Bruce Willis is out and Harrison Ford is in. That is the latest casting news from Sylvester Stallone for “The Expendables 3” feature film.
Willis opted out after not getting a million dollar per day paycheck for four days of work. Stallone and company offered Willis a hefty $3 million for a four day shoot in Bulgaria but Willis said no thanks and backed out of the deal.
Stallone picked up the phone and called Harrison Ford, offered him the film which will have the return of Stallone and Schwarzenegger, Statham, Lundgren, and Li in their primary roles from the previous films. The addition of Ford will make this a powerhouse film that is also boasting of Mickey Rourke, Milla Jovovich, Wesley Snipes and Jackie Chan. Rumored for cameos are Mel Gibson, Antonio Banderas and Steven Seagal.
When asked about the Willis departure Stallone tweeted, “WILLIS OUT…HARRISON FORD IN!!!! GREAT NEWS!!!! Been waiting years for this!!!!.” Stallone also added an additional tweet addressed to his former business partner Willis: “GREEDY AND LAZY…A SURE FORMULA FOR CAREER FAILURE.”
Willis had no comment and with the huge film grosses from his latest three films, A Good Day to Die Hard, Red 2 and GI Joe: Retaliation topping over $700 million combined, he has little fear that his career will suffer too much by walking away from The Expendables deal.
With Harrison Ford coming aboard for this third Expendables movie he lends it something some critics felt the first two may have lacked; respectability. Kudos to Sly for being willing to reach out and landing such a mega superstar like Ford to an already stellar lineup of actors.
[Featured pic is an AP Image]