Almost a decade following the last Expendables movie, Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham and Dolph Lundgren have reunited to make a fourth film, which is expected to head to theaters sometime this year. In anticipation of the action sequel, Lundgren is teasing what audiences can expect.
So far we know that Expendables 4 will boast a big cast and action set pieces, as per usual with the franchise. Dolph Lundgren’s recent words set up this movie as being an even bigger and bloodier event than some might have expected. Check it:
Well, it’s definitely bigger. I mean, the budget is probably at least twice what the last one was, I think. It’s a special franchise, because a lot of these action franchises today are based on superheroes, and they’re for young viewers. So there’s no blood. Nobody gets killed. People get banished to another universe.
This sounds like a shot at the MCU. Dolph Lundgren is right though. As of late, there’s been a lot of Marvel and DC content. This month alone we’ll see Robert Pattinson in The Batman and Oscar Isaac in Moon Knight. Expendables is offering big-budget action, but it’s not based on a comic book. The actor continued to Pop Culture:
But Expendables is old school. Unfortunately, people get blown up, and shot, and there’s real fights and real stunts. So I think with that type of approach, plus the fact we’ve got… You know, Megan Fox is in it, 50 Cent is in it. Him and I actually have a lot of scenes together. Andy Garcia. There’s some new blood, and I think there’s a certain excitement to it, testosterone-driven excitement that, hopefully, people will want to see.
Dolph Lundgren is armed and ready to sell us on this movie! Along with the movie reportedly being bigger in budget than the previous films, he also highlighted that there’s a number of new cast members in the mix, including Megan Fox joining the team, alongside 50 Cent and Andy Garcia.
Dolph Lundgren also said it’s “special” to have all the different personalities from the film on the set of Expendables. The 64-year-old He-Man icon said that he considers Statham and Stallone friends and enjoys spending time with them. He called the upcoming movie “old-school” because there’s so many stunts involved, and when they fire the guns on set, they are “full blanks.” There’s not a lot of CGI, which isn’t easy to come by these days in other massive franchises.
Of course Dolph Lundgren and Sylvester Stallone began working together in 1985’s Rocky IV, where the Swedish actor portrayed Soviet-Russian foe boxer Ivan Drago. Lundgren has previously shared that he was initially attracted to the first Expendables because it brought Sylvester back into the director’s chair. This time around, stuntman-turned-director Scott Waugh is taking the helm. We’ll keep you up to date once Expendables 4 lands among 2022’s upcoming movie releases.