It seems as though Sylvester Stallone may not be the most reliable source of casting news for the upcoming The Expendables 3. Last week the star seemed to confirm the casting of action veteran Mel Gibson as the main villain of the upcoming sequel, but now The Wrap has apparently confirmed that the "Lethal Weapon star is not officially involved...at the moment." But while they continue to work out a deal with Gibson, they have also entered talks with another star. Sources have told the site that Kellan Lutz, who earned hordes of female fans starring in the Twilight movies, is now in talks to join the cast of The Expendables 3.
Interestingly, it sounds as though Lutz won't be the last young star to join the ensemble of older stars. According to The Wrap's source, the movie will have the grisled mercenaries of the first movie facing off against "a younger group of tech-savvy action heroes." The movie will play up the old vs. young angle until the two groups have to team up to take down the big bad guy (Gibson's potential role). And this stage it's not 100% clear which members of the cast from The Expendables 2 will be coming back outside of Sylvester Stallone, though it's been said that other newcomers will include Nicolas Cage, Jackie Chan, Wesley Snipes And Milla Jovovich. We can also probably expect the return of Jason Statham, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, and Terry Crews, but nothing has been confirmed.
Lutz first got his start on television with recurring roles on series like The Comeback, Generation Kill and 90210, but got his big break starring in 2008's Twilight. In addition to the vampire romance movies, he has also starred in Tarsem Singh's Immortals, and had a role in the remake of A Nightmare On Elm Street. Coming up he is set to star in both Renny Harlin's Hercules 3D and the motion-capture animation version of Tarzan from director Reinhard Klooss.
The Expendables 3 is being directed by Australian director Patrick Hughes, who got his start in commercials before making his feature directorial debut with 2010's Red Hill, starring Ryan Kwanten. Like the first two movies in the franchise, Stallone is once again handling script duties and production is expected to begin in the next few months. Back in June it was confirmed that Lionsgate will be releasing the film on August 15, 2014.
If part of the sequel's plot does indeed include a group of young action stars, who would you like to see join the cast? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
