The Expendables 4 aka the incomprehensible Expend4bles took in $750,000 in previews on Thursday, indicating it could be headed towards a $15 million or so opening, according to sources.
Such an opening weekend would make it a tough mountain for The Expendables 4 to climb to recoup its $100 million budget. But if previous entries are any indication, it’s the international box office that will help it reach that goal. The previous outing, 2014’s The Expendables 3, opened with just under $16 million, peaking at #4 at the box office. Domestically, it would gross just $39 million, but the worldwide haul easily pushed it past $200 million, making it a global success. Still, it should be noted that The Expendables 3 had a Thursday take of $875,000.
The Expendables franchise has undoubtedly cooled. What started as a reunion of our favorite action heroes of the ‘80s and ‘90s – Stallone, Arnold, Dolph, Bruce, Chuck, Jean-Claude, and more – has devolved into what feels like direct-to-video territory. Gone are Schwarzenegger (despite being Netflix’s Chief Action Officer), Chuck Norris (who, now 83, hasn’t been in a movie since 2012’s The Expendables 2) and Jean-Claude Van Damme (hey, let the guy rest before Beetlejuice 2). Sure, Sylvester Stallone and Dolph Lundgren are there and Tony Jaa is generally fun to watch, but The Expendables 4 has apparently turned into the Jason Statham Show featuring 50 Cent, Megan Fox and Andy Garcia, some of whom are seen as expendable in other ways. And considering the third entry came out nearly a decade ago, The Expendables 4 is really looking at some dangerous, self-parodic territory.
The official plot of The Expendables 4: “Armed with every weapon they can get their hands on and the skills to use them, The Expendables are the world’s last line of defense and the team that gets called when all other options are off the table. But new team members with new styles and tactics are going to give “new blood” a whole new meaning.”
Will you be checking out The Expendables 4 this weekend? How do you think it will perform when its run has expired?