The US movie star, Sylvester Stallone, arrived in Bulgaria's capital Sofia on Thursday for the shooting of the much anticipated sequel to "The Expendables", whose driver the action movie legend is believed to be.

Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Jason Statham, Chuck Norris, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Dolph Lundgren and Jean-Claude Van Damme are among the cult action heroes expected to star in the movie that is to be directed by Simon West.

"The Expendables 2" has a budget of over USD 80 M and its shooting will take place mainly at the Sofia-based NU Boyana studios. Hundreds of Bulgarian professionals are employed alongside their foreign colleagues to participate in the shooting process.

The actor promised his Bulgarian fans that they will feel very proud because of what is going to happen in their country.

"The fight scenes in this movie will be much bigger and better than those in the first part. The scale of production is much larger, so it will get people in Bulgaria feel very proud. I want to tell them that we will have a great time and will spend lots of money here, which will help the economy. At the end everyone will be a winner", said Stallone.

Already in July, Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency) learned some exciting casting news for the upcoming action movie.

"Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, John Travolta, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chuck Norris, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren, Mickey Rourke...who else? Of course, Bruce Willis," NU Boyana studios CEO David Varod told Novinite in an exclusive interview upon asked about the movie's ensemble cast.

This is the second time Sylvester Stallone visits Bulgaria. The Hollywood superstar arrived here for the first time in September 2008, reportedly looking for locations for his new Rambo 5 movie and even met the then Sofia Mayor Boyko Borisov, currently a prime minister of the country and an ardent fan of Sly.