The boys will be back in town for next year's The Expendables 2, which now officially has a director in the form of Simon West. Production is slated to begin in a matter of months, with stars like Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, and Mickey Rourke prepped to reprise their turns from the original movie.

Lots of rumors have been circling around the sequel, with regards to what other action movie icons could be joining the next Expendables party. Today, we have a few more for you to consider.

In an interview with Novinite, NU Boyana CEO David Varod was talking up Expendables 2, which he says will begin shooting on location in Bulgaria this year, around the second week of September. Naturally. The star-studded, big-budget Hollywood production is expected to prove lucrative for the country.

While Varod mentioned names like Stallone and Statham as being among the celebrities that are "coming for sure" to Bulgaria for Expendables 2, he also listed the likes of Bruce Willis - who's long been all but officially confirmed for the sequel - as well as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Chuck Norris and John Travolta.

Van Damme was previously rumored as a potential villain in Expendables 2, while Schwarzenegger's recently-resumed return to acting left a lot of fans wondering if he'd reprise his cameo appearance as a mercenary from the first Expendables pic. However, this is the first "serious" word we've heard that both Norris and Travolta would have roles in the film as well.

Bear in mind, while Schwarzenegger may in fact appear in Expendables 2, there's no guarantee he won't be making anything but another brief appearance (for better or for worse). Couple that with word that Ah-nuld's new starring vehicle, The Last Stand, is slated to begin filming this fall, and his possibly playing an expanded role in the next Expendables adventure seems all the less likely.

On the topic of Norris: His potential involvement makes a fair amount of sense. The former Walker, Texas Ranger star passed on appearing in the first Expendables, but he might be more inclined to accept an offer for the followup - especially since it promises to be the real no-holds-barred throwback to testosterone fests from the 1980s and 90s that its predecessor aimed to be (but ultimately came a bit short of reaching that mark).

Travolta, by comparison, isn't the renowned veteran badass of the big screen that people like Norris and Van Damme are, but there are definitely fans out there who would approve of the actor getting back into Broken Arrow and Face/Off mode for the Expendables sequel.

The Expendables crew

Willis previously stated that Stallone was "going for all the marbles this time" by cramming as many (former) brawny blockbuster stars into Expendables 2 as possible. So although it's best to take any unofficial casting news with a grain of salt, don't be surprised if at least a couple of these rumors actually turn out to be true.

We'll see out it all goes down when The Expendables 2 hits theaters on August 17th, 2012.

Source: Novinite (via Collider)