The fourth installment of the Expendables series starring Sylvester Stallone has been a commercial disaster at the box office. There are several reasons behind the flop result
Almost 10 years have passed betweenThe Expendables 3andThe Expendables 4. A long time in which many fans no longer believed in another sequel to the series about action icon Sylvester Stallone and his mercenary team. After the fourth part was released in cinemas in September 2023, it went under commercially.
It is now clear that The Expendables 4is one of the biggest financial flops of Stallone’s careerfor many reasons. The reasons for this are manifold
The Expendables 4 with Sylvester Stallone could lose up to 100 million
According toBox Office Mojothe fourth installment of the action serieshas grossed just 35 million dollars.With a budget of 100 million dollars, this is a disastrous result and could lead to a loss for the studio of 100 million dollars, according toScreen Rant. As The Expendables 4 is now also being withdrawn from cinemas in the USA, this is likely to be a pretty final box office result.
Reason 1 for The Expendables 4 flop: The action sequel came far too late
The fourth Expendables film didn’t come out until nine years after the third installment. It damaged the reputation of the series anyway with a more audience-friendly direction, for which the usual bloody R-rated action was exchanged for tame, cut-up PG-13 maneuvers
So the fan community wasn’t exactly hot for The Expendables 4.After the sequel had long disappeared into production hell and it took some time before shooting could finally begin in 2021, interest in the film
Reason 2 for The Expendables 4 flop: Sylvester Stallone is barely in the movie
Even before the movie was released, it was more or less clear that Sly himself would have less screen time in his Expendables farewell film. In The Expendables 4, he is ultimatelybarely seen for more than a total of 10 to 15 minuteswhich should have gotten around quickly immediately after the release. Fans’ interest in watching the fourth installment of the action series in the cinema may have waned even further
- Read more:Bury The Expendables! Sylvester Stallone’s action farewell makes 5 fatal mistakes and cheats fans with the most important change
Reason 3 for The Expendables 4 flop: Other action icons aren’t even in the movie
In addition to Stallone,Jason StathamandDolph Lundgrenthe fourth installmenthardly offers any stars for nostalgic fans of 80s action cinema.What began as the flagship of the series has little to do with the successful concept of The Expendables in The Expendables 4.
Names likeMegan Fox,Curtis ’50 Cent’ JacksonandJacob Scipio(?!) are unlikely to have excited fans in advance. The high-caliber action starsTony JaaandIko Uwaison the other hand, are wasted in brief appearances or stereotypical villain roles.
Reason 4 for The Expendables 4 flop: Critics tore the action blockbuster apart
As if the previous reasons weren’t overwhelming enough, the reviews for the fourth Expendables movie were also unanimously scathing. On Rotten Tomatoesthe action film achieved amiserable average of just 14 percent.Even the predominantly unloved third part still achieved an average of 31 percent.
