A fourth The Expendables film is officially in the works

We're definitely curious to see how the new Scott Waugh-led installment will handle the departure of some of the original cast members and the inclusion of new ones. This is especially if the reports are true that the film will feature Jason Statham more prominently than previous films with Megan Fox as the female lead.

Speaking of, the inclusion of Megan Fox feels weird, to say the least.

She's done action films before but nothing that's quite like The Expendables. It's also interesting that she'll take on a lead role after The Expendables 3 already featured former UFC Bantamweight Champion, Ronda Rousey.

The same goes for the rapper, 50 Cent. Meanwhile, the addition of Tony Jaa is definitely a good choice. The criminally underrated action star previously starred in films like the Ong-Bak trilogy. He most recently appeared in 2020's Monster Hunter, a movie adaptation of a video game of the same name where he starred alongside Milla Jovovich.

The announcement of The Expendables 4 comes on the heels of news that the franchise's first spin-off, Christmas Story, will start filming in October.

Given the timeline, we suspect that Lionsgate plans on filming both the spin-off and the mainline installment back-to-back. This way, the spin-off can premiere first and help generate enough buzz for the fourth The Expendables film to put it in a better position and become a box office hit. Then again, we don't think that any film featuring the names commonly associated with The Expendables franchise needs help bringing in a crowd.

With that said, Lionsgate should start announcing more details about Christmas Story and The Expendables 4 in the next few months.