25 Things You (Probably) Didn't Know About The Expendables
The money they've made, the bones they've broken, the arguments they've had!
July 18, 2012
by Tom Hawker
Think you know everything about The Expendables? Well think again, as we list 25 facts about the world's biggest and baddest action stars, with details of the money they've made, the bones they've broken, and the arguments they've had…
1. Box Office Big Cheeses
Between them, the headliners have wracked up over 8 billion in US tickets sales – unadjusted for inflation. Who's the guy the other action heroes are most frightened of awkwardly bumping into at the box office showers? One Bruce Willis, who makes up a fair quarter of that figure. (Though very little of that was for Cop Out).
2. Prize Fighters
Before they became expendable, nearly all the guys had won championships in their chosen field. Schwarzenegger was a Mr Universe; Jet Li a wushu legend by the age of 14; Couture a UFC beltholder; Austin a WWE champ; Statham was part of the British diving championships; Lundgren, Van Damme and especially Norris all won big in karate; Meanwhile, Stallone and Willis have an impressive 11 Razzies between them.
3. Sniped
The role of Hale Caesar was originally set for Wesley Snipes. Unfortunately, this was also around the time that Snipes was experiencing irreconcilable differences with the IRS, causing him to pass on the role (and eventually freedom in general) as he wasn't allowed to leave the United States without the court's approval. Forrest Whittaker and 50 Cent were in turn tailored for the part, before gifting Terry Crews the muscle-bound part. We're presuming Crews didn't find the role too taxing.
4. Seagal: Flight of Fury
The 'Vegas Elvis' of action heroes, Steven Seagal was approached for a role in the first movie but turned it down. The reason? 'Bad blood' between Expendables' producer Avi Lerner and expandable Seagal, the pair having fallen out during the production of Mercenary and Today You Die – there were lawsuits, counter lawsuits and a two really shonky movies.
5. Van Damme Buster
'Colourful' action legend Jean-Claude Van Damme also turned down a role in the first Expendables movie, complaining that the character wasn't well written enough for him and telling Sly that he "should be trying to save people in South Central."
Van Damme's on board for the second round as the cunningly-named villain Jean Vilain. It's still not set in South Central.
6. Seagal vs Van Damme: The Truth (According to Sly)
The downside of having Van Damme in the sequel movie is that Steven Seagal definitely won't be in it. Offered a role in the Expenda-sequel, Seagal again baulked at sharing celluloid space with The Muscles From Brussels. The reason? Sylvester Stallone: "At a party in my home in Miami in 1997, Van Damme was tired of Seagal claiming he could kick his ass so he offered Seagal outside into my back yard. Seagal made his excuses and left. But Van Damme, who was berserk, tracked him down at a nightclub and offered him out again. Van Damme was too strong. Seagal wanted none of it."
7. Bad Mutha-Truckers
That customized 1955 Ford F100 that Stallone rides around in the movie? It's one of three made by West Coast Customs for the movie – actually reworked '56 models. One was kept pristine while another got totaled in the big crash sequence. The last one was for Stallone to keep – it was flogged last year for $130,000.
8. Those Cameos
Originally, the first movie's two big cameos were going to be done separately – it was Bruce Willis who suggested they maximize their celebrity impact in one go. Arnie did his part for free as a favour to his old Planet Hollywood partner – taking six hours out of his gubernatorial schedule to play Trench. We're guessing he took a proper salary for the five days he did on number two.
9. The Rulers of Planet Hollywood
Despite being the faces of Planet Hollywood, the action triumvirate of Stallone, Schwarzenegger and Willis (along with Willis' then wife Demi Moore) were really the public frontpieces for former Hard Rock Café CEO Robert Earl and movie producer Keith Barish: the stars receiving dirt cheap stock options in return for their celebrity endorsement.
10. Arnie vs Sly
It's remarkable that Sly and Arnie are now such good mates given that they spent most of the 80s locked in an ego-battle as big as their man-boobs. Arnie allegedly dallied with Brigitte Nielsen – according to her - before she met and married Sly; the pair feuded in the press, while Arnie mocked Sly on screen in Twins. "We couldn't stand to be in the same room" Stallone admitted recently.
11. Mickey Rourke: Getting Tooled
Riding a wave of critical adoration with The Wrestler, Mickey Rourke took the small role of Tool as a thank you to Stallone for getting him a part in the Get Carter remake back when Rourke's career was waving a white flag. How bad must your career be if you're delighted to be in Get Carter?
12. Neck Breaker
Stallone gets to wear The Expendables' purple heart medal. As well as numerous cuts and bruises, he broke a tooth and ruptured an ankle. These were small fry though compared to when Stone Cold Steve Austin accidentally broke the 63-year-old Stallone's neck when a stunt landed badly. After filming was over, Stallone had a metal plate inserted into his neck. When people said he'd need a brass neck to pull the movie off, they probably didn't mean it quite so literally.
13. Heartbreaker
That's not the worst injury Stallone's suffered while doing battle with an Expendables co-star. Back on Rocky IV, he wound up in intensive care for eight days after Dolph Lundgren punched Sly's chest so hard that his heart bounced of his breastbone – the resulting swelling, laboured breathing and dangerously high blood pressure led the production to fly Sly back to LA.
14. Austin: What A Leg Off
Karma is a bitch. Having accidentally broken Stallone's neck, Steve Austin almost lost a leg when an explosion went off right next to his foot. The only thing that prevented him losing a pin was the huge bag he was carrying, shielding him from the explosion. Stallone 3:16 says… don't cripple the boss.
15. Dark Ink
What does that tattoo mean? Well, the skull implies impending death – or willingness to kill - while the crow is a bad omen, so in a round-about way, it's saying that 'You're about to die' or 'I am going to bring you death': pretty suitable for a mercenary, though it probably won't look as good next to the Snarf tattoo on your shoulderblade.
16. Brazil: Not Just A Pretty Place
Shooting in Brazil has many upsides but, depending on which bit you're filming in, also has a few social issues that could cause a huge Hollywood production a bit of a headache. "We had 70 bodyguards just to keep the people back," Stallone said, "Because the areas are so dangerous that on the way to the set, you would see car-jackings, robberies. It was rough."
17. Stallone Gets a Brazilian
Stallone personally ended up on Brazil's naughty list after his 2010 Comic-Con appearance. Explaining why he'd shot in Brazil, he said, "You can shoot people and blow things up and they say, 'Thank you! Take a monkey home with you!' We couldn't have pulled off what we did [somewhere else]. We blew up huge plots of land. It was like, 'Everybody bring their hot dogs. We're having a BBQ today. We're gonna blow up this village.'" He later issued an apology, claiming he was just trying to crack a funny.
18. Nothing Hurts Chuck Norris. Apart From Cussing.
Chuck Norris allegedly agreed to appear in The Expendables 2 – as the mysterious Booker – only if Sly cut all the swearing out of the script. Because, after the all the explosions, slashings, bodies being torn apart by bullets and relentless bloody violence, what's really damaging to the kids is a bit of blue language. F*****' Chuck Norris.
19. Sheen: Expendable?
So how do you top having Arnie and Bruce cameo in your movie? Following the success of the first movie, Stallone put together a wish list of big names for the sequel. Actors approached included Donnie Yen, John Travolta and Nicholas Cage. Best of all, Sly was supposed to have been considering having tiger-blooded, fiery-fisted warlock Charlie Sheen in the movie. Winning.
20. Bridge Over Exploding Water
Filmmaking can build bridges between cultures, providing insights and understandings between vastly different societies. The Expendables just builds bridges. Literally. Filming the sequel in Bulgaria, one sequence required the filmmakers to rebuild the bridge connecting the left bank of the river Osam and the Devetashka Cave at a reported cost of $380,000.
21. Tragedy Strikes
On 27 October 2011 an accident occurred during second unit filming involving a rubber boat and two stuntmen. The explosion killed Kun Lieu and seriously injured fellow stuntman Nuo Sun, who thankfully made a recovery "Our deepest condolences go to the family of Kun Lieu," the filmmaker's statement said. "His passing is tragic."
22. Shaken Not Stirred Opening
The original openings to The Expendables 2 saw the guys suited and booted undercover at a posh party, a la True Lies. This got thrown out for something more straightforward. "The first 15 minutes is a non-stop action scene where we throw everything at it," Stallone told Total Film. "On water, on air, every kind of stunt. We do the whole A-Z."
23. Expendaballs
The most unlikely former-champion appearing The Expendables 2? That would be pro tennis hero Novak Djorkovic. Unfortunately, the cameo will more likely involve the five-time Grand Slam winner playing a comedy version of himself, rather than brutally slicing Rafa Nadal in half with a weaponised 155mph serve.
24. Dorm Buddies
It's nice that Sly and Arnie are all BFFs now. By coincidence, when Sly went in for his post-Expendables 2 hospital check-up on his knacked shoulder, Schwarzenegger was in the next bed having his own aches tended to after finishing his first proper comeback flick, The Last Stand – the pair are also getting ready for the next team up The Tomb. Arnie probably asked for a bigger bed.
25. The Expendables 3?
Yes, Stallone's already thinking about number three. And guess who reckons they're being tapped up for a part. "I have already been made an offer," says Steven Seagal, presumably confident that Jean-Claude Van Damme won't survive number two. "We'll see…" Yep, we'll see.
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