Expend4bles

The Expendables 4 is a 2023 action film directed by Scott Waugh from a screenplay by Kurt Wimmer, Tad Daggerhart, and Max Adams, based on a story by Spenser Cohen, Wimmer, and Daggerhart. It is a sequel to the 2014 film, The Expendables 3 and the fourth installment of the franchise. The film stars an ensemble cast including Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, and Randy Couture reprising their roles from previous films, alongside Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, Megan Fox, Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais, Jacob Scipio, Levy Tran, and Andy García.
Expend4bles was released in China on September 15, 2023, and in the United States a week later, by Lionsgate. The film received largely negative reviews from critics, with criticism for its plot, action sequences, Stallone's limited screen time, Waugh's direction, absence of most of the original cast and visual effects. It has grossed $51 million worldwide against a budget of $100 million which made it a box office bomb and by far the lowest-grossing installment of the series. The film retains an R rating like The Expendables (2010) and The Expendables 2 (2012).
==Plot==
The Expendables are sent to Libya to prevent mercenary Suarto Rahmat from stealing nuclear warheads for a mysterious terrorist named Ocelot. The team is led by Barney Ross and formed by members Lee Christmas, Toll Road, and Gunner Jensen, with new members Easy Day and Galan. However, they are incapacitated when all of their vehicles are destroyed in the ensuing fight. When Rahmat shoots their plane down, the team finds what appears to be Barney's burned corpse in the wreckage, identified solely by his ring.
At Barney's memorial service, CIA operative Marsh reveals that the team will pursue Ocelot and Rahmat, but without Christmas— who jeopardized the mission trying to save Barney. He is replaced by Gina, his former lover, who also brings an operative named Lash into the team. The team travels to Asia, but is secretly tracked by Christmas, who had slipped Gina a tracking device earlier. Barney's apparent death opened a sealed file which states that there is an eyewitness that could identify Ocelot.
Ocelot plans to provoke World War III by letting the nuclear warheads explode in the Russian Far East, transporting them on a ship disguised as an American aircraft carrier. As the Expendables and Marsh board the ship, they are ambushed and taken hostage. Marsh is taken away to negotiate a prisoner-exchange for the eyewitness.
Meanwhile, Christmas travels to Thailand to recruit former Expendable Decha, who has turned towards pacifism but agrees to bring him to the ship to avenge Barney. As Christmas fights his way through the ship, Decha has a change of heart and helps him rescue the rest of the team. They launch an attack on Rahmat's forces, during which Christmas fights and kills him. However, Toll has been heavily wounded and needs immediate medical care.
During the prisoner exchange, Marsh is revealed to be Ocelot, hoping to financially profit from igniting World War III. While the team leaves on Decha's boat to save Toll, Christmas stays behind to turn the ship around to avoid a global conflict. He confronts Marsh, who is killed by Barney, who surprises everyone by revealing that he faked his own death, hoping to lure Ocelot out of hiding. They escape the nuclear explosion and celebrate with the team.
==Cast==
* Jason Statham as Lee Christmas, the team's knife expert and second in command. As Stallone was looking to pass the franchise's lead on to Statham, he did about 80% of all filming and oversaw post-production, also serving as a producer.
* Sylvester Stallone as Barney Ross: The leader of the Expendables. Stallone confirmed that the film would be his final appearance as Barney Ross, with Statham expecting to take over the series after his departure. Due to this, his role in the film was limited.
* Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson as Easy, a new member of the Expendables.
* Megan Fox as Gina, a CIA agent and Christmas‘s ex-girlfriend.
* Dolph Lundgren as Gunner Jensen: A volatile member of the team, undone by years of combat stress. Lundgren stated that his character has been sober for several years now and is on a philosophical soul search.
* Tony Jaa as Decha, a former member of the Expendables.
* Iko Uwais as Suarto, a terrorist and the main antagonist.
* Randy Couture as Toll Road: The team's demolitions expert.
* Jacob Scipio as Galan, a new member of the Expendables and son of former member Galgo. Originally, Antonio Banderas was slated to reprise his role as Galgo and his dialogue and character was rewritten into that of Galan when he turned out to be unavailable.
* Levy Tran as Lash, a CIA operator and a new member of the Expendables.
* Andy García as Marsh / Ocelot, a CIA agent.
Additionally, Sheila Shah was cast as Mandy / Adele, alongside Eddie Hall as a bouncer.
==Production==
===Development===
In a November 2013 interview, Couture confirmed that filming had finished on the third film, and that discussions for a fourth Expendables film were taking place.
In May of 2014, various media cited how Stallone actually was on good terms with Bruce Willis via Twitter comments and interviews. He acknowledged that it had sounded like a hostile breakup but actually had just been a schedule that hadn't worked out, which was why Willis didn't return and Harrison Ford was in the third film. Fans and other sites later started speculating if this meant that Willis would return in the fourth film.
After The Expendables 3 (2014) underperformed at the box office, the future of the series was left in doubt and production stalled over several years. By November 2014, it was announced that the project is being developed with intent to retain its R-rating like the first two films. In December 2016, Sylvester Stallone announced that the fourth installment will be the final film in the series, while a scheduled tentative release date was set for 2018.
Throughout 2017, it was reported on the film being in development hell due to continual production difficulties. It began when Stallone almost exited after Stallone was failing to find common ground on the script with producer Avi Lerner and having found the success he desired returning to his Rocky role in the sequel Creed in 2015. A sales poster was never-the-less shown on various Action movie sites and blogs by Millennium Films despite various reports already breaking out about Stallone's potential exit. In January 2018, after vocal support from other cast members (including Arnold Schwarzenegger), Stallone announced his return to the series with a post to his social media platforms; confirming new developments on the fourth film.
On February of 2018, Terry Crews noted to media outlets and on his Twitter account a growing issue where he had finally come out to admit that a Hollywood agent had touched him appropriately at a party. He revealed that the agent just so happened to represent Stallone and implied that Lerner's reps were asking Crews to drop his lawsuit against Stallone's agent. This lead to various speculation on wether or not Crews would return to the franchise. Crews had previously stated in 2016 he was interested in returning as long as Stallone was still involved. 
On May 16, 2018, Millennium Films also updated its promotion space at Cannes film festival by showing off posters for its other film sequels Rambo V and Angel Has Fallen. Further coverage was later documented days later. 
By August 2020, Vértice Cine announced their involvement as a production studio on the film, alongside Lionsgate and Millennium Films. They also revealed that Patrick Hughes will return to the series as director. In November 2020, the president of Millennium Media, Jeffrey Greenstein, stated that the studio is continuing to work on The Expendables 4 after various delays within the industry worldwide due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In August 2021, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Scott Waugh would be directing the film, replacing Hughes, as well as Statham serving as a producer of the film, while Stallone confirmed his involvement with the project, and that The Expendables 4 was the same project as The Expendables: A Christmas Story, previously reported as a spin-off but in fact the film's working-title during development. Stallone further stated that production was set to commence in October of that year. According to Dolph Lundgren, the film had a budget of $100 million.
===Writing===
In July 2018, Gregory Poirier announced his role as screenwriter. Production was tentatively scheduled to begin by April 2019, though it wasn't until July of that year that Stallone announced that he was continuing to work on the script for the project. The script was completed later that year, though negotiations with producers were ongoing. In August 2021, it was announced that Spenser Cohen wrote the most recent draft of the script with Max Adams, from a story by Cohen.
===Casting===
Over the years, multiple actors reported interest or claimed they were approached to star in a fourth installment. In March 2014, Pierce Brosnan stated that he had agreed with producer Avi Lerner to star in a fourth installment. By April of the same year, Sylvester Stallone revealed his first choice for the villain was Jack Nicholson, while mentioning his interest in convincing Clint Eastwood to join the production. According to Jackie Chan, he was approached to star in the film by Stallone but was unsure about having limited screen time in an ensemble film, which is why he had turned down roles in the previous two entries. Dwayne Johnson publicly expressed interest to play a villainous character in a new installment during a 2014 Q&A and reiterated his interest to join the series in 2022. In May 2015, Hulk Hogan claimed that he was in talks with Stallone to play the film's main villain.
In June 2020, Jean-Claude Van Damme expressed interest in returning to the franchise, publicly pitching his idea of playing Claude Vilain, the brother to his villain character, Jean Vilain, from The Expendables 2. Despite discontent with how his character was handled in The Expendables 3, Arnold Schwarzenegger proclaimed he was interest in returning to the series if he liked the script. However; on May 29, 2023, Schwarzenegger confirmed that he would not be returning to the franchise, citing a general disinterest. While he was not included in the film, Kellan Lutz proclaimed interest to return in a fifth installment in an Instagram post. On the other hand, Terry Crews, who had starred in all previous films, refused to appear in any new entries after claiming he was sexually assaulted by Stallone's agent, Adam Venit, alleging he was pressured by producer Avi Lerner to drop the case if he wanted to stay in the series.
However, none of the actors mentioned above were subsequently cast, and the cast was announced to include returning stars Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Randy Couture, and Dolph Lundgren, while new cast members were revealed to be Eddie Hall, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, Megan Fox, Tony Jaa, Andy García, Sheila Shah, Jacob Scipio and Levy Tran, with Iko Uwais playing the villain.
===Filming===
In August 2021, it was stated that principal photography would begin in October. Filming officially commenced on September 29, 2021. In October 2021, Stallone announced on social media that he had finished filming his scenes. The film was shot in London and Bulgaria and the Jackie Chan Stunt Team handled stunt choreography. In November 2021, production was shot in Greece, including the city of Thessaloniki. Members of the Greek Armed Forces were used as extras and alleged they were not compensated for their month-long official deployment, despite working overtime. On December 3, 2021, Tony Jaa confirmed filming had wrapped.
==Marketing==
In April 2022, the first standee posters for the film were unveiled at CinemaCon. The first teaser trailer footage was released exclusively to the attendees at Lionsgate's presentation at the convention. On June 6, 2023, the first poster for the film was released, with the first trailer releasing a day later. A second trailer advertising the film's R rating was released August 23, 2023.
==Release==
Expend4bles is set to be theatrically released by Lionsgate on September 22, 2023. The film was originally scheduled to be released in 2022.
==Box office==
As of November 5, 2023, Expend4bleshas grossed $16.7 million in the United States and Canada, and $34.3 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $51 million.
In the United States and Canada, the film was initially projected to gross $15–17 million from 3,518 theaters in its opening weekend. After making $3.1 million on its first day (including $750,000 from Thursday night previews), estimates were lowered, and it went on debut to $8 million, finishing second behind holdover The Nun II. The film fell 69% to $2.5 million in its second weekend, finishing in ninth place.
In China, the film opened to $10.7 million, narrowly finishing first before the Chinese film Dust to Dust.
==Reception==
Expend4bles received largely negative reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, 14% of 124 critics' aggregated reviews are positive, with an average rating of 3.5/10. The website's consensus reads: "Solid work from Jason Statham and some halfway decent set pieces aren't enough to make up for Expend4bles' lackluster action and cheap-looking effects." Metacritic assigned the film an average score of 30 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews. Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B–" on an A+ to F scale, the lowest of the series, while those polled at PostTrak gave it a 64% overall positive score.
==Trivia==
*Ron Perlman has expressed interest in joining the franchise one day. 
*Stallone has considered having Jean Reno join in the future. 
*Steven Seagal may appear as the main antagonist of the film.
*Jean-Claude Van Damme may return as Claude Vilain, Jean Vilain's twin brother.
*This maybe the final installment of the film, due to the low box office concering the leak of The Expendables 3 before it's release on August 15 three weeks ahead.
*Jackie Chan may appear this time.
*Shooting starts at the end of Summer 2014, release date is Summer 2015. However, this is only being hinted and did not featuring even more information.
*The film will be have a featuring flashback of everything that the team have eliminated the target only ending up serving the interest of the establishment organization in back-stab of being framed to be arrested by fraud.
*Robert De Niro is asked by Stallone to join the film.
*Terry Crews is interested in having Kurt Russell, Clint Eastwood and Chris Hemsworth in the film.
*Dwayne Johnson will play the villain of the film, wanting to hunt down the Expendables and tell them to send their souls to heaven, and keep Caesar alive as his peck popping opponent and Luna alive to become his training partner.
*Stallone wants Jack Nicholson to join the cast but it's unknown if he's talked to him yet. It's probably unlikely though given how following his retirement rumors, Nicholson clearly stated that he had no interest in being in movies featuring explosions.
*Stallone hopes for the film to be filmed in Asia.
*Stallone does want The Rock to be in the film, especially as a villain 
==Videos==
EXPEND4BLES (2023) Official Trailer - Jason Statham, 50 Cent, Megan Fox, Dolph Lundgren
EXPEND4BLES (2023) Official Red Band Trailer - Jason Statham, Sylvester Stallone, 50 Cent, Megan Fox
==References==
Category:2023 films
Category:2023 action adventure films
Category:2023 action thriller films
Category:2020s American films
Category:2020s English-language films
Category:American action adventure films
Category:American action thriller films
Category:American sequel films
Category:American vigilante films
Category:Films about mercenaries
Category:Films directed by Scott Waugh
Category:Films postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Category:Films produced by Avi Lerner
Category:Films produced by Jason Statham
Category:Films shot in Bulgaria
Category:Films shot in England
Category:Films shot in Greece
Category:Films shot in London
Category:Films shot in Thessaloniki
Category:Films with screenplays by Spenser Cohen
Category:Films with screenplays by Kurt Wimmer
Category:Lionsgate films
Category:The Expendables (franchise)
Category:Films starring Jason Statham
Category:Films starring 50 Cent
Category:Films starring Megan Fox
Category:Films starring Dolph Lundgren
Category:Films starring Iko Uwais
Category:Films starring Randy Couture
Category:Films starring Andy García
Category:Films starring Sylvester Stallone
Category:English-language films
Category:Sequel films