In an interview with the Bulgarian news service Novinte, David Varod, the CEO of NU Boyana film studios (www.nuboyana.com ), said filming will start the second week of September 2011. The film's British director Simon West, has begun work on the film in Bulgaria.

The film is scheduled to be released in August 2012.

The first Expendables film was shot on a budget in excess of $70 million and earned $274 million in worldwide box office.

The film shoot is one of several foreigh productions shot at NU Boyana recently, but marks a major accomplishment for the Bulgarian film services industry at large due to the high profiles of the film's cast. The studio also lists Rambo V among its schedule of films to shoot there in 2011, and recently hosted the Nordisk Film production of Kon-Tiki.

NU Boyana is the largest film studio in Bulgaria, and the former state-owned Boyana Film Studios, established in 1962.