UK: THE EXPENDABLES 3 WORLD PREMIERE Sylvester Stallone brings his action team to London for global launch

Record ID: 221390

  • Title: UK: THE EXPENDABLES 3 WORLD PREMIERE Sylvester Stallone brings his action team to London for global launch
  • Date: 4th August 2014
  • Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (AUGUST 4, 2014) (REUTERS) SNIPES WAVES TO FANS CHANTING HIS NAME, TURNS TO CAMERA AND SAYS 'I DON'T KNOW WHY THEY DO THAT' STALLONE WALKING THROUGH CROWDS (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR WESLEY SNIPES, SAYING: (Reporter: You went through a bit of a rough patch) "Like we all have, right? It's been a hell of a three years for everybody, ain't it? I can dig it." (Reporter: How does it feel to be back and have all this love?) "Oh man, it's wonderful, man. I appreciate it. It's truly a blessing. And you know the amazing thing about film is that film is everlasting and you get a chance to... well, you never really realise who far it travels and how many people embrace films and the different films that they gravitate to and really like. My body of work has done me well, it's served me well." SNIPES WITH FANS
  • Embargoed: 19th August 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: United Kingdom
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Reuters ID: LVA8OKDXCGSMQ3VWJZPH4GXMLYOU
  • Story Text: Sylvester Stallone explains why the world premiere of the third Expendables movie coincided with the World War One centenary and talks Expendables spin-offs



    Although they had a substantial launch in Cannes during the festival in May, London was the home of the world premiere of 'The Expendables 3', which saw actor Sylvester Stallone bring out a handful of his Expendables on Monday (August 4) to Leicester Square.
    However, the celebration of the global launch also coincided with the centenary of World War One which is being commemorated across Europe.
    Speaking at the premiere about how he felt launching his movie about fictional action heroes on the same day the fallen of The Great War were being remembered, Stallone explained "I had no idea that it would fall on this date so I'm kind of ambiguous about it because it's such a solemn important day and it's such a day for celebration but the one thing is that every one of us is here today to pay their respects to the honoured fallen heroes, for sure."
    'The Expendables 3' brings most of the team of the previous films back together - with the exception of Bruce Willis who quit following a public fall-out between Willis and Stallone - and this time around there are the additions of more stars such as Kelsey Grammer, Antonio Banderas, Kellan Lutz and Mel Gibson.
    When I started out with 'Rocky' I had no idea it would end up with six," said Stallone. "The thing is if you keep adding to the story and bring in new blood and some cool old blood and keep stirring it around... there's an old saying that if you keep moving your feet fast enough they won't notice your shoes ain't shined so we just keep it going, keep mixing it up. And it gets harder every time. We're running out of guys."
    However, Stallone was faced with some inspiration at the world premiere when he ran into British hardman actor Vinnie Jones on the red carpet. One spin-off the producers, Avi Lerner and Kevin King Templeton, admitted was looking set for a 2015 release was 'The Expenda-belles' about an all-female squad of action heroines, and like the other Expendable movies, it looks set to be written by Stallone.
    Although he wasn't forthcoming about the casting, Stallone joked about how he felt the movie could work. "So I was talking to the producers and said that maybe it was something that happened out of a divorce. I was married to, like, Sigourney Weaver and in the settlement I had to give her half the mercenaries too and The Expenda-belles so it's the other half of my company. I don't know. Something. But it's really a challenge, it really is," he said.
    Stallone is seen as the heart of The Expendables, playing the lead character Barney Ross in all three movies, and having directed the original movie. With a cast of big names growing with each movie, Stallone admits that it's getting easier to control the egos.
    "You've got to understand people's moods, like 'Oh don't talk to him for an hour', 'he's going to great in the morning', 'he's going to be great in the afternoon'. But overall, they're incredibly competitive and I know that when the whistle blows and they're on camera, they don't want to come up second," he admitted.
    The world premiere also saw the return of actor Wesley Snipes to a big Hollywood premiere. The 'Blade' star was jailed for three years in 2008 for failing to file income tax returns. In the movie trailer, the actor is seen being broken out of prison in a nod to his real life situation.
    The crowd at the premiere chanted 'Wesley' as the actor attempted to carry out interviews. When asked what his reaction was to the fans welcoming him back, he replied "Oh man, it's wonderful, man. I appreciate it. It's truly a blessing. And you know the amazing thing about film is that film is everlasting and you get a chance to... well, you never really realise who far it travels and how many people embrace films and the different films that they gravitate to and really like. My body of work has done me well, it's served me well."
    'The Expendables 3' which sees the team go up against an ex-colleague Conrad Stonebanks (Mel Gibson) begins its global roll-out on August 13.
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