The Expendables 2: filming to commence this year, Bruce Willis and Van Damme to appear?

With the box office success of The Expendables last year, it's inevitable that Sylvester Stallone would want to get a sequel underway as soon as possible. According to Bruce Willis, Expendables 2 could begin filming sooner than we'd expected. Collared as he left the Golden Globes on Sunday, the actor said, "Apparently it's going to happen this year."

When asked whether he's going to reprise his brief but memorable role as Mr. Church from the first film, he said, "As far as I know, barring any unforeseen circumstances, but yeah, I would love to be a part of it."

There are also rumours, meanwhile, that Jean-Claude Van Damme may be set to appear in the sequel, having turned down the chance to appear in the first Expendables movie. This is according to the website Van Damme Fans (which comes to us via Dark Horizons), where filmmaker Sheldon Lettich (who wrote and directed the Van Damme movies AWOL and Double Impact) suggests that the Muscles from Brussels could be set to sign up, but only if "Steven Seagal is not in the sequel".

Legend has it that Van Damme and Seagal almost came to blows at a party held by Stallone at his Miami home in 1997. There was apparently a disagreement over which actor could "kick the other's ass". In a 2008 interview, Stallone told the magazine FHM that, when Van Damme offered Seagal a bout of combat in the back garden, the latter "made his excuses and left".

How much weight we can put on Van Damme's Expendables 2 appearance isn't yet clear, but given the success of the first film, we'd be surprised if Van Damme turned down a second opportunity of appearing alongside Stallone and his action contemporaries.

Access Hollywood
Dark Horizons

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