Whitaker out, 50 in?

Sounds like Sly Stallone’s THE EXPENDABLES just sacrificed a small slice of coolness.

AICN says that scheduling shifts on the all-star action flick have caused Forest Whitaker to withdraw from the project. And apparently he’s been replaced by rapper / actor / product pitchman / videogame character Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson.

Whitaker was to play a federal agent (apparently teamed with a distractingly hot partner, a badge now worn by Charisma Carpenter) on the hunt for Sly and his merry band of mercenaries.

I’m not sure an Oscar winner for the guy behind the unavoidable hip-hop hit “In da Club” is a fair trade off, but maybe Mr. Cent showed Sly something special to get the part. At least I know Jackson can act — he has convincingly scowled or seemed perplexed in all his movie roles I’ve seen.

UPDATE – Stallone himself has candidly (and persuasively) addressed the recasting, via the boards at StalloneZone: “No one thought Dolph Lundgren was a good choice for ROCKY or Mr. T. for Rocky III. Carl Weathers was an afterthought when Ken Norton fell out.” More right here. In Sly we trust.