Sylvester Stallone is one my favorite guys in movies. He’s both an actor and a movie star, and he’s always been really good to his fans.

Rocky Balboa and Rambo did really well for Stallone beacuse he honored his audience by honoring the characters.

And now he’s about to honor his audience again … with some help from a few friends.

It’s called The Expendables.

Stallone.

Jet Li.

Jason Statham.

Dolph Lundgren.

Eric Roberts.

Mickey Rourke.

Terry Crews.

And that’s just naming a few!

And!

And!

In a cameo … Arnold Schwarzenegger.

And pulling lovely lady duty are the incredibly capable Brittany Murphy and Charisma Carpenter. And famous Mexican actress Giselle Itié.

This is going to be one of the most bad-ass action films EVER, and the first official photos have appeared online. My favorite is the one where Eric Roberts rescues Stone Cold Steve Austin from an explosion. Yeah, yeah, I know. It’s probably Austin saving Roberts. But until I know otherwise, I’m going to pretend it’s the other way around.

Click these to see them huge:

Stallone is also writing and directing. His character’s team of mercenaries gets hired to overthrow a ruthless South American dictator. Things get shot, burst into flames, and explode. Macho things are done and said with great confidence and terrible fury.

And it all happens on April 23, 2010!

For more information, check out these links:

Stallone’s official site

The #1 Stallone fan site

Publicist Sheryl Main on Twitter

Sheryl’s production blog

Bring it on!

Russell Crowe and director Ridley Scott have made lots of great movies together — Gladiator, American Gangster, Body of Lies.

Now they’re teaming up for a new Robin Hood epic called — wait for it — Robin Hood.

I love the Kevin Costner version (directed by Kevin Reynolds, who went on to make one of my favorite movies, The Count of Monte Cristo), and I can’t wait to see what Crowe and Scott do with this.

USA Today posted the first official photo from the film this morning:

Click it to see it as big as a house.

And I think it looks great.

Especially the clean simplicity of the bow.

(I used to run around the yard with a little bow and yellow arrows that had red suction cups on the tips. I was a pretty good shot. I might have to invest in another set to see if I’ve still got it.)

The rest of the cast includes:

William Hurt as William Marshall. Not this William Marshall. More like the Earl of Pembroke.

Kevin Durand, who was excellent opposite Crowe in 3:10 to Yuma, is Robin’s faithful friend, Little John.

Mark Strong, who was in two of my favorite movies, Stardust and Sunshine, is Sir Godfrey.

Living legend Vanessa Redgrave is Queen Eleanor of Aquataine, not to be confused with Queen Olivia of Ovaltine.

Will Scarlet, played by Christian Slater in the Costner version, will be played by Scott Grimes.

And my favorite bit of casting is that Maid Marian will be brought to life by one of my absolute favorite actresses — Cate Blanchett.

Can’t wait. The release date is May 14, 2010, and if you don’t want to wait that long for some Robin Hood, join me on May 26 to watch the Blu-ray of the Costner version.