Jean-Claude Van Damme was offered a role, but he turned it down claiming that there was no substance in the character. Rumor has it that Dolph Lundgren replaced him but actually the part of Scandinavian Gunnar Jensen was written by Sylvester Stallone with Lundgren in mind.

Wesley Snipes was offered the role of Hale Ceasar but couldn't accept because, due to his tax problems, he wasn't allowed to leave the United States without the court's approval. The role was taken by Forest Whitaker and rewritten for Whitaker, but he was forced to leave the film due to a scheduling conflict. When it was announced that rapper 50 Cent was replacing Whitaker, many fans were disappointed and, after a few days, Stallone decided to cast former NFL player Terry Crews in the part.

Ben Kingsley was considered for the role of Monroe.

Scott Adkins was offered the role of Dan Paine.

Jeffrey L. Kimball was also director of photography on Stallone's
The Specialist (1994), but this is the first time he has worked with Stallone as a director.

Jason Statham starred in
Death Race (2008), a remake of
Death Race 2000 (1975) which featured a young Sylvester Stallone in one of his first starring roles.

Originally, Jet Li's character's name was listed as Kong Kao.

Steven Seagal was asked to play a cameo but turned it down due to negative connections with producer Avi Lerner.

West Coast Customs Street Customs have built 3 customized 1955 Ford F100s for the film. One was built for a crash scene, the second for green-screen, and the third for Stallone to keep.

Dolph Lundgren described the film as "an old-school, kick-ass action movie where people are fighting with knives and shooting at each other."

Sandra Bullock was rumored to have a role in the film, but revealed that she did not even know about the project. Despite the news, she did express interests in working in its possible sequel, depending on the storyline.

Producer Avi Lerner decided to cut the film down to two versions, a PG-13-rated version and an R-rated version, both of which will be screen tested to see which one will be officially released. Lerner had considered cutting down the violence because of the success of recent PG-13 action films like
Live Free or Die Hard (2007). Lerner has claimed that Stallone's previous film
Rambo (2008) could have been even more successful, had it not contained such extreme violence and gore.

The role of Mr. Church, the man who hires the Expendables, was very difficult to cast. It was initially offered to Arnold Schwarzenegger, who declined in favor of a smaller cameo due to his political career. The role was then offered to Kurt Russell, who declined as he was not interested in "ensemble acting at the moment." Sylvester Stallone spent several months after principal photography determined to find a big action name for the part. The role was finally taken by Stallone's friend and fellow former "Planet Hollywood" co-owner Bruce Willis, who was busy filming
Cop Out (2010) at the time.

The initial budget for the film was $60 million but increased to $70-$80 million.

On October 24th, 2009, Sylvester Stallone was joined on screen for the first time ever, with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis. The scene, which took six hours to film, sets up the plot of the film.

This film marks Arnold Schwarzenegger's first film in six years. He last appeared in Disney's
Around the World in 80 Days (2004).

Sylvester Stallone broke his neck while filming the fight scene with Steve Austin.

Julie Benz, Charisma Carpenter's co-star from
"Angel " (1999) suggested that Carpenter try out for the role of Lacey. Sylvester Stallone had a hard time finding the right person prior to casting Carpenter in the role. Her final scene in the Angel episode "You're Welcome" convinced Stallone to cast Carpenter in the movie.

This is the first film that Sylvester Stallone has directed since
Staying Alive (1983) that doesn't involve his characters John Rambo or Rocky Balboa.

This is the third film that Jason Statham and Jet Li have starred in together. They previously starred in
The One (2001) and
War (2007).

According to Sylvester Stallone, the Red Beret soldiers are actual Brazilian MMA fighters who volunteered to play the role.

Terry Crews is cast alongside
Rocky IV (1985) actors, Sylvester Stallone (Rocky Balboa) and Dolph Lundgren (Ivan Drago). In the sitcom
"Everybody Hates Chris " (2005), Crews played Chris' father, Julius, who is a fan of the
Rocky (1976) movie franchise.

Steve Austin and Terry Crews previously appeared in the
The Longest Yard (2005).

SPOILER: At least four characters of the original script were cut out from the shooting draft: - Richard. Robert Knepper and Alan Tudyk were both approached for the role. Timing didn't work out for Knepper, while Tudyk was in between projects and didn't want to exhaust himself. The role was cut entirely while the movie was already being filmed. - Agent Lickson. The role was put into Sandra (Giselle Iti e), who we will find out is working for INTERPOL when she starts her relationship with Ross, and has been helping the revolutionaries against Garza (David Zayas) get guns and medical attention. - Agent Will Sands. The role was intended to be very large in the first draft, was later cut down after the casting of Eric Roberts. Stallone was courting former
Demolition Man (1993) co-star Denis Leary to appear, but his contract with
"Rescue Me " (2004) got in the way. Stallone also tried getting John Lurie and Kevin Pollak but both declined the role as well, so it was written out entirely. - Emmanuel. The role was going to be played by Danny Trejo but it was scrapped due to time and budget constraints. Trejo's fee, as well as the costs for some of the stunt work in that scene, would've put them over, so his role was combined with that of Tool (Mickey Rourke) as story purpose and Wickham (Gary Daniels) in terms of finding Sandra's hideaway.