Sylvester Stallone has been pretty busy hyping The Expendables 3 over the last little while, continuing to offer up tantalizing casting possibilities via Twitter in between claims that EX3 will be “better than The Raid.” Some of the names he has mentioned recently include Wesley Snipes, Mickey Rourke and Steven Seagal with both Nicolas Cage and Jackie Chan already having been rumoured as well. He also said he was on the hunt for a “young Sigourney Weaver” (hey, what’s wrong with an old one?). Anyway, Stallone is definitely known for talking a big game and up until now, we didn’t have an official confirmation that any of this stuff was close to becoming a reality. However, this week Lionsgate has confirmed that at least three of these names are now in talks to star in the movie… along with one we hadn’t heard previously.

According to Deadline, Jackie Chan, Wesley Snipes, Nicolas Cage and Milla Jovovich are all in “advanced negotiations” to star in The Expendables 3. The news comes courtesy of Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer, who spoke with investors and analysts to discuss their Q4 2013 earnings. The movie is supposedly set to start production in August with Patrick Hughes (Red Hill) directing.

It still seems like it will be difficult to top the last Expendables flick in terms of star power, but this one might actually come close. Jackie Chan, in particular, is a huge win and Milla Jovovich is a bit of a pleasant surprise. Up until now, these movies have been seriously lacking in terms of a female presence. Cage and Snipes are great additions as well, although maybe not as surprising as the others (let’s face it, Nicolas Cage will star in just about anything these days). Are you excited by this news? Do you think they might actually succeed in topping The Raid: Redemption?