Earlier this week, Sylvester Stallone took to Twitter to reveal that Bruce Willis would not be back as Mr. Church in The Expendables 3 due to him being “greedy and lazy… a sure formula for career failure.” Now The Hollywood Reporter has uncovered the details behind Willis’ departure, with a source claiming that the Die Hard star was offered $3 million for four days work in Bulgaria, but was holding out for $4 million.
“He said he’d drop out unless he got $4 million,” suggests the source. “A million dollars a day. Stallone and everybody else involved said no… I think [Willis] was pretty surprised he was replaced in 72 hours by Harrison Ford — a better actor, a much nicer person and a more interesting direction for the film.”
The Expendables 3 is due to shoot this year, with Stallone set to be joined in the cast by returning Expendables Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Jet Li, Terry Crews, Randy Couture and Mickey Rourke. Other stars said to be in talks for the film include Wesley Snipes, Jackie Chan, Steven Seagal, Mel Gibson, Milla Jovovich and Kellan Lutz.
Originally published August 8, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
