The Hollywood Reporter
Bruce Willis Left 'Expendables 3' Over $1 Million-a-Day Fee Demand
7 AUG 2013
by Kim Masters

Sylvester Stallone let the world know Tuesday that Bruce Willis was out of the upcoming The Expendables 3 for being "greedy and lazy," and it seems that laziness was not the primary issue.

Stallone raised eyebrows in Hollywood by tweeting "WILLIS OUT . . . HARRISON FORD IN!!!! GREAT NEWS!!!!! Been waiting years for this!!!!," then following up with a second tweet reading "GREEDY AND LAZY . . . A SURE FORMULA FOR CAREER FAILURE."

A source with knowledge of the situation says the fallout was over a specific money demand. Willis was offered $3 million for four days of consecutive work on location in Bulgaria for the film. "He said he'd drop out unless he got $4 million," this source close to the production says. "A million dollars a day. Stallone and everybody else involved said no."

Stallone then quickly reached out to Ford, who was game to join the Expendables cast.

The insider adds, "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."

Willis' reps at CAA declined comment.


Willis most recently appeared in Red 2, which has grossed a disappointing $80 million worldwide. Before that, February's A Good Day to Die Hard grossed $305 million. He also had an extended cameo in March's G.I. Joe: Retaliation, which grossed $372 million.

The next installment of The Expendables, with a budget of more than $90 million, is set for release next August by Millennium Films. In addition to Stallone and Ford, the cast includes Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Statham, Mickey Rourke and Wesley Snipes.

I really enjoyed seeing Chuck Norris and Jean-Claude Van Damme in the last movie.

I am surprised to see:
- Mel Gibson
- Harrison Ford
- Antonio Banderas
- Wesley Snipes
- Kelsey Grammer

It is a shame Bruce Willis did not want to play.

I would like to see Chuck Norris again, Clint Eastwood, and Jackie Chan.

Who would you like to see added?

I liked the first two Expendables films. The second one even had a lot of funny moments, making references to the actors' past movies.

Kelsey Grammer is a really odd choice for a movie like this. Is he going to make a psychological analysis of everyone else? Has he ever been in an action movie? The other actors sound great, although I haven't even heard of some of the younger ones.

Kelsey Grammer did play The Beast in X-Men.

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Did not know that.