Lionsgate released “The Expend4bles” five weeks ago and it’s already ended its theatrical run. The movie is now available on PVOD.
Original projections had the movie opening at around $15 million, it only opened with $8 million. In fact, its total 5-week domestic run has ended with a $16.7 million cumulative gross. With a budget that is said to have been well over $100 million, it has turned into one of the worst bombs of the year.
The only good news for “The Expand4bles” is that China seems to love Jason Statham, he’s a mega star over there, and that’s resulted in the movie grissing $34 million overseas. That’s still not enough for it to break even, in fact it probably stands to lose well over $100 million.
The bad reviews probably detracted some audiences from going to see the action extravaganza — the movie has a terrible 16% on Rotten Tomatoes. My review stated that it was “unwatchable trash.” However, I believe it’s much more than just quality that turned viewers off. Nobody really cares for this type of action movie anymore.
So, who is to blame for this wretched cinematic abomination? I guess you can point your finger at director Scott Waugh, a talentless hack who is in over his head here. But the screenplay is also laughably bad —written by Kurt Wimmer, Tad Daggerhart and Max Adams.
For some odd reason, ‘Expend4bles’ director Scott Waugh was hinting at a fifth movie going into production sometime soon. Unless the budget gets slashed in half, then there’s no earthly possibility for another one to ever get greenlit again.
Maybe they should also hire a better filmmaker, and screenwriter, next time around, not to mention a cast that doesn’t consist of C-list actors such as Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson and Megan Fox.