Just when you thought this franchise was dead, Lionsgate has acquired the rights to “The Expendables” IP, not to mention the upcoming “Rambo” sequel starring Noah Centineo.
As reported by Variety, Lionsgate has acquired the rights to develop and produce “all derivative works, including future film” of “The Expendables” franchise. We all thought it was on its last legs, especially after “The Expend4bles” bombed two years ago with a $16M cumulative gross against a $100M budget. The reviews weren’t any better — 16% on Rotten Tomatoes. I called it “unwatchable trash,” which most seemed to agree with.
Truth be told, we should have seen this coming. Now that new “Creed/Rocky,” “Rambo,” and “Cliffhanger” movies are being made without him, Stallone’s lone IP seems to be “Expendables,” a franchise he built on his own during the aughts, amassing every testosterone-fueled action movie star on the planet.
Despite the last installment losing over $100M, Dolph Lundgren had teased that we haven’t seen the last of this franchise, confirming that Stallone was working on a fifth “Expendables” movie. Nobody believed it would happen, but Lionsgate seems dead-set on continuing this franchise — watch them title it “Expend5bles.”
Or maybe — and this is my gut instinct — they will reboot the entire thing and find a way to include Stallone in the mix (as a writer? Producer?) just to satisfy his ego. It’d be another crushing blow if he ends up losing this franchise as well.
At least Lundgren admitted the failure of the last one, saying that Stallone was not part of the creative process, it “really didn’t have a good script,” and that “the director was replaced, like, a month before shooting.”
Stallone, 79, looking great, pumped up on Human Growth Hormone, is still a busy man these days. His Taylor Sheridan-created series “Tulsa King” has found a following on streaming and recently entered its third season. On the movie front, ever since “Expendables 4” failed, he’s starred in two direct-to-VOD movies (“Armor” and “Alarum”).
He’ll be headed to Europe as “Cliffhanger 2” is set to start production in Germany. Maybe “Expend5bles” comes after that one.