Jason Statham Teases His Expendibles 4 Showdown With The Raid Star Iko Uwais
"Expendables" come and go, but Jason Statham always remains. In "The Expendables 4," he's squaring off against martial arts star Iko Uwais, the star of "The Raid," "The Raid 2," and "The Night Comes for Us," among other bloody actioners. Statham took to Instagram to share an image from the upcoming sequel, where he'll also be joined by returning co-stars Sylvester Stallone, Dolph Lungdren, Randy Couture, and some new faces.
On the official Lionsgate account, Statham (or someone posting on his behalf) wrote: "A real honour to spend some screen time with the incredibly talented @iko.uwais. A true master of his game and a powerhouse of speed and skills that take a lifetime to achieve. Massive respect for all that you do brother."
"The Expendable 4" also stars Megan Fox and Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, but for fans of Asian cinema, the real treat may be seeing Uwais represent Indonesia, and none other than Tony Jaa ("The Protector") represent Thailand.
Double Feature This: The Raid and The Protector
"The Expendables 4" is directed by Scott Waugh ("Act of Valor"), with a story by Spenser Cohen and a script by Cohen, Max Adams, and John Joseph Connolly. At this point, we don't know much about the plot, but let's be honest, does plot really matter here?
The movie will team aging stars from the action films of yesteryear with newer breakouts like Uwais. Maybe that's all anyone needs to know for "The Expendables 4" to put butts in seats (or not, since the franchise has seen diminishing box-office returns with each new sequel, and the last one, "The Expendables 3," was the lowest-grossing film yet).
If you're not familiar with Uwais and Jaa, you can do some homework for "The Expendables 4" by brushing up on their films. A good starting point for Uwais would be "The Raid," which first brought him to a lot of people's attention. It's one that we highlighted in our list of single-location movies that show you don't need a big budget to tell a good story. The film is set almost exclusively in an Indonesian apartment block.
"The Protector" also features Jaa storming a staircase and fighting his way up through the circular levels of a building. It's worth watching if only for that virtuoso, four-minute sequence, which never cuts away from the action.
Principal photography on "The Expendables 4" began at the very end of September, so it's already been going for over a month now. The film is coming in 2022 and doesn't have a release date yet, but we'll keep you posted as more updates roll in.