When Mickey Rourke was added to The Expendables, the action movie written, directed and starring Sylvester Stallone alongside Jet Li, Jason Statham, Randy Couture, and Dolph Lundgren, it seemed the only action stars left out of the cast were Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jean-Claude Van Damme. Now it's just Van Damme that's left out. According to AintItCoolNews, Schwarzenegger will be joining to play a small role in the movie, but while Van Damme will not appear, Eric Roberts will, taking over for Ben Kingsley as a CIA operative.
So, with so many action stars in the movie, why isn't Van Damme in the movie? Apparently, Stallone did offer Van Damme a role, but he turned it down.
Stallone gave me a part in his next movie," he told us. "But I ask him about the subject, about the story. He said, ‘You’re gonna make lots of money.’ I don’t want to hear that, I want to hear what was my character. He was unable to tell what it’s going to be. [Stallone said:] 'You know, uh, well, the fighting will be good.' [So I said:] 'Sly, what is my character?' So I didn’t do the movie.
The Expendables starts shooting next month with Stallone currently working on the script and "struggling to nail the right tonal balance of humor, action and emotional reality." Of course he is.