It may have taken eight years to get going, with plenty of false starts along the way, but The Expendables 4 has officially commenced shooting in the United Kingdom, as per ScreenDaily. Not only that, but several new cast members have been announced for the project, which looks set to return to its R-rated origins after the ill-judged decision to water down the third installment.
Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren and Randy Couture provide the connective tissue to the initial trilogy, with the aging action stars being joined by newcomers Megan Fox, Tony Jaa, 50 Cent and Andy Garcia, which is about as eclectic as you’d expect from a franchise that’s previously roped in Bruce Willis, Harrison Ford, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Chuck Norris, Mel Gibson, Wesley Snipes, Liam Hemsworth, Kelsey Grammer and more.
Sheila Shah, Jacob Scipio and Levy Tran have additionally boarded the ensemble, although none of the trio are what you’d call household names just yet. That being said, Scipio recently played the villain in Bad Boys for Life and Tran was seen in The First Purge and The Haunting of Hill House, so they’re not unknowns either.
The Expendables 4 will also touch down in Bulgaria and Greece, but looking at the production timeline it’s hard to tell whether or not we can expect the next blast of grizzled badassery to hit our screens before the end of 2022, or early-to-mid 2023.