Avi Lerner has given an update on his female version of The Expendables (catchily named, The Expendabelles), which is apparently still at the scripting stage.

“We are working on the script,” said Lerner, during a press day for The Expendables 3. “We’ve got lots of ideas about who’s going to be the action movie star.”

“We plan to start shooting at the beginning of next year,” continues Lerner. “And that’s all I can say about this movie right now.”

Sylvester Stallone helpfully chipped in to suggest that Sigourney Weaver would be an excellent pick for the leading role, although at this stage, she is just one of many names to have been linked to the project.

Millenium Films has also released a new logline for the film, summarising the vague outline of what The Expendabelles will be serving up, plot-wise.

“The Expendables universe has a new team,” begins the official blurb. “An elite group of highly trained female mercenaries are brought together for a covert hostage rescue mission.”

“Once they are behind enemy lines, the women discover that they will also need to topple an evil dictator bent on world domination. It becomes clear there is no such thing as the right man for the job. The Expendabelles is the ultimate story of female empowerment and kick-ass teamwork.”

Happily, there’s no mention of the girls having to disguise themselves as “high-class call girls” as had previously been suggested. That plotline didn’t sound super-empowering… In the meantime, The Expendables 3 opens in the UK on 14 August 2014.