Sylvester Stallone is producing a vehicle for himself called The Expendables that - thus far - has promised to be an old school, back-to-action, awesome cast thingamajig. Check out the cast listing, minus the one I’m reporting on now:

Toll Road (new character) is Randy Couture
Monroe is Eric Roberts
Tool (an ex-Expendable) is Mickey Rourke
Bao is Jet Li
Lee Christmas is Jason Statham
Lacy is Charisma Carpenter
Sandra is Giselle Itie (famous Brazilian actress)
And
Barney ‘the schizo’ Ross is Yours Truly (Stallone).

The hullabaloo is over the character Hale Caesar, who up until recently was Forest Whitaker. Now, it’s Curtis Jackson, better known as 50 Cent, target of yesterdays NSFW Zero Punctuation Video Game review:

So, of course, when an actor that is greatly respected is replaced by an actor that isn’t, the PR machine has to turn. Sure, there were actual scheduling problems, but this time, it was Sly himself who wrote out his reasoning…

…in the form of a note written to AICN and Stallone Zone:

Dear Craig,

I appreciate the incredible amount of work you’ve done on my behalf. Please
tell the loyal followers to be positive not negative in their feedback. I am
not self-destructive. The anger of the casting of 50 Cent is understandable,
but not fair. A player is only as good as his coach. If a man can
communicate in one medium, he can communicate in another if his strengths
are brought out and he has the support of well-wishers. So, trust me, the
change of Forest Whitaker to 50 Cent AKA Curtis Jackson is a good one. No
one thought Dolph Lundgren was a good choice for ROCKY or Mr. T. Carl
Weathers was an afterthought when Ken Naughton fell out. The same with Talia
Shire and Richard Crenna, who was known as a comedic actor, not a serious
one.

Nobody wanted Eric Roberts over Ben Kingsley, but I believe it’s a vastly
improved casting. The point is, you either believe in me and the project,
setting your personal feelings aside, or you take a darker approach, which
really serves no purpose since your insight and suggestions and overall
enthusiasm are a great thrill for me to behold everyday I sign on.

Signing off -

Your friend,
Sly

Whitaker had to drop out because of “prior conflicts.” So here’s the question: is Sly blowing smoke up our asses putting his trust in 50 Cent?