“When it comes to casting an actor who can compare to The Dirty Dozen’s Lee Marvin, there are few options better than Ayer’s favorite new leading man, Jason Statham.”

Many of Ayer’s movies involve a misfit group of soldiers or cops working together, but it Fury, Sabotage or Suicide Squad. On paper, Ayer feels like a natural fit for The Expendables franchise, but he’s cooking up the next best thing with a remake of The Dirty Dozen. This 1967 WWII film cast Lee Marvin as a Major forced to train a group of violent military prisoners for a dangerous mission to assassinate high-ranking Nazis; whoever survives will be issued a pardon, though the odds of anybody surviving are slim.

In 2019, Ayer signed up to direct The Dirty Dozen, though the film appears to be caught in development hell. However, the director confirmed to /Film in early 2024 that his reboot is still in the works, stating “I think we’re still kicking the tires on that and trying to find the right angle.” When it comes to casting an actor who can compare to The Dirty Dozen’s Lee Marvin, there are few options better than Ayer’s favorite new leading man, Jason Statham.

After 20 years as a top actor star, Statham would be completely convincing as the hardened leader of a group of rogue soldiers. When Ayer’s Dirty Dozen remake was announced, it was labeled as a “contemporary” re-imaging, which might be part of the reason the film keeps being delayed. Updating a concept firmly rooted in World War II for modern viewers is no small task, though it sounds like the director is committed to cracking it.

A Jason Statham Dirty Dozen Would Make Up For The Expendables 4’s Failure

The Dirty Dozen can be the ensemble action saga The Expendables failed to be

The Expendables Movie Franchise	Budget	Box Office Gross	Rotten Tomatoes
The Expendables (2010)	$82 Million	$268,268,174	42%
The Expendables 2 (2012)	$100 Million	$311,979,25	67%
Expendables 3 (2014)	$100 Million	$209,461,378	32%
Expend4bles (2023)	$100 Million	$51,133,603	14%

The original Expendables began life as a gritty action thriller about mercenaries before it morphed into an overt love letter to 1980s action cinema. Despite the title, creator Sly Stallone was almost virulently against the idea of his title characters dying, in case it bummed out audiences. The Expendables never quite settled on a consistent tone, and the action was often disappointing considering the talent involved. This could be a key factor in The Expendables 4’s failure, with the film following almost a decade on from the letdown of the third entry.

“Assuming Ayer’s Dirty Dozen movie happens, Statham can make up for the wasted potential of The Expendables saga by turning it into his new action series about a team of expendable soldiers.”

The fourth installment positioned Statham as the new leader of the team too, but the sequel’s abysmal performance makes a fifth adventure doubtful. Assuming Ayer’s Dirty Dozen movie happens, Statham can make up for the wasted potential of The Expendables saga by turning it into his new action series about a team of expendable soldiers. The film could be the hard-edged action film that Stallone’s series failed to be, with Ayer surrounding Statham with a great ensemble cast.

Ayer Wants To Make Dirty Dozen A Franchise

Ayer’s Dirty Dozen could be his version of Mission: Impossible

David Ayer has spoken several times over the years about his Dirty Dozen plans, including revealing his franchise ambitions to Collider in 2020. Not only does he want to tilt it away from the seriousness of World War II, Ayer pictures his remake closer to something like The Fast and the Furious or Mission: Impossible.

“I think it’s just an opportunity for a great ensemble action franchise. I’ll have a really solid lead character, and I see it in the vein of the Mission: Impossible movies, or the Fast and Furious franchise, for which I wrote the first one. It’s like anything, you build an amazing family of characters, and then you watch them bounce off of each other and drive each other crazy.”

Going by Ayer’s description, his Dirty Dozen will likely be fronted by the same core group of actors, with new faces popping up in potential later entries. Despite appearing ageless, Statham is only a few years off turning 60, and becoming a grizzled leader in an ensemble action series would be a great move. Not only would it give him another recurring character, but he could have other actors do some of the heavy lifting in terms of action.

Of course, this is all theoretical. Statham’s name has never been brought up as the lead of a Dirty Dozen remake, and it sounds like it’s still very much in the development stage. Still, with The Expendables having come to a sudden, ignoble ending, and Statham and Ayer being in creative sync, the two of them making Dirty Dozen just feels right.