On Sunday, the Tunisian daily publication, La Presse, reported that Stallone and Lundgren will soon find themselves traveling to Southern Tunusia, for the the purpose of filming THE EXPENDABLES 4. Now, before we press on, I think it would be behoove you to dine on this news with a sprinkling of salt, seeing as nothing official has yet to be announced.

According to La Presse's report, an official invitation was extended to the two stars by the Minister of Tourism and Handicrafts, René Trabelsi, during his visit to Hollywood this past February.

The Expendables spin-off is currently in the works and looks to bring back Jason Statham in the leading role.

Our sources have pulled back the curtain on the developing project over at Millenium Films/Nu Image and honestly we were more than surprised at the project. Apparently, the fourth installment in The Expendables series has been in active development behind the scenes for some time now.

Sylvester Stallone has never been afraid of a sequel, look no further than the Rocky and Rambo franchises. However, this time it seems that he will move to the background, as action star Jason Statham will move to centerstage, for the planned spin-off.

The Expendables Spin-Off Director Musical Chairs

We have uncovered that an offer went out to director Duncan Jones near the end of 2019, however the negotiations never materialized. Where the studio went next is equally intriguing. Apparently an offer has been made to D.J. Caruso (XXX: Return of Xander Cage) to direct the Jason Statham-led spin-off tentatively titled, The Expendables: A Christmas Story, which has been written by Max Adams.

The decision to extend an offer to Caruso has a cosmic quality to it, as he was rumored to be in contention to direct the original Expendables film at one point. Furthermore, Jason Statham and Sylvester Stallone are already set to return for the spin-off. The catch being that Statham is now the lead and Sly will be supporting character. In addition, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Tony Jaa, are attached to the project and are simply waiting to see how the pieces come together.

We were also informed that Stallone’s role will be an emotional one for fans and despite not having many scenes compared to previous installments, his presence will be felt throughout the film.

The Expendables New Look

The spin-off is leaving room open for supporting roles for many of the other well-known Expendables including Toll Booth, Gunner, and Doc. We assume that they are trying to bring back Randy Couture, Dolph Lundgren, and Wesley Snipes, to their corresponding roles. However, we couldn’t get a reliable confirmation on their return. It’s possible that their roles could also be placeholders pending their involvement. It’s still unclear if they would consider recasting the roles if they don’t return.

The project has been in a holding pattern for the past few weeks, as details continue to get worked out, but they are looking to shoot in the first half of 2020. There’s also a South East Asian vibe, as there are many characters who are from that region, which leads to speculation that some of the movie will take place overseas.

Casting the Real Expendables

We also got our eyes on other characters in the script, The other large supporting role is for Gina, Christmas’ love interest and a tough-as-nails member of the Expendables, who’s lethal in her own right. Marsh is the dapper leader of the reformed squad. Suharato Rahmat is weapons smuggler who has a military past. Bok is one of Rahmat’s deadly henchmen. While they are still casting for Janice Russo, the head of the military compound that houses the CIA.

It makes sense why Millenium/Nu Image would want to produce this spin-off. You have to look no further than last year’s spin-off of the Fast and Furious franchise, Hobbs and Shaw, which grossed more over $750 million dollars at the worldwide box-office. The budget for The Expendables: A Christmas Story is set in the $70 million dollar range, so there is legitimate money-making potential in the Statham business. Add to it the success of Bad Boys for Life and it seems that there may be wisdom in this unlikely project.

Recently while appearing on The Jenna Ben Show, Couture revealed that chances for The Expendables 4 are looking good and that filming for the sequel could begin this or next fall. Couture was asked about the future of the franchise during a lengthy interview with Jenna Ben, who at one point in the discussion expressed that she would love to see as many Expendable sequels as the team is willing to make.

"It sounds like we're gonna get to do [Expendables] 4," Couture responded. "They've been kicking it around for a couple of years now but I've just recently heard from my agent that they're working on the script for [Expendables] 4 and they're planning to schedule filming for Expendables 4 for this/next fall. So I haven't seen the script yet. They had one a couple of years ago that they were talking about making Expendables 4 out of, and then it [the previous script] got away. You just never know, it's such a weird business sometimes..."