There was a strangely vague rumour that this was happening last month, but it's now been fully confirmed: having passed on the lead role last year, Arnold Schwarzenegger will still show up in a supporting part in Mikael Hafstrom's **The Tomb alongside chief **Expendable **Sylvester Stallone.
As previously reported, The Tomb sees Sly playing Ray Breslin, the world's greatest designer of utterly impregnable high-tec prisons, who has to beat one of his own unbeatable systems to escape after being framed and wrongfully convicted of something or other.
Arnold will aparently show up as Church (which, last time we checked, was also the impromptu moniker of Bruce Willis' shady devil in The Expendables). The character is another inmate, who "fights to keep the prisoners from losing their humanity in their darkest hour". We're reading that as the Kindly Old Lag role, essential in any prison movie worth its salt. We're told Church has "multiple shades of grey". You can buy stuff for that in Boots.
"I am thrilled to be making The Tomb with these two film icons," said producer Mark Canton. "It is the perfect pairing for this high octane thriller. We have been working long and hard to bring them together for this dynamic project."
Schwarzenegger meanwhile, announced the news by posting a picture of himself and Stallone waiting to get shoulder surgery (if you were going to suggest captions in the comments section below, you might pay attention to the gesture Arnold appears to be making with his left hand...) "After all the stunts and abuse of The Expendables 2, it was time for a little tune-up," said Arnold. "Now we are ready for another round of great times and action!"
Truly, they are now the Jack Lemmon and Walther Matthau of the shoot-em-up. Bless. The Tomb starts shooting in the spring, and The Expendables 2 is out on August 17.
