Kelsey Grammer May Take Nicolas Cage's Rumored Role In The Expendables 3

The Expendables 3 may already be in production, but that's not stopping it from continuing to add to its ridiculous ensemble cast. The film has already been confirmed to star Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Terry Crews, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Wesley Snipes, Antonio Banderas, Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford, Kellan Lutz, Ronda Rousey, Victor Ortiz, and Glen Powell, and today Deadline has learned that one more actor is getting ready to join the crew. Kelsey Grammer is reportedly now in talks to take a part in the 2014 action blockbuster.

Directed by Patrick Hughes, who made his feature debut in 2010 with the Australian Western Red Hill, the new film finds the titular gang of mercenaries going up against Conrad Stonebanks (Gibson), the man who co-founded the group along with Stallone's Barney Ross. Conrad ended up becoming a ruthless arms dealer, giving Barney no other choice but to take him out, but somehow Conrad was able to survive. In order to help the Expendables take down their new and very personal enemy, Barney adds some new recruits, enlisting the help of some young tech-savvy mercs who can help take out the bad guy and win the day once again.

Strangely enough, Grammer is being brought in to play the role that was originally thought to belong to Nicolas Cage. In the film the Emmy-winning star will play a man named Bonaparte, who Deadline describes as "an ex-mercenary who helps the Expendables in their mission." It was never really explained why the production was unable to create a deal with Cage,but at least now we'll be able to watch the movie and have an idea of what could have been. It doesn't exactly sound like an extremely crucial part - probably one about the same size as Chuck Norris' in The Expendables 2 - but it will still be interesting to see Dr. Frasier Crane mix in with all of the 80s action movie stars.

Grammer has spent most of his career on television, most recently starring on the series Boss (which ended last year), but it looks as though he will have a big presence in 2014 blockbusters. In addition to a potential role in The Expendables 3, the actor is also set to play the main human antagonist in Michael Bay's Transformers: Age of Extinction, which is also currently in production.

As was announced last month, The Expendables 3 is now filming in Sofia, Bulgaria and is on track for its August 15, 2014 release date. You can reacquaint yourself with the franchise by watching the Expendables 2 trailer below.

Eric Eisenberg
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Eric Eisenberg is the Assistant Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. After graduating Boston University and earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism, he took a part-time job as a staff writer for CinemaBlend, and after six months was offered the opportunity to move to Los Angeles and take on a newly created West Coast Editor position. Over a decade later, he's continuing to advance his interests and expertise. In addition to conducting filmmaker interviews and contributing to the news and feature content of the site, Eric also oversees the Movie Reviews section, writes the the weekend box office report (published Sundays), and is the site's resident Stephen King expert. He has two King-related columns.