The Expendables 4 finally hit theaters. The last entry in the series The Expendables 3 was released almost a decade ago. Between its PG-13 rating — a switch from the R-rating of The Expendables and The Expendables 2 — and its poor critical and commercial reception, many weren't hopeful that The Expendables 4 wouldn't happen. Nevertheless, the fourth movie finally entered production in 2021 and wrapped filming in October, officially resurrecting the franchise once more.
Update September 25, 2023: This article has been updated following the release of The Expendables 4 and with more details about the film behind the scenes as well as the film's box office performance.
Led by Sylvester Stallone and featuring a cast that included Jason Statham, Bruce Willis, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, and other action movie stars, the Expendables franchise began back in 2010 with the release of The Expendables, which quickly spawned the 2012 sequel The Expendables 2. The second movie was an even bigger success than the original, and just as quickly, The Expendables 3 was released in 2014. Here's why The Expendables 4 took so long to happen.
The Franchise Had to Pause After The Expendables 3
The first two additions to The Expendables franchise were huge successes, and the second film in the franchise was especially popular, becoming one of the biggest box office successes of 2012. The Expendables 3 underperformed and became the lowest-grossing movie of the franchise, particularly in North America. There have been many theories as to why this film underperformed. However, the most widely accepted one was the film was given a lighter PG-13 rating, compared to the previous film's R-rating, which essentially upset fans of the violent and action-heavy franchise. This ultimately damaged the reputation of the film, leading to its poor performance, critically and commercially.
Because of all of this, The Expendables 3 is generally regarded as the weakest addition, particularly since it had a cast that had grown too large and lacked direction in its plot. This immediately put a pause on discussions about The Expendables 4 as the financial loss from the third film presented a liability for the studio. This step-back from the franchise allowed the Expendables team to ultimately reflect on the franchise as a whole, its successes and failures, to better understand how they could move forward successfully.
They Planned a Spin-Off
In 2012, after the release of Expendables 2, it was announced that the studio had planned for an all-female-centered spin-off film titled The ExpendaBelles was in development. The film was pitched as "the ultimate story of female empowerment and kick-ass teamwork". It goes to show how different things were back then that when the project was announced, there was not a massive hate campaign against it like there was when they announced an all-female Ghostbusters film two years later.
The producers entered negotiations with actresses Meryl Streep, Mila Jovovich, and Cameron Diaz to star. Originally, they wanted a female director, but they also denied Punisher: War Zone director Lexi Alexander a meeting. They hired Robert Luketic, who directed Legally Blonde and 21, to helm the film. The film was set to focus on a group of female mercenaries who are brought together on a rescue mission. Yet the film never made progress, and nobody was ever cast. In November 2022, the project was officially confirmed as canceled. Supposedly, the big hang-up was trying to explain why it was an all-female team, despite the previous movie never needing to explain why an all-male team. The decision was made to shift focus on The Expendables 4 and put women on the team.
The Terry Crews Situation
A regrettable situation took place in 2017 in the wake of the #MeToo movement; prominent cast member Terry Crews, who asked not to be killed in the third entry of the film, went public with his own story about sexual harassment from a high-level executive named Adam Venit from the talent company William Morris Endeavor (WME). While he did something courageous, it didn't go down well for the actor.
Crews was named one of the Silence Breakers by the Time's Person of the Year award in 2017, but his abuser simply received a reprimand and a one-month suspension. Crews filed a lawsuit against WME, but the statute of limitations had already passed. Film producer Avi Lerner sought to silence the actor by dangling his role in the franchise as a bargaining chip. Crews vowed to never appear in any further installments of the franchise.
Sadly, Stallone failed to side with his co-star by omission, as he never reached out to support the actor after he went public with his situation. Crews would testify in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee about his traumatizing experience and recall that none of the actors in the franchise reached out to him, especially since Avi Lerner was subject to his own investigation for abuse in the same period.
It's unknown how much of an impact these events had on the production of the fourth sequel, but it likely had some effect, as most of the cast in the new film are all new faces, with really notable members missing, such as Jet Li and Schwarzenegger. Crews also did not reprise his role for Expendables 4 for obvious reasons.
The Expanded Storylines in Comic Book Form
Stallone sought to quench the thirst for more Expendables content by licensing the property to comic book publisher Dynamite Comics. The company produced a prequel comic set before the first film's events but would later let the rights lapse. Former Batman writer Chuck Dixon made a deal directly with Stallone to create a self-published comic story named The Expendables Go to Hell.
The 50-page comic book is written by Dixon and penciled by frequent Batman collaborator Graham Nolan. The duo had a lengthy run in Detective Comics, but personal politics drove them away from the comic book industry. Sadly, the new publisher for the story is Richard C. Meyer's Splatto Comics, a publisher well known for having a strong right-wing leaning stance, which suits Stallone just fine, given he's a staunch conservative.
The story takes place in Hell after the whole crew is killed in action. The Expendables explores their stay in the underworld in three stories starring Barney Ross, Lee Christmas, and Gunner Jensen. The fantasy setting allows the creatives to tell the story using historical figures deemed evil such as Nazis, Romans, and Samurais.
Expendables 4 Bombed
The Expendables 4 finally hit theaters on September 22, 2023. The studio was likely hoping for a major boost of nostalgia, not just for 80's action movies but also for late 2000s nostalgia from when The Expendables franchise was at its peak. This was further cemented by casting Megan Fox, who became a breakout star at the same time The Expendables franchise was hitting the scene. This incorporated The ExpendeBelles idea into the fourth film, finally allowing some women to join the team.
Sadly, audiences were not nostalgic for this franchise. The Expendables 4 opened to a dismal $8 million in its opening weekend, far below that of the previous three films in the franchise. It also did not take the number one spot in its opening weekend, losing to The Nun 2, which was in its third weekend. It doesn't look like international numbers will save it either, like the previous entries did.
While some franchises can certainly survive long gaps between films and make triumphant comebacks, it appears The Expendables is not one of them. Why exactly is unsure. Maybe the novelty is gone, as in the years since Stallone has revisited both the Rocky and Rambo franchises. While a team-up of various action heroes was a fun novelty in 2010, in a post-Avengers world and audiences have seen all three live-action Spider-Man actors team up, The Expendables doesn't offer anything new. Perhaps the franchise was away for too long but not long enough for people to be nostalgic. After these box office numbers, it is clear there won't be an Expendables 5 anytime soon, if at all.