Legendary actor Sylvester Stallone has decided to depart from "The Expendables" franchise. According to his rep, the actor has a significant role in creating the franchise. 

As per Entertainment Weekly, Sylvester Stallone played the role of Barney Ross in the movie series. His character heads a group of mercenaries in the action-packed "The Expendables" movies. 

Apart from Sylvester Stallone, the power-packed ensemble includes Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Terry Crews, Jet Li, etc. The 70-year-old has directed and co-written the screenplay of the first movie and since then continued to co-write the script of every "The Expendables" movie.   

According to Deadline, the fourth movie is currently underway when Sylvester Stallone decided to drop the bomb with the news of him leaving. The decision was taken after the actor had creative differences with Nu Image and Millennium Films chief, Avi Lerner, during the development of the current film.

 "We've got disagreements with Sly (Sylvester Stallone) but we've had them for over a year and a half. Right now, each one has an opinion," Deadline quoted Avi Lerner. "We agreed on 95 percent of things, but there are certain things in production we don't agree on. I don't think it's over, but write whatever you want. In my opinion, it's not dead."

"The Expendable 3" grossed $214.6 million by the end of its run. The fourth movie could've fetched Sylvester Stallone a massive $20 million paycheck if he continued to be a part of it. 

Sylvester Stallone was quite excited about the fourth installment in the franchise. Back in December, he stated that they have some great ideas and plot points about the movie. The actor added that they are going to do their best in order to meet viewers' expectations and give them something different.