the expendables

They might be called The Expendables, but the team is losing one of its key members as Sylvester Stallone is officially parting ways with the franchise he helped create. Following a crucial dispute over the creative direction for the fourth chapter in the ensemble action series, Stallone has walked away from the project — and from what would be his biggest paycheck yet, which says something substantial about his stake in the franchise.

To quote our illustrious new Commander-in-Chief: “China. China China China. CHIIIIINA. China. China. China China China China. CHINA. China!” Our friends to the East have been gobbling up real estate in Hollywood at a rate that would be alarming if it didn’t bring us The Great Wall, which ruled, so things are cool for now. But the influence of China’s entertainment economy has become unavoidable among studio films, with Asian entertainment conglomerate Wanda recently purchasing Legendary and Paramount selling a 25% stake in their next three years of projects to Shanghai Film Group and Huahua Media. Today brings news of another Hollywood takeover spearheaded by a Chinese company, with nothing less than American icon John Rambo caught in the middle.

Although they differ in style and tone in every way imaginable, ‘The Expendables 2‘ and ‘The Bourne Legacy‘ are both action movies and they share the same audience (people who like watching people beat up other people). The slick, modern ‘The Bourne Legacy’ was last week’s box office champion, so everyone was wondering if its success would cut into the opening of the brawny, ’80s throwback that is

Tragedy struck Thursday on the set of Sylvester Stallone’s film ‘The Expendables 2′ when one stuntman was killed and another was seriously wounded. The accident happened during a stunt involving a bomb explosion in an inflatable boat at the Ognyanovo dam, about 15 miles outside the Bulgarian capital of Sofia.