Dolph Lundgren on ‘The Expendables’http://www.kungfucinema.com/dolph-lundgren-on-the-expendables-11388 (http://www.kungfucinema.com/dolph-lundgren-on-the-expendables-11388)
It must feel like 1985 again for action star Dolph Lundgren. Not since his breakout performance opposite Sylvester Stallone in ROCKY IV has he enjoyed the level of popularity he is experiencing now for his upcoming role in Stallone’s highly anticipated action movie THE EXPENDABLES. Lundgren was recently interviewed by MovieWeb where he talked about the film, his “crazy” role in it and working with Stallone again. He also touched on his latest film release, COMMAND PERFORMANCE, and addressed the question of whether or not he thinks male stars are too wimpy today.
Regarding bringing humor into his role as “Jenson” in COMMAND PERFORMANCE, Lundgren said he didn’t plan for that initially but it came out during the scriptwriting phase. Stallone challenged him to bring even more humor into his role in THE EXPENDABLES. “Stallone wrote this great character for me. He’s crazy but funny in a comedic way. He’s a good guy and a bad guy at the same time,” said Lundgren. “Stallone really pushed me to get those comedic moments to work. It’s something that I hadn’t really ever done before. It was hard for me, especially with Stallone directing. And we have all of these other guys there. Stallone is a pretty tough director. You don’t mess with him. But those scenes certainly proved that comedy in these types of films is very important.”
Lundgren talked about the level of violence audiences can expect in Stallone’s film. “THE EXPENDABLES is violent, but it’s not as violent as RAMBO. It’s funnier. It has a little more humor. There are some moments where guys get blown across the room. They get stabbed and shot, and shit like that. But it’s not as bad as RAMBO. The tone is a little bit more entertaining.” In playing opposite Stallone, Lundgren suggested that the two strike a strong visual contrast that plays well with audiences. “On film, there is a certain thing between us. We have a great screen presence together. He is Italian and dark. I am the blonde Nordic type. When we are together on screen, it looks very good when they cut back and forth between us. I realized that when I saw THE EXPENDABLES just on the monitors, when we were filming.”
“We have two or three scenes together. Those are my favorites. It’s so old school. It’s a confrontation scene between two men. It’s real, character-driven material. Stallone writes really well. I was very pleased to make that come alive on screen. I think people are going to really dig it,” said Lundgren in response to a question about his favorite scene.
JCVD and Chuck Norris Officially Confirmed to Join 'Expendables 2'?http://www.firstshowing.net/2011/jcvd-and-chuck-norris-officially-confirmed-to-join-expendables-2/ (http://www.firstshowing.net/2011/jcvd-and-chuck-norris-officially-confirmed-to-join-expendables-2/)
Not too long ago, some interesting names were rumored to join the beefy, action-star cast of The Expendables 2, the sequel to last year's throwback to action films from decades past with familiar faces from those films taking part. While it's been expected that original cast members like Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Mickey Rourke, Terry Crews and Jet Li would return, rumored names have been circling around online for awhile. Now according to Millennium Films' official website (via IGN) it sounds like Chuck Norris and Jean Claude Van Damme will definitely be in the film after all.
On the production company's site, alongside the names of original cast members returning for the sequel, both Norris and Van Damme are listed as being part of the cast. That's about as official of a statement as we've gotten on their casting, and I'd probably go so far as to call their involvement a guarantee at this point. However, no word on whether John Travolta could still end up being part of the film as his name was rumored along with Norris and Van Damme in our last update. As for the story of this action sequel, well just the short plot synopsis at contains one big spoiler (though it will likely be revealed in the first trailer for the film), so we won't post it here, but you can check it out at Millennium Films official website if you feel so inclined.
Arnold Schwarzenegger & Bruce Willis Confirmed for 'Expendables 2'http://www.firstshowing.net/2011/arnold-schwarzenegger-bruce-willis-confirmed-for-the-expendables-2/ (http://www.firstshowing.net/2011/arnold-schwarzenegger-bruce-willis-confirmed-for-the-expendables-2/)
The trifecta of badasses is now complete. Following the news going around yesterday that Chuck Norris and JCVD were confirmed for The Expendables 2, the sequel to last year's action extravaganza, Deadline is now confirming that two other action heavy-weights - Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis - will be back for Expendables 2, in bigger roles. Deadline is saying the two have close deals for "substantial" roles in the sequel, which will not be directed by Stallone this time, but he will be returning to star. This is one hell of an incredible action cast they've amassed, with most of the original guys returning as well. Read on!
Millennium Films / Nu Image now has Simon West (Con Air, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, The Mechanic) set to direct The Expendables 2, with Stallone returning along with Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Mickey Rourke, Terry Crews and Jet Li. The cast now also includes Chuck Norris, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis. Damn, I'm excited, even though I didn't like the first one that much. Now we can really ask, is there any action superstar that isn't in this? This time I feel like they really are getting everyone, even beefing up the cameo roles that Schwarzenegger and Willis had. The project is already gearing up, as Lionsgate has set an official August 17th, 2012 release date next summer, which means they better start shooting soon.