For a long time, it felt as though we’d seen the last of The Expendables, Sylvester Stallone’s troupe of aging action heroes who starred in a trilogy of old school blockbusters that combined to earn a shade over $800 million at the box office. After all, the decision to make the third installment PG-13 was a massive mistake, and matters weren’t helped by a pristine copy leaking online weeks ahead of release.
For the last seven years we’ve occasionally heard tell of The Expendables 4, mostly from Randy Couture, but talk of any potential spinoffs or female-driven effort The Expendabelles fell by the wayside. Until now, that is. As you can see below, Stallone recently took to social media to reveal a highly detailed tattoo one fan has of the actor’s Barney Ross, and he confirmed a new installment will begin shooting in October.
The bad news for some fans is that it’s not going to be The Expendables 4, but A Christmas Story has been teased before. As you may have guessed, the concept focuses more on a solo adventure for Jason Statham’s Lee Christmas as opposed to a standard ensemble film, but early last year it was reported that Disturbia, Eagle Eye and xXx: The Return of Xander Cage director DJ Caruso was being sought to helm the project, with a script from Max Adams.
There’s no word on whether or not the aforementioned talent remains attached, but in effect what we’re getting is a Jason Statham action thriller set within the confines of The Expendables universe, which is something that the fanbase will happily settle for if they’re not going to get a true fourth entry in the main series that gets the entire band back together.