The Expendables 3 Teaser Trailer #2 and 16 Character Photos

So there it is, the second teaser trailer for The Expendables 3 which is due in August. I love the look, the cast and, of course, I'm excited, it's an Expendables film! but the marketing for it has been, so far, a little weak for my taste. In this teaser, for example, we have the Fast and the Furious font and the worrying 'One Last Ride' mention, which is odd as The Expendables 4 is already, supposedly casting and far from a sequel all about the new young members of the team, the latest news about Ex4 is that Pierce Brosnan has been cast! (We here at Action Inc headquarters would've preferred T-Dalt out of all the Bonds but Brosnan's not a bad pick.)

Anyway, whatever happens, in Sly we trust!

To complement this trailer, yesterday, they also released 16 individual cast photographs which are both cool but a little odd. Why do these pictures show lighting equipment? why are there no backdrops? why are they lazy? why are the lights in the photos not doing anything useful? How do these advertise an action film? I love the cast and the photos of the people directly are good but these look like out-take posters, it just makes me want to take these pics and make my own EX3 posters with them on photoshop! 

Maybe that's the point! 

Anyway, here they are, ENJOY!

Tell us what you think!

- The Kick Ass Kid

The Expendables 3 OFFICIAL Teaser Trailer

Unlike other, so called, reputable film news sites - Total Film, Collider.com, Den of Geek etc. we actually waited till the REAL teaser trailer was available.
For those of you who don't know, a fan made trailer, using some impressive graphics and footage from other films, was shared by professional and fan sites this morning, despite clearly being made up from footage from other films and debuting on YouTube in November. Not US though :) (sorry feeling VERY smug)

Here is, however, the official teaser for Expendables 3!


WHAT DID YOU THINK?
let us know!
- The Kick Ass Kid

3 NEW Grudge Match Posters

Telling the story of two old boxers who come out of retirement for one more fight, Grudge Match stars, Rocky himself, Sylvester Stallone as Henry "Razor" Sharp and the Raging Bull, Robert De Niro as Billy "Kid" McDonnen.

Set for release on Christmas Day in the US, this week Warner Brothers released these awesome posters. Enjoy!

Escape Plan videos

With Escape Plan coming to US Theatres on October 18th 2013 Sly and Arnie have been doing the rounds and giving some interviews. Here are those videos below!

Homefront stills and release date

Source: USAToday

Today we were finally treated to some character information, some plot points and some snaps from Jason Statham's upcoming action drama Homefront, written and produced by Sylvester Stallone, directed by Gary Fleder (Things to do in Denver When You're Dead) and co-produced by the team behind Safe and The Expendables.

The story, based on Chuck Logan's novel, seems to be typical action fodder. Set in Louisiana, a local hood named, if you can believe it, Gator, played by James Franco who runs with ex-bikegang moll, Winona Ryder, goes after and up-against Statham's DEA/British Interpol agent.

Also in the mix are The Stath's daughter played by newcomer Izabela Vidovic and Kate Bosworth as Gator's junkie sister.

Although on the surface this looks and sounds as formulaic as they come, director Fleder, who comes from a history of tense dramas rather than action, and Our Man Stath both insist that like Safe and Hummingbird/Redemption before it, this will showcase Stath's lighter, more emotional side. I see Homefront, then as sort of Safe meets The Mechanic with a bit of Parker thrown in. Not bad. Not bad at all.

After Parker, Fast 6 and Redemption, both from 2013, this marks Statham's fourth release this year and that is a dizzying pace for him to keep up as a one-man action-drama machine. I am sure there are people out there with Statham fatigue, sad pathetic people with no excitement or sense of humour but we are not those people, we, personally, want 3 Statham films EVERY year from now on. We can't wait 12 months for the next one and, thankfully, we won't have to. Next year we already have Heat, Expendables 3 and Fast 7 and what 2015 holds yet? we don't know but as long as he keeps making them, we'll keep watching and raving about them.

Homefront is released on November 27th in the US and November 29th in the UK

You're name's Gator then Franco? Is that some sort of fuckin' joke?

Beetlejuice 2? Sure! I'm in!

Yep! In this one Statham rides a fuckin' horse. Nice!

- The Kick Ass Kid

MORE Expendables 3 on-set photos

From Comingsoon.net

So, there you have it, they have been filming only a couple of days and already we have tons of on-set photos and THIS photo of a heavily pumped up Mel Gibson:

and while it's fantastic and, of course, my action nerd heart is already palpitating, I hope they ease off so there's SOME surprises in the movie!

- The Kick Ass Kid

First EXPENDABLES 3 On-Set Pictures

Comingsoon.net released exclusive onset photos from EXPENDABLES 3 today which started shooting in Varna, Bulgaria this week. Take a look!

-The Kick Ass Kid

Gibson and Banderas CONFIRMED as Expendable

After rumours back and forth, according to Entertainment Weekly and one of Stallone's reps Mel Gibson is officially signed on to play the villain in EX3 which could form part of a villainous comeback for Mel if Machete Kills is as damn good fun as it looks. It also means that mentioned story points about a younger, computer literate team being the villains maybe not happening now and we, personally, couldn't be happier about that.
The more oldies he adds, the better.
As for Mel's previous alcohol related troubles what do people think? do we care when we see him on the screen being enjoyable? Let us know!
In the same announcement, the man who Stallone calls "a consummate actor and a gentleman" Antonio Banderas, who has long been rumoured for a part in the franchise, has also been added, officially, to the cast.
So that's two more official members to the film and, personally, I am happy that they are some old, proper 80s and 90s action stars. That's what these films NEED. As long as they are not young computer nerds because that will surely make them the Scrappy Do of the film and was tried in Die Hard 4 where the only weak part was Olyphant's pathetic villain. I prefer the idea of the President kidnap scenario, sort of an Air Force One 2 with Ford as a kick ass Pres, Gibson as a hand ringing villain and Banderas as a member of the Expendables.
Whatever happens in Stallone we trust!

-The Kick Ass Kid

Harrison Ford Jonesing for some group action!

Stallone hit Twitter again today and proves that, not only are they still casting and, therefor, supposedly scripting EX3 right down to the wire (it's set to start filming this August) but also that this film will scoop up and include basically every single action star it possibly can.

His tweet about Ford read:
WILLIS OUT... HARRISON FORD IN !!!! GREAT NEWS !!!!! Been waiting years for this!!!!

and followed it up with

GREEDY AND LAZY ...... A SURE FORMULA FOR CAREER FAILURE

Now I don't know if that second Tweet is an inspirational comment or a dig at Willis but there is the news: Willis, who plays Mr. Church in the franchise (and whose character, to be fair, has sort of run its course), will not be returning and Harrison "Inidiana Jones" Ford will be joining the, already, mega star cast.

Some have speculated the cast is getting a bit ridiculous and it's going to be a mess but IN STALLONE WE TRUST. I personally think it's awesome news and they should continue adding people all the way up to day one. I love it.

UPDATE: it is now being reported by various outlets from sources inside the film that Willis was booted off for demanding $4million for 4 days work in Bulgaria after already being offered $3million!
Firstly that's not exactly the spirit of ensemble films like this (you know some folks who work EVERY day on the film aren't getting that much) and also it's just ridiculously greedy.

It seems like, from recent behaviour, that Willis is trying to torpedo any good will people had towards him and while we here at the blog are still very much 'hate the artist but not the art' it is a shame that this was the reason he backed out and I wish he would pay just a little bit of attention and put some effort in to how he comes across.

Stallone's camp would only confirm that the second tweet was aimed squarely at Willis. So that answers that then. I can only imagine how he feels, he wants his old mates around him and he wants the film to be as good as possible.

Ford, who is also known for being prickly or odd in interviews, clearly didn't make such demands and fan reaction seems to be positive, so good for him!

- The Kick Ass Kid

EXPENDABLES 3 ROUND UP

Trying to keep up with the Expendables 3 casting rumours has become a 24/7 job as firstly, there are so many stars to choose from and secondly, so many sources of possible casting news. These include Sly's personal Twitter feed, IMDB, TheExpendablesPremiere.com, TheArnoldFans.com and, practically, every news agency under the sun.
With Stallone, Willis, Arnold and Statham all doing press tours on various other movies right now, interview snippets and sound bites have been pouring in daily.

Cold hard facts are not easy things to come by in the casting, with everyone reporting something different.
Going strictly from Sly's Twitter feed this year, what we can say for certain is that
Stallone
Lundgren
Rourke
and
Wesley Snipes will be in the cast as will new comers UFC champ Ronda Rousey and boxing star Victor Ortiz
Staying with Sly's twitter feed for the moment, he has also hinted at, but not solidly confirmed, Jackie Chan, Steven Seagal, Mel Gibson, Gina Carano and even Antonio Banderas although Carano and Banderas haven't been mentioned anywhere else whereas Jackie Chan and Mel Gibson have been confirmed in other interviews, like the one below, and the Steven Seagal rumour has only been confirmed by a Bulgarian news outlet and not the star himself.
Lastly Sly said recently in an interview with TheArnoldFans.com:
"We have a great director and the best stunt coordinator in the world. I said we’re going to make this like there’s no two other Expendables and that this is the first one. And we got Mel Gibson, Nic Cage, Jackie Chan and Wesley Snipes and now I have FIVE NEW guys that you have never heard of."

This would seem an odd claim to make as inside sources claim Mel Gibson hasn't confirmed yet (Source: Cinemablend.com), Nic Cage told DenOfGeek "I'm not in Kick-Ass 2 and I don't think I'm in Expendables 3 and I like those guys, but I would say it would be highly unlikely that I'd be in that movie" and I haven't read anything official about Jackie Chan since he made his statement that he would definitely do it but only if his part was substantial.

Statham has confirmed in several interviews that he is definitely returning and as Sly's right hand man in the first two it would seem odd if he didn't.
I have read that Schwarzenegger is definitely returning but nothing concrete from Willis yet.

We are also going to assume that Jet Li, Randy Couture and Terry Crews are also back. Terry Crews says that he is and in the same interview he confirms Milla Jovovich's definite involvement, which was another long-running rumour that's been buzzing about.
IMDB lists Jovovitch and Li but, weirdly, not Couture and Crews.

There's lots of worrying news about the stupidly named, vacant eyed, bland and probably brainless nobody Kellan Lutz (who's apparently from those fucking Twilight movies) being in talks for EX3 too but I hope that's just his agent's wishful thinking (or tactic) and/or he is the young meat puppet that gets killed in the first 5 minutes like Thor's brother in EX2.

So that's about it, so far. No word yet on who will be Statham's British counterpart. There was Vinnie Jones murmurings but I still hold out hope for Darren Shahlavi.

Plotwise the film is meant to centre around either The Expendables against a young group of computer criminals, The Expendables saving the President or both. I hope the computer nerd villain storyline is just a rumour because we've already seen Die Hard 4.

So what do you think? and who would you cast?
The film is scheduled for release August 2014

- The Kick Ass Kid

ROCKY living with a new CREED

Director Ryan Coogler and actor Michael B Jordan are planning, with a little help from their friends at MGM and a certain Mr.Stallone to breathe life back into the Rocky franchise in a rather ingenious way.

The plan is to make a movie, titled CREED, about Apollo Creed's grandson, to be played by the aforementioned Michael B Jordan who would be tempted to become a boxer and get trained by, none other than, Rocky himself.

Apollo Creed was originally played by Action Jackson, Carl Weathers in Rocky 1 thru 4 and the fanboy in me wants Weathers to some how appear in this film despite having been killed by Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren)

With any of Sly Stallone's franchises my personal preference is when he has creative control. The studios and even Sly don't seem to give him the credit he deserves. That being said any of his three franchises continuing is a plus in my book and as Stallone, himself, proved with, the very successful, part 6, there's life in the old pugilist yet.

Cue Frank Stallone and let's get this training montage started!!

- The Kick Ass Kid

Escape Plan Trailer

Here it is folks, we have got the first trailer for Arnie and Sly movie Escape Plan (formerly The Tomb) and it looks like a pure slice of awesome. A real throw back with a decent plot and Arnie and Sly battling against each other and together to get out of an insane prison.
The release date in the US is currently set for Oct 18th 2013.

Expendables 3 UPDATE: Stallone Tweets and Action geeks fall at his feet!

A while ago Sylvester Stallone said he was quitting Twitter. Well, luckily for us action nerds, with Escape Plan, Grudge Match and Expendables 3 in the pipeline, Mr. Stallone has decided to remain on the social media platform for the time being and, lately, every time the Rocky Balboa actor has taken to tweeting, they've been heard and repeated around the world.
Bullet To The Head may have sadly flopped but there's no denying the interest and excitement fans still have for The Expendables franchise.

Here are his latest 140 character musings, in them are contained some fantastic news:

So, there you have it. Possible Antonio Banderas (reuniting after 1995's Assassins), definite Jackie Chan, definite Mickey Rourke and definite Wesley Snipes. 

A mention of The Raid and a possible hint of a certain Raid actor's involvement makes us smile considerably and claims that EX3 will better The Raid, while big and certainly confident, if anyone can, only this bunch of beautiful bastards can. 

Of course, like with any EX3 news there's always the feeling that it would nice to see a Cynthia Rothrock mention or a Kurt Russell but it looks like the casting is heading another way and that's fine too.

Our personal wish is to see Darren Shahlavi in a bad guy or henchman role so Statham can engage in another Brit off at the end with another find United Kingdom arse kicker.

- The Kick Ass Kid

EXPENDABLES 3 Finds its director... down under!

In a series of tweets that excited the fans, Sylvester Stallone had made it clear recently that, after Mel Gibson dropped out, his next idea was some new blood. To find someone hungry, like Stallone was when he started out, someone new.
Well it looks like the search is over and the new blood, who will be thrust into the explosions, guns, earth, grit, gore and quips, will be Australian Patrick Hughes!
His first film, Red Hill (2010), was the story of a young, naïve sheriff, who is wounded in the city and decides to move to a small quiet, outback town only, of course, to have the hardest criminal of them all break out of prison and start bumping off his police force.
Trailer for Red Hill
Well we here, that's The Doc & The Kid, trust Stallone and although it would've been epic to see Gibson, John Woo or even Stallone himself direct, I think him giving this newbie a chance is just awesome and inspiring.

Stallone tweeted:
I would Direct it myself , but I want my HANDS free to fight!!!

Found an EXCITING director... Things sometimes happen for a Reason....Okay?

Rent RED HILL. Great Movie!! 500,000 budget 20 day shoot, Amazing - ROCKY was 850,000 and 25 days , Good OMEN!!!

Hey , Everyone should go look at Patrick Hughes short film on U-Tube It is called SIGNS . It will move you in a GOOD WAY. You will LOVE it!

It's a good omen that you endorse the guy, Sly, that's all we need - now get shooting the damn thing sharpish!

Thank you to Snoog from WAFU who alerted us to this news!
- The Kick Ass Kid