Production has commenced on location Bulgaria and at Nu Boyana Studios in Sofia on Lionsgate and Millennium Films’ The Expendables 3.

Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Terry Crews and Arnold Schwarzenegger return to the action franchise alongside Wesley Snipes, Antonio Banderas, Mel Gibson and Harrison Ford.

Also joining the cast are Kellan Lutz, MMA star Ronda Rousey, welterweight boxing champion Victor Ortiz and Glen Powell.

The story concerns a face-off between Expendables chief Barney, played by Stallone, and the fighting unit’s evil co-founder Conrad Stonebanks, played by Gibson.

Patrick Hughes of Red Hill fame directs the film and Dan Bradley, whose credits include Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol and Quantum Of Solace, handles second unit.

Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt wrote the screenplay, as they did on Millennium Films’ Olympus Has Fallen.

Avi Lerner, Kevin King-Templeton, Danny Lerner and Les Weldon produce The Expendables 3 and Trevor Short, Boaz Davidson and John Thompson serve as executive producers.

Lionsgate will release on Aug 15 2014 in North America and the UK and Nu Image handles international sales.