Is the cast for Sylvester Stallone’s upcoming action-fest The Expendables ever going to stop growing? We already have Stallone himself (who’s also writing and directing), along with Jason Statham, Jet Li, Mickey Rourke, Dolph Lundgren, Charisma Carpenter, Randy Couture, Eric Roberts, Danny Trejo, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and Terry Crews (thankfully replacing 50 Cent).
Well, it looks like the casting train isn’t slowing down any time soon, as two new faces have been added to the line-up: They are Brittany Murphy and David Zayas.
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Murphy will play a singer and girlfriend to Mickey Rourke’s character; funny since they both starred in Sin City – I’m sure it’ll be nice to work on yet another action-oriented film together. I’m not overly familiar with Murphy as an actress, but can she sing well? She’ll need to be able to as the role reportedly calls for her to perform a musical number.
Zayas may be a name unfamiliar to you, but if you watch the fantastic TV show Dexter, you’ll know him as Angel Batista. He will play the South American dictator who the team of mercenaries (played mostly by the cast mentioned above) are sent to overthrow.
Although I am absolutely dying to see all of these actors in the one movie, bringing to the table different types of both acting and action style, I’m nonetheless getting a bit wary of the sheer size of the cast. It appears not to simply be made up of small, throwaway roles – these are big names, for the most part, which leads me to think they are all really important to what happens in the film.
I just hope the size of the cast doesn’t mean we don’t get to concentrate on some of those of most interest – namely Rourke, Statham, Li, and, of course, Stallone himself (in case you didn’t see them, check out some of the images of Stallone in action).
However, I have faith in Stallone because not only is he a great action guy, but he’s insanely talented as a filmmaker. Some people may forget that he wrote the original Best Picture winning Rocky movie, and came back to that franchise a couple of years ago, writing and directing the pretty-damn-great Rocky Balboa. As for his other big franchise, although the first half of the newest Rambo film was terrible, he showed when it came to the second half and the all important action, that he knows what he’s doing.
Since The Expendables is presumably going to be all about balls-to-the-wall action, I have every faith in Stallone that, particularly with that cast, he’ll give us something really kick-ass.
What do you think of Murphy and Zayas joining the cast? Do you think a cast of such a size is a good idea?
The Expendables is scheduled to be released on April 23rd, 2010.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
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9 Comments
Cool about David Zayas, aside from Masuka, he is my other favorite character on Dexter. He also appears on the pilot of Burn Notice, he is a good actor!
All these cast members aside from the main crew of Stallone, Statham, Li, Lundgren & Crews I see as cameo appearances. Like Rourke, he only plays the weapons dealer right? This movie is gonna be off-da-chain-son!!!
Don’t forget……Mickey Rourke and Brittany Murphy also appeared together as a couple in “Spun”.
@J BIZ,
I have yet to see Spun. I knew Murphy was in it, didn’t realise Rourke was, though. His recent fantastic, should-have-won-the-Oscar-instead-of-Sean-Penn performance in The Wrestler makes me want to seek out his whole back catalogue:-)
I love Brittany Murphy!
I can’t emphasize enough how much I am looking forward to this film. This is a film for a bunch of guys to go to and keep the women at home. There is no way in hell my GF will go see something that we KNOW will be filled with violence and gore. Get the guys together, have a couple beers beforehand and have fun with a wall-to-wall action flick!
Let’s not forget how awesome Zayas was in ‘OZ’. Thus, his dictator will be believable (though it might be something new for Dexter fans).
Spun was one of the early signs that Rourke was getting back into form, and his chemistry with Murphy was very good. What worries me isnt the size of the cast but rather that so many people are joining it after shooting has already started. Where’s the prep time?
Both Murphy and Rourke look really unique and cool. I loved the wrestler and it’s going to be interesting seeing her in Tribute. If could saying anything is that they’ve really got alpha and alphaero traits in their personalities. Now, I need to see The Spirit.
I wonder if Stallone asked Mr. T – or if T blew his chance by bailing on his role as a commentator in Rocky Balboa – thus burning that bridge. And what about Carl Weathers? Did Weathers and Sly have a parting of the ways, since Weathers was so upset about Apollo’s death in Rocky IV? Van Damme would have been great, one thing that worries me is that Sly may be getting carried away with casting “names” just so they can be part of the tour-de-force casting spectacle – putting himself in a position of having to come up with something solid for them to do, on the fly. That could conceivably detract from the film. I wonder if he asked Chuck Norris – now, that would be AWESOME. The Rock would be great. How about a cameo role for Mike Tyson? And Dennis Leary, from Demolition Man, could really crack things up with his smart comments. He’s probably too hot with his cable show to be real interested – but he’s a Stallone alumni, and would be a great addition. How about Rutger Hauer, from Nighthawks? Wesley Snipes, if he’s not in jail, from Demo Man? The Satan-worshipping thug from Cobra? Steven Seagal would be off the charts cool, but I guess Sly burnt a bridge with him by saying that Seagal chickened out of a fight with Van Damme at Sly’s house. After Jackie Chan’s comments about the Chinese people needing to be repressed, I’m really glad Sly didn’t ask him. Somebody mentioned Hul Hogan “Thunderlips”, he’d be great too – I guess Sly didn’t ask him, maybe with all the negative publicity Hulk’s had the last couple years it’s just as well. How about John Lithgow from Cliffhanger, or Kurtwood Smith from Rambo III? With Kurtwood’s long running visibility on “That 70’s Show”, his role on this season of “24″, and his experience in playing a hard case fed (Flashpoint), he’d be a natural for this film. I do wish Sandra Bullock would have signed on – if nothing else I think she really missed out on a fun, nostalgic project.
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