When the news broke yesterday that Bruce Willis wouldn't be returning for The Expendables 3, and that Harrison Ford was replacing him, there was an unexplained Tweet on Sylvester Stallone's feed. Turns out, that Tweet looks like being at the heart of the reason Bruce Willis won't be back for the new movie.
Stallone wrote: "GREEDY AND LAZY ...... A SURE FORMULA FOR CAREER FAILURE"
It's now been revealed that he was talking about Bruce Willis. This was confirmed by a spokesman for Stallone, although no further details were offered. It seems they won't be sending each other Christmas cards. There's been no comment from Bruce Willis.
Willis has something of a reputation for his actions on movie sets. It's worth digging out a copy of the excellent book The Devil's Candy, which goes behind the scenes of The Bonfire Of The Vanities for one. More recently, Kevin Smith was fairly vocal about his dissatisfaction with working with Willis on Cop Out.
Yet, as we always feel obliged to point out, Bruce Willis is someone who has regularly supported interesting projects and talent. Looper might feel like a little way away now, but Willis was also an early backer of Quentin Tarantino, and there's the small matter of M Night Shyamalan's two best films too.
The Expendables 3 goes into production later this month, ahead of its release in August 2014. Bruce Willis will not, this time, be involved.
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I am entirely fine with this change. I was getting tired of Willis in the movies. I think that his storyline's activity with the Expendables has been expended. No real reason to have him back. Make room for new actors, but keep Arnie. His character could turn heel or something since he is also a merc for hire.