"The Expendables 4" is expendable, at least, for Sylvester Stallone, who reportedly left the film project following disagreements between him and Nu Image/Millennium head Avi Lerner.
According to Deadline, he and Lerner had several disagreements about where the project was going. Among their issues include who would serve as the director of the film and who would work on the script. They also could not see eye-to-eye on who would be producing the visual effects for the project. The past three films had Nu Boyana in Bulgaria, which is owned by Lerner, produce the CGI.
Given the news that Stallone is pulling out of the franchise, many are now questioning if "The Expendables 4" will push forward, given that the actor is not just part of the cast, but he is also the producer, and the film series itself is his brainchild.
However, Lerner told Deadline that the project — and maybe Stallone's involvement — may not be over yet. He said, "We've got disagreements with Sly, but we've had them for over a year and a half."
"Right now, each one has an opinion. We agreed on 95% 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," Lerner added.
The film series is the result of Stallone's dream of bringing together his action film contemporaries in an old-school action-filled fest. He was able to achieve this, with the cast growing with every "The Expendables" film released. The line-up has included Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Jet Li, Chuck Norris, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Antonio Banderas, Harrison Ford, Wesley Snipes, Mel Gibson, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Steve Austin, Terry Crews, Kelsey Grammer, and Randy Couture.
Stallone was also reportedly unhappy when "The Expendables 3" was released with a PG-13 rating, unlike the first two films that had an R rating. He said that the film attempted to capture a wider audience by cutting back the violence in the fight scenes. However, instead of bringing in more viewers, it ended up lessening the number of those who watched the movie.
