Expend4bles opens with only $8 million, a series low.
The latest entry in the Expendables franchise in nearly ten years is not doing well at the box office. Of course, one can expect that by entry number three or four in a franchise, the numbers won’t be crazy. But we saw The Equalizer 3 do great numbers and have the biggest opening weekend for its franchise yet. Along with the poor opening weekend, Expend4ble’s reviews have been less than stellar. Expendables could end up being the lowest-rated and lowest-grossing film in the series if this trend continues.
Right now, Expendables is looking at an estimated $8 million opening weekend, which was not what was predicted for the film, which was $15 million. The Nun II will be the winner this weekend at the box office. The first three expendable films combined to make $800 million at the box office. The most recent Expendables film, released in 2014, made $15.8 million in its opening weekend and went on to make $214 million at the box office.
Interestingly enough, this was the first film in the franchise to not have Sylvester Stallone involved in a producing or writing role. Stallone was also not the top-billed actor this time around. That goes to Jason Statum, who also produced Expendables. Stallone has been involved in the series since day one, even directing the first Expendables movie.
Of course, there could be many reasons as to why Expendables is not making as much money as previous films, but the movie-going experience is definitely on the decline. We saw such a resurgence following the Barbie and Oppenheimer craze. Now, many films that did great at the summer box office are available for rental, like Barbie. The new expendables might turn out to be the last in the series, and we might be working at the end of the summer blockbuster craze.
