Earlier today, while most of us were trying to enjoy our Saturday, Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger filmed a scene together for “The Expendables”. If you’re a fan of action movies, this is like Christmas morning. While the scene in question is just a small part of the movie…who cares! These three action stars have never worked together and even if it’s just for a moment in the movie, this is another reason why “The Expendables” is going to be awesome. More after the jump.

I won’t go into a Ben Foster love-fest, I promise but his participation in Simon West’s “The Mechanic” definitely raises my interest in the project.  The film is a remake of the 1972 Charles Bronson film of the same name about an aging hitman (played this time by Statham) who takes an apprentice under his wing in what must be the weirdest summer internship ever.  According to Variety, Foster would play the assassination intern while Donald Sutherland would play Foster’s father and Statham’s handler.  It’s enough to get you interested in what looks like a keen, low-budget action-thriller and then you remember that Simon West is directing and all that interest just drifts away…

The promo trailer for “The Expendables” has just landed online and before I comment, I know that this trailer isn’t intended for general audiences but for distributors to pick up the film.  And how do you get those distributors to pick up this movie?  Well, judging by this trailer, give people an action boner.

This trailer is completely schizophrenic where you feel like you’re seeing every major scene of the film and yet the story is incomprehensible.  Jokes and out-of-context dialogue are interspersed between violence.  But none of it seems good.  I know this film was crafted out of a (possibly ironic) desire for the ultimate B-action movie but judging from this trailer, a trailer which didn’t have to go before the MPAA, this movie is going to disappoint a lot of genre fans.  Hit the jump and see if you can get aroused by guns and explosions.

Since director F. Gary Grey’s “The Italian Job” first came out, rumors have been circulating that Paramount was developing a sequel. In fact, when I was on the set of “Observe and Report”, producer Donald De Line told us, “we developed a script which was “The Brazilian Job” and they were all excited about the script at Paramount, and we actually budgeted it and everything and we were kind of ready to go, and then a lot of things were happening with various management changes and it got tabled”. Of course with a cast featuring Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, Donald Sutherland, Jason Statham and Edward Norton, it’s no surprise that people would like to see another adventure.

Anyway, since that set visit, nothing has been reported on the movie and many have wondered if a sequel would ever happen. So when I got on the phone today to talk with director F. Gary Grey about his new movie “Law Abiding Citizen”, I got an update on the project. Hit the jump to read what he had to say:

Collider reader “Max” has just sent along two promo posters for the upcoming films “Stone” starring Robert De Niro and Edward Norton and for “The Mechanic” starring Jason Statham.  Neither of these posters is official and you’ll probably never see them in your theater’s lobby.  These are made to influence an individual or a specific group rather than for public consumption.  But even though “Stone” is currently in post-production and “The Mechanic” is only in pre-production, hit the jump and consume away at these posters as well as brief plot synopses.

Crank: High Voltage is a movie with a limited target audience. It is not for those who go to the theaters to make out with their dates. It is not for those who pop in a DVD to relax after a hard day’s labor. It is not for small children, those with heart conditions, or women who are pregnant or may become pregnant. And frankly, it’s vile enough that I would not be at all surprised to discover it were carcinogenic. But, like a pack of Marlboro Reds, it is not something without a certain charm and appeal. More after the jump:

If you read Collider, you know how I feel about Neveldine/Taylor’s movies. As the writer-director’s behind “Crank” and “Crank: High Voltage”, I think these two are absolutely pushing the boundaries of mainstream movies and I love it. So it gives me great pleasure to say they have a new movie opening tomorrow called “Gamer”. Like there two previous films, it’s loaded with action and total mayhem. But while “Crank” had Jason Statham as the lead, “Gamer” has Gerard Butler, and it’s his first full on action movie since “300″!

Anyway, to help promote the film, I was able to sit down with Mark and Brian (Neveldine/Taylor) to talk about making “Gamer” and a lot more. During our conversation they revealed Gerard Butler was almost the lead in “Crank”, “Gamer” has 1000 effects shots, they only had $1 million dollars for effects in “Gamer”! They also talked about what’s on the “Gamer” Blu-ray, what they are currently working on, and a lot more. It’s a great interview so take a look!

While some movie studios use Variety and The Hollywood Reporter to publish their press releases, Lionsgate is embracing new media in a big way as they’ve announced the release dates of “Kick-Ass” and “The Expendables” on Twitter! Very cool. According to Lionsgate, “Kick-Ass” is hitting theaters on April 16th, 2010 and “The Expendables” on August 20th, 2010. For more on the release dates…hit the jump:

Crank caught a lot of people by surprise, including me. I was not sure what to expect from the Lionsgate film, which arrived with little publicity, and didn’t seem to get too much press beforehand. The film was a combination of the film D.O.A. and Grand Theft Auto, with Chev Chelios (Jason Statham) trying to avenge his own death, only keeping himself alive by stimulating his adrenal gland. But keeping high on life is a moment to moment struggle, so the film keeps raising the stakes. My Review of Crank 2 after the jump.

It’s been rumored for a while now that action movie gods Bruce “John McClane” Willis and Arnold “20 Other Awesome Characters” Schwarzenegger would have small roles in Sly Stallone’s upcoming slice of bad ass nirvana, “The Expendables”. However, now we have confirmation from Willis himself that he and the Governator will not only appear, but share the screen together with Stallone. That’s right, Schwarzenegger, Willis, and Stallone all on screen together. This may be the event that causes the world to explode, and it will have been worth it. Hit the jump for all the explosive, bloody deets.

Crime Spree Cinema is reporting that Jason Statham has signed to play a “rather crude, un-pc, borderline sociopath of a cop” in a British production of the Ken Bruen novel “Blitz”.  Statham would play Brant, a homophobic London cop who must work with an openly gay sergeant in order to catch a serial killer nicknamed “The Blitz”.  The Brant character is the star of a series of books by Bruen so Statham could be looking at another franchise here - always assuming this casting story proves correct.  Adding credibility to the news is the fact that Bruen himself said that “Jason Statham will really step up to the plate for Brant; he’s been looking for a part to make his own and I think this is it.”  The “Blitz” screenplay is from Nathan Parker (”Moon”) with Elliott Lester directing.  Shooting starts on August 10^th in London.

From the world of ‘WTF?’ news comes word that director Guy Ritchie is working on a big screen adaptation of the classic Broadway musical “Guys and Dolls”.  According to the always completely reliable British tabloid The Sun, Ritchie is taking meetings in Hollywood with “top studio bosses” about his desire to write and direct a modern musical based on the tale of a gambling-guy who places a bet on the affections of an innocent girl - I mean doll.

According to the paper’s “source”, Ritchie has been keen on making a musical for awhile now and has even been “throwing ideas around” with Jason Statham for an original song-fest they would write together.  “They joked it would be a cross between Worzel Gummidge and Bullitt,” said the source.  I have no idea what a Worzel Gummidge is but, even with Jason Statham onboard, a singing “Bullitt” just seems plain wrong - on a lot of levels.

And if the idea of the man who made “Snatch” succumbing to “Mamma Mia!” syndrome seems just as wrong to you, know that Ritchie’s choice of material could have been worse.  “Guys and Dolls” was originally adapted into a pretty cool feature film that starred Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra.  This is probably why the Sun’s story has that subtle whiff of believability about it.  I can actually see Jason Statham playing Brando’s role of Sky Masterson… imagining him singing that part is a whole different issue.

Considering the source, this can only be termed a Ritchie-rumor for now.  If it becomes clear that the British tabloids actually have the story right we will let you know.

Like Patton Oswalt, I am officially Gay-tham for Jason Statham.  Except that I’m a girl so I guess I’m straight-tham for Statham?  The point is that I’m a fan and, as such, I am always happy to report on upcoming projects from my favorite professional bad-ass.

The word form Variety is that Statham will be headlining a British thriller called “The Killer Elite”.  It has ‘killer’ in the title so I’m sold - but just for fun I’ll give you some details:

“Killer Elite” is based on the book “The Feathermen” (I think we can all see why that title needed to be changed) by Ranulph Fiennes, aka “the world’s greatest living adventurer.”  I’m not kidding. His Wikipedia page says that Fiennes is indeed the world’s greatest living adventurer.  And here you thought I had just forgotten to run my spell-check…

The film will tell the tale of a group of former British Special Forces members who are being hunted by assassins. Statham will play a former Navy Seal who is forced out of retirement to save his closest friend.  Variety says that the book was based on “real events” and, if true, I have to say that the whole “world’s greatest adventurer thing” sounds legit.

The “Killer Elite” deal was announced Wednesday night in Cannes and word is that the pic will begin filming this fall in London, Paris and Australia.

We may have new “posters” for “The Expendables” but I put the word “posters” in quotes because we don’t have confirmation that this is official artwork for the film and could instead be the work of an over-zealous photoshop user.  While the artwork, whether it’s official or not, isn’t bad, I’m more disturbed by the concept that we can no longer trust our own eyes and have to question whether or not advertising at a film festival (these posters are supposed to be around Cannes) is real or not.

Check out the possibly-fake posters after the jump.