Schwarzenegger and Stallone's Interaction with Pacquiao Sparks Rumors of the Pinoy Champ Joining The Expendables

The Expendables 4 to be More Violent IF Greenlighted

During last sunday's big fight night between Chris Algieri and the Filipino champion Manny Pacquiao, action superstars Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone visited the locker room of Pacquiao to wish him well before his fight. When that happened, the internet along with action movie fans blew up with speculation, giving birth to the rumor that the Pinoy boxing champion was going to be part of "Expendables 4". But, that's not enough reason to bring out that big bag of popcorn. Because despite the fact that various sites have fueled the idea, the whole Pacquiao joining Expendables hype is still just a rumor. [hit the jump to continue]

Personally, I would love to see Pacquiao indeed becoming an Expendable. After all, Manny has proved to be a good enough actor to carry an action role, although he's better suited as a comedian. Plus, The Expendables cast has included sports athletes like Randy Couture and Ronda Rousey in its cast anyway, so Pacquiao may possibly be cast for the roster as well. It's possible; yes. But while there's no official announcement yet that Pacquiao in Stallone's action franchise, all that you read that tease or "appear to be sure of their facts" are nothing more than cheap rumor.

What we do know so far is that Stallone himself is not even sure yet if he will get the greenlight to make The Expendables 4. Months ago when it was shown, the studio, producers, and Stallone himself have expressed dismay over how the "The Expendables 3" was a victim of piracy when a leaked copy spread in the internet weeks before the international release date. There was also a lot of backlash on the fact that "The Expendables 3" was simmered down to rated PG-13 level in the US, in order to garner a wider audience; the result was it did not respond well with box office numbers. Stallone himself admitted that it was a “horrible miscalculation.” Stallone said that if "The Expendables 4" will indeed be made, it will go back to its original level of violence. He even teased that some characters might die.

In an interview with Crave Online, Stallone had this to say about the question of whether The Expendables 4 should be rated R...

“Absolutely unequivocally yes. I believe it was a horrible miscalculation on everyone’s part in trying to reach a wider audience, but in doing such, diminish the violence that the audience expects. I’m quite certain it won’t happen again.” He added...
“It’s is a big conflict for me, because in an R-rated film it is difficult to believe that none of the heroes die. I personally just believe that the characters become identifiable and their demise could put a dark cloud over an audience exiting the theatre after seeing the film. But that may change in ‘Expendables 4'…”

An Unrated Cut of "The Expendables 3" is available on home video, restoring it to its original violent tone.

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