'The Expendables 4' Cast News: Sylvester Stallone Exits Franchise
Hollywood actor Sylvester Stallone has walked away from the "The Expendables" film franchise, much to the disappointment of his and the movie series' fans.
According the Deadline, the action star has withdrawn from taking part in "The Expendables 4," even though he was rumored to receive an upfront payment north of $20 million.
The reason for his departure was reportedly creative differences with Image/Millennium chief Avi Lerner. Stallone could not agree with Lerner on many aspects of developing "The Expendables 4," such as the selection of a new director, the script and certain qualitative elements of the movie.
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Sources claim that Stallone — after his highly-acclaimed performance reprising the role Rocky Balboa in the movie "Creed" — was concerned with the possibility of releasing an underwhelming movie from another franchise that he is directly attached to.
However, while Lerner acknowledged that he has had differences with Stallone, he wasn't ready to concede a divorce just yet.
"We've got disagreements with Sly, but we've had them for over a year and a half," Lerner told Deadline. "Right now, each one has an opinion. We agreed on 95 percent of things, but there are certain things in production we don't agree on. I don't think it's over, but write whatever you want. In my opinion, it's not dead."
"The Expendables" film franchise currently has three films under its belt, and all of them featured Stallone as a mercenary team leader. Core members of this mercenary group include actors Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Terry Crews, Randy Couture and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Other well-known action stars have also appeared in the franchise such as Bruce Willis, Chuck Norris, Harrison Ford, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Mel Gibson, Antonio Banderas and Wesley Snipes.
Aside from starring in all three films, Stallone also served as producer and screenwriter on every "Expendables" movie to date. Hence, it remains unclear how Stallone's exit will affect the production of "The Expendables 4," which is expected to come out sometime in 2018.
