Arnold Schwarzenegger won’t do Expendables 4 without Stallone

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Another one bites the dust, so they say. Or in Queen’s case it was sung. What takes precedent sang or said? Huh.

Anyway, last week we got news that Sylvester Stallone would not be appearing in EXPENDABLES 4 after some creative differences. The movie is still a go, just without its leading man. Well, now the bench of legendary action stars willing to go another round just got shorter, as the Governator himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger, has gone on record with EW to say he sides with Sly:

There is no Expendables without Sly. I would never do the movie without him, no.

Short, sweet, and terribly heartbreaking. Schwarzenegger played Trench in the last three movies, with his cameo in the first marking a welcome return to movies after being the governor of California. Even if Stallone returns to the movie he said he may not return to the series unless his character was more well-developed, saying:

You know, I think the first and second one were terrific. But, the third one, I thought my part was not written well. It was also not playing well in the movie, as far as I was concerned. Maybe other people believed differently. But I didn’t believe that I had any value in the movie. I love the franchise, by the way. I think it’s a spectacular franchise, The Expendables. I think that Sly has good ideas, what he wants to do with it, and I think if they write a really good script [in] which my part is very well-developed, I would do it. If not, then I won’t do it.

However, the exit of Stallone seems to have locked the door tight.  The actor is not even sure where the fourth movie is being taken:

I have not seen the script; I don’t even know if there is a script, even though they want to shoot in August again, like they usually do.

As I said, another one gone from the muscle-bound series starring a bevy of action movie heroes.  Schwarzenegger seemed on the fence after the third movie, but now it seems the odds of him returning after Sly’s exit are non-existent. It’s a shame negotiations couldn’t be worked out between Stallone and the studio, and now a fourth movie seems pointless. No Stallone? No Schwarzenegger? Who’s gonna lead the pack? F@king Kellan Lutz?