Despite the financial success of The Expendables franchise, the series has had some trouble getting a fourth movie off the ground. It's been about three years since The Expendables 3, but there's been very little progress on The Expendables 4. Filming was supposed to begin sometime last year, and Sylvester Stallone, the lead character and a key creative player, departed from the project. Since then, the project has mostly been gathering dust, but it looks like Stallone may have had a change of heart. The actor posted a message to social media largely hinting that he is back in for The Expendables 4.
About nine months ago, Sylvester Stallone left The Expendables 4 and seemed to be done with the franchise. The reasons for his departure were mostly cited as the age-old "creative differences." Stallone and Nu Films/Millenium Films chief Avi Lerner were reportedly unable to reach an agreement on a choice of director, how to handle the script, and so on. It was a major blow to the project, and one that seemed to have killed it. But now it looks like things have changed. Stallone posted a message on his Instagram page of a poster of the first Expendables and wrote in the caption, "They're back!"
It's not exactly a cryptic message, but it likely shouldn't be taken as a 100% confirmation that The Expendables 4 is back on. A social media post is not an official confirmation. But something is clearly going down with this action franchise, and we can likely expect a bit more of an official announcement soon. At the very least, it looks like Sylvester Stallone is back in, otherwise someone else would have made this post.
Sylvester Stallone's involvement is good news for fans of the series. Not only was Stallone the main character, but he also directed the first movie and co-wrote all three screenplays. He's a main creative player, and while The Expendables series isn't very popular critically, Stallone was a driving force behind its appeal.
The Expendables is a series of action films that harken back to 80s and 90s action movies. The films star an ensemble of icons from that era, such as Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Bruce Willis, with new additions popping in for every new installment. It's pretty much the driving force for these movies, so should a fourth one be on the way, we can expect plenty of familiar action faces showing up.
There's bound to be some new developments or clarifications on The Expendables 4, so stick with CinemaBlend and we'll be sure to update you with new information as soon as it becomes available. In the meantime, there are plenty of other movies coming out soon, so learn about them all in our 2018 movie guide.
