The Expendables action film franchise has finally reached its fourth installment, The Expendables 4, otherwise stylized as Expend4bles. Unfortunately, it looks like Expendables 4 is suffering a devastating weekend at the box office.
The previous films in the franchise, which were led by Sylvester Stallone, included other action stars like Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Jet Li, Terry Crews, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Chuck Norris, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Harrison Ford, and Wesley Snipes to name only a few. Stallone does return for this new installment, along with Statham, Lundgren, and Couture, but his role is greatly reduced as Statham takes the lead.
It’s unknown if this is the reason for the poor box office performance of The Expendables 4 as shared via Deadline. Stallone, who is 77-years-old, is understandably eager to step away from his role in the action series. Statham was expected to take the franchise into a new direction, with additional newcomers like 50 Cent and Megan Fox joining the fourth film of the series, but it looks as though audiences aren’t interested in such a take.
The previous three films in the series have all been box office hits, which makes the opening weekend for “Expend4bles” all the more disappointing. The film, which was produced on a $100 million budget, grossed $8.3 million during its opening weekend. It’s likely that the numbers will rise slightly higher, though nowhere near the margin necessary to put the film starring the likes of Megan Fox into the green.
Of course, the film series has always received its fair share of criticisms. But whether it was for the action, the humor, or the stars attached, all three original movies made their budgets back and then some. With so many fan-favorite stars unable to return for the fourth installment, however, and Stallone eager to move on, it appears as though audiences are now feeling the same.
Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional news regarding the Expendables franchise as we have it. For now, it doesn’t look like there’ll be a fifth film planned any time soon, however.