Expend4bles hits rock bottom with the lowest opening at the Box Office

Expend4bles is an American action movie and the fourth installment in the Expendables franchise, released on September 22, 2023. However, it faced a significant drop in its weekend box office collection. Compared to all the other movies in the franchise, Expend4bles had the lowest opening weekend gross of $8 million.

The film boasts a star-studded cast, including renowned actors such as Jason Statham, Sylvester Stallone, Dolph Lundgren, and Randy Couture. The movie is based on a story by Spenser Cohen and directed by Scott Waugh. Distributed globally by Lionsgate, the IMDb summary of the movie reads:

"Armed with every weapon they can get their hands on, the Expendables are the world's last line of defense and the team that gets called when all other options are off the table."

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Why Expend4bles hit rock bottom with the lowest box office collection: A statistical view

Expend4bles was one of the most anticipated movies of 2023. The previous three movies in this franchise performed well with audiences and generated excitement among franchise enthusiasts for this fourth installment. Here's a comparison of the weekend box office collections for the previous movies in the franchise:

• The Expendables (2010): $34.83 million

• The Expendables 2 (2012): $28.59 million
• The Expendables 3 (2014): $15.88 million

In contrast, the fourth film of the Expendables franchise only managed to earn $8 million in its opening weekend, making it the lowest-grossing movie in the franchise and among other movies released around the same time. For example, Nun II, which has been in theaters for three weeks, collected $14.7 million in its second week and nearly $8.4 million in the third weekend.

Cast member Dolph Lundgren, in an interview with the German publication FILMSTARTS.de, mentioned that the budget for Expend4bles is projected to be between $100 million and $200 million. However, the film has only grossed $13.94 million globally so far, indicating that it needs to make over $100 million to break even.

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What is the actual reason the movie failed to gain viewers?

With a global audience expecting Expend4bles to elevate the franchise with new action sequences and fresh scenes, the film fell short of expectations. Reviews indicated that some action sequences were copied from Meg 2, with Deadline stating that the film "indisputably takes the cake for recycling previously used material in a not-exactly-fresh context."

Here are some ratings from various sources:

• Cinemascore: B

• Screen Engine’s PostTrak: 2.5 stars/64% on Comscore
• Rotten Tomatoes: 16% Rotten

Director Scott Waugh didn’t fall short in casting actors but with the story, action sequences, and CGI. He spoke to Coming Soon about the cast selection and said:

“For myself to work on something like Expendables, it’s kind of once in a lifetime, when you’re working with some of the greatest legends in the action arena, there wasn’t much of a difference when it comes to filmmaking for me.”

The primary reason for the film's failure to attract enough viewers to theaters may be that the stars did not engage in promotional activities due to the WGA strike. Even if they had, it's unlikely that the reviews would have improved. Numerous poorly executed CGI sequences negatively impacted the franchise's reputation in its fourth installment.

The VFX appeared outdated, with artificial digital backgrounds, and the dialogue lacked the spontaneity that had attracted viewers to the previous three films. This places the movie franchise in a challenging position for its next move.

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Expend4bles is currently playing in theaters.