The reason we haven’t heard any fruitful updates in a while on ExpendaBelles is that the kibosh has been put on the project. Dating back several years, there had been reports that The Expendables would be given a spinoff that specifically teamed up some of the action genre’s most popular female stars. At one point in 2014, Robert Luketic was set to direct the planned movie, and there were rumors that the cast could include names like Milla Jovovich, Meryl Streep, and Cameron Diaz. This synopsis had also been released for the film:

However, the project would continue to cook in development hell without any real progress made on its development. Years would go by, and it seemed that ExpendaBelles was all but dead. That has been confirmed by producer Jeffrey Greenstein, who recently explained why the plans to make that film were abandoned in a new interview with THR. It basically boils down to the new approach of putting more women into the main series as he didn’t feel there was a good enough reason to intentionally separate the genders. From the interview:

“When America’s Navy SEALs are wiped out trying to penetrate the island lair of a deadly despot who has captured one of the world’s top nuclear scientists, it becomes clear that there is no such thing as the right man for the job and that this is a mission so impossible that only women can handle it. The only way in: some of the world’s deadliest female operatives must pose as high-class call-girls shipped in by private plane to satisfy a dictator-and instead save the scientist and the day.”

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“We also like working with the same people, so we did Till Death with Megan [Fox] and she’s in the new Expendables. It’s really just about working with talented people. But I will say something: We’d been trying to develop The ExpendaBelles, a female version of The Expendables, but my problem with that project was always trying to find a way to justify why we’d have a woman team. Instead of trying to explain that, why not just have women on the regular team and [they’re] badass? Instead of having to explain why a woman character got there and all that, you just do what you’d do with a man: show them kicking ass.”

The Expendables 4 Will Continue the Series

     Lionsgate Films

As mentioned, Megan Fox is one of a handful of new cast members coming into the franchise for The Expendables 4. Other newcomers include Tony Jaa, Curtis Jackson, Andy Garcia, and Iku Uwais. Returning franchise stars include Sylvester Stallone, Jason Staham, Dolph Lundgren, and Randy Couture. Scott Waugh directs using a screenplay by Spenser Cohen and Max Adams.

The Expendables 4 will be released in movie theaters on Sept. 22, 2023.