I thought we’d seen the nail in the EXPENDABLES’ coffin.
Forget that the quality of the series has been declining with each passing entry (though Patrick Hughes did do some interesting stuff with the action in 3, and WESLEY SNIPES!!!). The movie made $39 MILLION in the U.S. For comparison, that’s about 5 mil more than the OPENING WEEKEND of the first film just four years prior. That’s a dead franchise if I ever done seen one.
But don’t tell Nu Image.
They’ve made a deal with China for the pre-sale rights to a relatively inexpensive (15 mil) Antonio Banderas/Ben Kingsley flick called SECURITY and, you guessed it, EXPENDABLES 4. Sly’s name, nor any of the other countless action vets he amassed for his franchise, goes unmentioned, “though the picture is expected to have maintain its all-action star formula,” and it will cost over $100 million.”
A big reason why this is getting made is that the last film made almost half of its international take ($72.9 mil, to be exact, a steady improvement over the first two) over in China, enticing them to keep the series going for their burgeoning film market. But they’re going to need American talent to live up to that that “all-action star formula” they’re touting, and I don’t know if an all-new cast of A-listers is ready to join up with this franchise. It’s already kind of cemented itself as mostly a victory lap for aging guys, leaving the young’ns like Liam Hemsworth, Kellan Lutz, and even poor Ronda Rousey out in the cold with little to do. Without Sly (and, presumably, Statham, Schwarzenegger, Willis, Ford, Lundgren, Snipes, and even Li), who do they plan on getting, both to fill out the roster and to shepherd the franchise creatively?
Plus, didn't the local reception to the previous film kill PACIFIC RIM 2, despite the love for it in China?
We should hear more details about what they’ve got planned for EX 4 soon enough, but for now, we can just marvel at the idea that another of these ridiculous movies is getting made, for some reason.
Fuck it…I’ll probably see it too.
