Expendables 2 Starts Filming This Month

Sylvester Stallone at the Red premiere
Sylvester Stallone at the 'Red' premiere - © Richard Chavez
Nu Image/Millennium Films announced the slate of projects they’ll be introducing at the Toronto Film Festival, and among the tidbits of news emerging from their press release is confirmation that filming will start mid-September on Expendables 2. Filming will take place on the sequel to The Expendables at Nu Image’s Nu Boyana studios in Sofia. Casting is, according to Nu Image, being finalized but is expected to include Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Jet Li, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Mickey Rourke, Terry Crew, Chuck Norris and Jean-Claude Van Damme.
 
“Everyone is eager to get started on this film, and our distributors are eager as well. The first one was a success for all,” stated Nu Image, Inc./Millennium Films’ Avi Lerner. “TIFF this year is looking very good for us and our films.”
 
Nu Image/Millennium Films also confirmed details on their other upcoming projects being offered to buyers/distributors at the 2011 Toronto Film Festival:
 
Straight A’s – A $5 million dramedy starring Anna Paquin, Ryan Phillippe, Luke Wilson, Christa Campbell and directed by James Cox. Filming was just completed in Shreveport, Louisiana on Straight A’s which was written by David Cole and produced by Holly Wiersma, Scoot McNairy, Rene Besson and John Pierce. Wiersma said about the project: “I had a great time making this film. The story is about all relationships, family and friends, and this cast and crew became a family, relationships and all. Plus producing for Avi and Millennium is always a blast.”
 
Trespass – A thriller starring Nicolas Cage and Nicole Kidman and directed by Joel Schumacher (Cage and Schumacher will attend TIFF on September 14th). Trespass is a home invasion story which “evolves into something far more complicated.”
 
The Big Wedding – A comedy starring Robert De Niro, Katherine Heigl, Amanda Seyfried, Topher Grace, Susan Sarandon, Diane Keaton and Robin Williams, and written/directed by Justin Zackham. Filming wrapped up last month in Connecticut.
 
Playing the Field – A romantic comedy starring Gerard Butler, Jessica Biel, Uma Thurman, Judy Greer, with Catherine Zeta-Jones and Dennis Quaid, and directed by Gabriele Muccino. Butler stars as a “retired world famous soccer star who tries to rebuild a relationship with his son and ex-wife by coaching his kid’s soccer team. While soccer is a hands-free sport, the mothers of the other kids can’t keep their hands off the coach, which imperils his plan.”
 
The Paperboy – An erotic thriller starring Matthew McConaughey, Zac Efron, John Cusack and Nicole Kidman, and directed by Lee Daniels. The Paperboy is based on the novel by Peter Dexter.
 
Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D – A horror film starring Alexandrea Daddario, Gunnar Hansen, Thom Barry, Shaun Sipos, Keram Malicki-Sanchez, and Tania Raymonde to be directed by John Luessenhop.
 
Source: Nu Image/Millennium Films – September 10, 2011