Sylvester Stallone & Bruce Willis at the Comic-Con 2010. Photo: wiki commons.

Sylvester Stallone has cancelled the Israel premiere of his new movie The Expendables 2, due to changes in his schedule, following the death of his son Sage two weeks ago.

Stallone and his co-stars Jason Statham, Jean Claude Van Damme, Bruce Willis, and Dolph Lundgren were expected in Israel for the movie’s premiere on August 8. The John Moore-directed film, one of the year’s most anticipated action movies, features scores of famous action stars and follows 2010’s The Expendables, which grossed close to $275 million in worldwide box office receipts.

In an email, a spokesman from the film’s production company explained the cancellation of the premiere.

“I’m sure you heard about the Stallone family’s tragedy that happened in recent weeks,” he wrote. “In response to the unfortunate event we are forced to cancel our Israel premiere, because Sly will not be able to attend, as well as the other actors, due to changes in schedule.”

“Please accept our apologies for cancelling at such short notice,” he added, noting a promise to make it up to Israeli fans. “We will do our best to bring the actors to Israel at a later date in the future.”

The Israeli news source Maariv quipped sarcastically that the “later date” mentioned will be for the premiere of the next movie in the Expendables franchise.