14 DAY TRIAL // Many moviegoers, his fans included, said that Jean Claude Van Damme ruined an excellent comeback by turning down Sylvester Stallone’s offer to be in last year’s box office hit “The Expendables.” Come the sequel, JCVD will make this right.
Word online has it that JCVD has been approached again with an offer to be in the action-packed film – and, this time, he might just do it, MovieWeb reports.
This is not just a rumor either, since it comes from director Sheldon Lettich, who is now working on making a sequel for Van Damme’s “Double Impact” get off the ground.
However, if he’s to say yes and come on board the “Expendables” train, the veteran actor has just one condition: he doesn’t want Steven Seagal to be in it as well, Lettich says.
“JC seems to be leaning towards appearing in the sequel, as far as I know... If Steven Seagal is not in the sequel,” Lettich says.
Apparently, at one point, Seagal was being seriously courted for a part. However, the director says that he may not get it because of some problems he had with the producer a while back.
“From what I’ve heard it, [Steven] Seagal won’t be, not because of Sly, but because of producer Avi Lerner, who had a few bad experiences with Steven,” Lettich adds.
In other words, if Jean Claude Van Damme’s only condition was not to have Seagal on the same set, it’s clearly a given that he’ll be in the sequel to “Expendables.”
For the time being, casting is underway, with production scheduled to start later this year. MovieWeb says most of the original cast will return – hopefully with more screen time for Bruce Willis.
“All of the original cast members, even Steve Austin, who died in the original, will be returning (we hear that Stone Cold may have an evil twin),” the e-zine writes.
New faces will also be joining the team – but not even Stallone knows yet who they are.
“Sly’s Tango & Cash better half, Kurt Russell, has been considered. Mike Tyson was toyed with and then dropped. Arnold Schwarzenegger may have a bigger role as his term as governor of California winds down. And Ryan Seacrest will participate in some capacity,” MovieWeb reports.