiered at the 2010 Berlin Film Festival to rave reviews.

SYLVESTER STALLONE (Screenwriter, Story by) See About the Cast


CREIGHTON ROTHENBERGER & KATRIN BENEDIKT (Screenwriters)

Their first produced screenplay, Olympus Has Fallen, starring Gerard Butler, Morgan Freeman and Aaron Eckhart, grossed over $160 million worldwide and garnered an "A-" CinemaScore. They followed this up by writing London Has Fallen (sequel to Olympus Has Fallen).

Currently, they are writing the feature Twice for Luc Besson and Europacorp.

Rothenberger graduated from the English Honors program at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a past recipient of the Academy Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting, awarded by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), for the Korean War epic, The Chosin.

Benedikt, born in Reykjavík, Iceland, graduated from the Honors College at the University of Pittsburgh with a Bachelor of Arts in Politics and Philosophy. The married writing duo first met in a screenwriting class in Philadelphia, before making the move to Los Angeles to pursue their film careers.


AVI LERNER (Producer)

Avi Lerner is the Chairman and founder of Nu Image, Inc., Millennium Films and all related companies. With more than 370 films to his credit, he is one of the most experienced, prolific and successful independent producers of our time.

Born and raised in Haifa, Israel, Lerner began as manager of Israel’s first drive-in cinema. In 1979, Lerner anticipated the explosion of home video rental, which led to his pioneering the largest specialized video distribution company in Israel, and becoming a partner in the country’s largest theatrical distribution company.

In 1984, he executive produced the remake of King Solomon’s Mines. He then sold his Israeli company and relocated to Johannesburg, South Africa, where he founded the Nu Metro Entertainment Group. The company’s interests grew to include owned and operated theaters; a video distribution division representing top studios and independent companies; and a production arm that made over 60 features distributed worldwide by major studios. Lerner eventually sold Nu Metro.

In 1992, he moved to Los Angeles and opened Nu Image, Inc., focusing on production and distribution for the home entertainment market. In 1996, he launched Millennium Films, which produces theatrical motion pictures.

Under the Millennium Films label, Lerner has produced such films as Expendables 1, 2 & 3, Rambo IV, Righteous Kill, Brooklyn’s Finest, The Mechanic and the 2013 box-office hit, Olympus Has Fallen.

Films released in 2014 include Before I Go to Sleep, starring Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman; Eliza Graves with Kate Beckinsale, Jim Sturgess, Ben Kingsley and Michael Caine; In various stages of production throughout 2014 are Septembers Of Shiraz starring Salma Hayek, Adrien Brody and Shohreh Aghdashloo; Mechanic 2 starring Jason Statham; London Has Fallen, the follow-up to box-office hit Olympus Has Fallen, with the returning cast of Gerard Butler and Morgan Freeman; and ExpendaBelles, the lethally feminine follow-up to The Expendables franchise.


KEVIN KING-TEMPLETON (Producer)

For over two decades, producer Kevin King-Templeton has been associated with Rogue Marble Productions, the production company of writer, director and actor Sylvester Stallone. During his tenure he has found his forte in the action genre, producing projects with a global reach, from the remote jungles of Brazil and Thailand to the most cosmopolitan of cities. In addition to Stallone King-Templeton has worked with acclaimed acting heavyweights Robert De Niro, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Harvey Keitel, Mickey Rourke, Michael Caine and Anthony Quinn.

The films that the British-born King-Templeton has been involved with have showcased some of the most ambitious action sequences in motion picture history, including those shot on location in Bulgaria for the in the recent Number One box office hit The Expendables 2, directed by Simon West and starring Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Terry Crews, Liam Hemsworth Jean-Claude Van Damme, Scott Adkins, Jet Li and Chuck Norris. His additional credits a producer include The Expendables, directed by Sylvester Stallone and released in 2010 to Number One at the Box Office. He also produced Inferno: The Making Of The Expendables, an independent documentary which gives audiences an unvarnished look deep inside the filmmaking process of The Expendables.

King-Templeton also produced Bullet To The Head, director Walter Hill’s first theatrical feature in a decade. Previously he produced the latest installment of Rambo shot in the remote inner jungles of Burma, which continued the saga of the heroic Vietnam Vet John Rambo and Rocky Balboa a critical and audience success, which definitively confirmed both Sylvester Stallone and Rocky as iconic cultural symbols. Additionally he produced Avenging Angelo and Driven and he also served as associate producer on Get Carter and the critically-acclaimed Cop Land for director James Mangold. For television he developed and produced a pilot for Paramount Pictures Television and The CBS Network entitled Father Lefty.

He recently produced Escape Plan starring Stallone and Schwarzenegger and produced the film drama Homefront, scripted by Stallone and starring Statham, James Franco and Kate Bosworth. He was the executive producer on the Warner Bros. Christmas Comedy Grudge Match, starring Stallone and Robert DeNiro and co-starring Kim Basinger, Alan Arkin and Kevin Hart.

He is now producing the musical production Rocky based on the original 1976 Academy Award®-winning motion picture, for Stage Entertainment. The play bowed in Hamburg, Germany in 2012 and has just opened to critical and audience acclaim at the storied Winter Garden on Broadway.


DANNY LERNER (Producer)

Danny Lerner is a prolific director/producer whose career spans over two decades and includes more than 100 films. Lerner has produced and directed films in more than 11 countries around the world, including South Africa, Israel, Hungary, Bulgaria and Israel, working with such notable actors as Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Morgan Freeman, Gerard Butler, Antonio Banderas, John Cusack, Sir Ben Kingsley, Marisa Tomei, and Aaron Eckhart, among others.

Born and raised in Israel, Lerner began his career managing cinema chains before moving into production when he joined Nu World Productions in 1986. He worked as an associate producer, production supervisor and unit production manager before moving on to producing films.

In 1999, after producing more than 70 films, Lerner directed his first feature, Traitor’s Heart, for Nu Image. In 2003, Lerner formed Tosca Pictures with longtime friend Les Weldon, directing the action-thriller, Target of Opportunity. Over the next couple of years, Lerner directed several more features including Finding Rin Tin Tin, Cool Dog and Direct Contact.

Continuing his abundant producer career, Lerner produced the box-office smash hits Olympus Has Fallen and the $300 million worldwide grossing The Expendables 2 with Stallone, Willis, Schwarzenegger, Statham and Li.

Lerner recently wrapped production on Automata starring Antonio Banderas and The Legend of Hercules.


LES WELDON (Producer)

Les Weldon is a writer/producer whose diverse portfolio includes action films, thrillers, comedies, science fiction, fantasy and family movies.

His writing and producing credits include more than 40 films starring such actors as Robert De Niro, Harrison Ford, Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mel Gibson, Bruce Willis, John Travolta, Jason Statham, Chuck Norris, Sir Ben Kingsley, Morgan

Freeman, John Cusack, Antonio Banderas, Dolph Lundgren, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Jet Li, among others.

Born and raised in Brazil, Weldon came to America when he was fifteen and graduated from Laguna Beach High School in Southern California.

Weldon attended the University of Southern California, majoring in Business Administration, with electives in Film.

He recently produced multiple tiles including the $275 million worldwide box-office hit The Expendables with Sylvestor Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li and Mickey Rourke as well as the $305 million worldwide hit sequel The Expendables 2 which also included Willis, Schwarzenegger and Chuck Norris. Listed in Weldon’s filmography are also the features Conan the Barbarian, The Code starring Morgan Freeman and Antonio Banderas, and War, Inc. with John Cusack, Sir Ben Kingsley, and Marisa Tomei.

Weldon recently wrapped production on Automata starring Antonio Banderas and

The Legend of Hercules.


LIZZ WOLF (Costume Designer)

Lizz Wolf has worked on the productions of over 30 feature films, spanning a variety of periods, genres, and styles, and has worked with such distinguished directors as Tony Scott, Steven Soderbergh, Michael Bay, Bill Condon, James Mangold and Brian DePalma.

Wolf grew up the daughter of an interior designer and a textile salesman and went on to study fashion and costume design at Otis College of Art and Design and The American College in London. Driven by a love of film and character, Wolf embarked on a career in Hollywood where her early credits as an assistant costume designer included Armageddon, Traffic, The Black Dahlia, and Dreamgirls. Her credits as a costumer included Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, Dodgeball, A Single Man, and 3:10 to Yuma.

In addition to her work in film, Wolf has also worked in theater. In 2011 she received an Outer Critics Circle nomination for her costume design work in the 1960s-set musical Baby It’s You (Universal Music group, Warner Bros. Theater Ventures) which had its world premiere at the Pasadena Playhouse before heading to Broadway.

The Expendables 3 is Wolf’s fifth cinematic collaboration with Sylvester Stallone and her third installment in The Expendables franchise, with past Costume Designer credits including Rambo, The Expendables, The Expendables 2, and Escape Plan.


BRIAN TYLER (Composer)

Brian Tyler is a composer and conductor of over 60 films and recently won Film Composer of the Year at the 2014 Cue Awards. He is currently scoring Avengers: Age of Ultron. Tyler also composed Iron Man 3, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Ben Kingsley, as well as Thor: The Dark World, starring Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, and Anthony Hopkins. He conducted the London Philharmonic at Abbey Road Studios for both films. He also scored Eagle Eye for producer Steven Spielberg, and the box office hits Fast Five and Fast & Furious for director Justin Lin. He was nominated for a 2014 BAFTA Award and was inducted into the music branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2010.

Tyler began scoring features shortly after he received his master's degree from Harvard University, as well as a bachelor's degree from UCLA. He is a multi-instrumentalist and plays piano, guitar, drums, bass, cello, world percussion, synth programming, guitarviol, charango, and bouzouki, amongst others. He showcased many of those instruments for the 2013 retro heist film Now You See Me, about a team of illusionists, starring Morgan Freeman, Jesse Eisenberg, Michael Caine, Woody Harrelson and Mark Ruffalo.

Tyler arranged and conducted the new film logo music for Universal Pictures and composed a theme for the 100 year anniversary of the studio, as well as composing the music for the Marvel Studios logo which now plays before of all of their films. He also scored The Expendables films, and Rambo, directed by Sylvester Stallone; Law Abiding Citizen, starring Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler; the Keanu Reeves thriller Constantine, and the science-fiction film Battle Los Angeles. Tyler’s score for Bill Paxton’s Frailty won him a World Soundtrack Award in 2002, as well as The World Soundtrack Award as Best New Film Composer of the Year. He has received three Emmy® Award nominations, ten BMI Music Awards, five ASCAP Music Awards, and recently won 12 Goldspirit Awards, including Composer of the Year.

After composing the score for The Hunted for Academy Award®-winning director William Friedkin, Tyler composed the score for the turn-of-the-century drama The Greatest Game Ever Played, starring Shia LaBeouf. His soundtrack for Children of Dune reached #4 on the Amazon.com album charts while Thor: The Dark World, Iron Man 3, and Fast Five all hit #1 on the iTunes soundtrack charts.


Tyler’s upcoming projects include Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles produced by Michael Bay, Into the Storm, Fast & Furious 7, and Avengers: Age of Ultron. For television, he scores the series “Hawaii Five-0” and “Sleepy Hollow,” for which he received an Emmy® nomination for Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music this year.