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The Expendables (franchise)

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The Expendables
A metallic skull in front of a pair wings. The wings are made up of an assortment of guns and knives.
Official franchise logo[clarification needed]
Created byDavid Callaham
Original workThe Expendables (2010)
OwnerLionsgate
Years2010–present
Print publications
Comics
Films and television
Film(s)
Games
Video game(s)
  • The Expendables (2010)
  • The Expendables 2 Videogame (2012)
  • The Expendables 2: Deploy & Destroy (2012)
  • The Expendabros (2015)
Audio
Soundtrack(s)

The Expendables is an American ensemble action thriller franchise conceived by David Callaham, spanning a film series, the first three ones cowritten by Sylvester Stallone, and additional media. The films star an ensemble cast, notably Stallone and Jason Statham, and are produced by Avi Lerner and Kevin King-Templeton. The film series, an acknowledgement of former blockbuster action films made in the 1980s and 1990s, also pays homage to action stars of former decades, and the more recent stars in action. The series consists of the films The Expendables (2010), The Expendables 2 (2012), The Expendables 3 (2014), Expend4bles (2023), and an ongoing comic book series, The Expendables Go to Hell (2021). Though criticism with regard to plot and dialogue between characters has been expressed, critics praised the use of comic relief in between action.

Films

Film U.S. release date Director(s) Screenwriter(s) Story by Producer(s)
The Expendables August 13, 2010 (2010-08-13) Sylvester Stallone David Callaham & Sylvester Stallone David Callaham Avi Lerner, John Thompson & Kevin King-Templeton
The Expendables 2 August 17, 2012 (2012-08-17) Simon West Richard Wenk & Sylvester Stallone Ken Kaufman, David Agosto & Richard Wenk Avi Lerner, Les Weldon, Danny Lerner & Kevin King-Templeton
The Expendables 3 August 15, 2014 (2014-08-15) Patrick Hughes Katrin Benedikt, Sylvester Stallone & Creighton Rothenberger Sylvester Stallone Avi Lerner, Les Weldon, Danny Lerner, John Thompson & Kevin King-Templeton
Expend4bles September 22, 2023 (2023-09-22) Scott Waugh Max Adams, Kurt Wimmer & Tad Daggerhart Kurt Wimmer, Spenser Cohen & Tad Daggerhart Les Weldon, Yariv Lerner, Jason Statham & Kevin King-Templeton

The Expendables (2010)

Main article: The Expendables (2010 film)

The Expendables, a group of elite mercenaries who carry out all sorts of missions, ranging from assassination to rescue, are deployed to a South American island, Vilena, to overthrow a Latin American dictator, General Garza, who is interfering with the plans of a group of "people" led by a man known only as Mr. Church. However, the team leader, Barney Ross, soon realizes that Garza is merely a puppet being controlled by a ruthless rogue CIA officer, James Monroe, who is Mr. Church's real target.

The Expendables 2 (2012)

Main article: The Expendables 2

A while after the first film, the Expendables accept another mission from Mr. Church to make up for losses caused by the mission in Vilena, but they end up in a conflict with a rival mercenary group, the Sangs, and their newest and youngest member is murdered by their leader, Jean Vilain. Ross swears vengeance on Vilain for his protegé's death and starts to track him down, in the process learning that Vilain threatens the world with five tons of weapons grade plutonium he intends to excavate from an abandoned Soviet mine and sell to the highest bidder.

The Expendables 3 (2014)

Main article: The Expendables 3

The Expendables come face to face with the team's co-founder Conrad Stonebanks. Ross was forced to kill Stonebanks after he became a ruthless arms trader, but Stonebanks survived and has now made it his mission to destroy The Expendables. Ross resorts to recruiting a new and younger generation of Expendables to help the team overcome his old adversary.

Expend4bles (2023)

Main article: Expend4bles

The Expendables are assigned a mission to thwart the plans of terrorist groups led by Suarto Rahmat and Ocelot as they possesses nuclear weapons with plans to provoke World War III in order to receive profits from igniting the war.

Television

In May 2012, it was announced that a television spin-off of the film series had entered development at Lionsgate.[1] In March 2015, it was confirmed that the franchise would expand, with a television event series in active development. The project would be a joint-production between CBS Television Studios, Lionsgate Television, Shane Brennan Prods., and Rogue Marble Productions. Shane Brennan has signed on as creator, producer and showrunner; as well as serving as co-writer with Greg Coolidge and Kirk Ward. Stallone would serve as executive producer alongside Avi Lerner, Kevin King, Grant Anderson, and Brennan. The plot of the series was announced to feature a new team of Expendables, composed of 'iconic television stars', who are on a mission to stop the dangerous activities of terrorist organizations.[2]

Originally scheduled to air on Fox network, beginning in June 2016 the series was being shopped around to other networks and streaming services.[3] In November 2021, President of Millennium Films Jeffrey Greenstein, confirmed that the studio is once again actively developing a television series for the franchise.[4] In November 2022, Greenstein reiterated that development for a television series is ongoing, with plans to expand each of the studio's franchises into additional media.[5]

Main cast and characters

Main article: List of The Expendables characters
Character Films
The Expendables The Expendables 2 The Expendables 3 Expend4bles
2010 2012 2014 2023
Barney Ross Sylvester Stallone
Lee Christmas Jason Statham
Gunner Jensen Dolph Lundgren
Toll Road Randy Couture
Yin Yang Jet Li  
Hale Caesar Terry Crews  
Trent "Trench" Mauser Arnold Schwarzenegger  
Lacy Charisma Carpenter  
Mr. Church
CIA Agent 		Bruce Willis  
Tool Mickey Rourke  
Sandra Garza Giselle Itié  
James Munroe Eric Roberts  
The Brit Gary Daniels  
Daniel "Dan" Paine Steve Austin  
Booker "The Lone Wolf"   Chuck Norris  
Billy "The Kid" Timmons   Liam Hemsworth  
Maggie Chan
CIA Agent 		  Yu Nan  
Hector   Scott Adkins  
Jean Vilain   Jean-Claude Van Damme  
Conrad Stonebanks   Mel Gibson  
Max Drummer
CIA Agent 		  Harrison Ford  
Bonaparte   Kelsey Grammer  
Galgo   Antonio Banderas  
Doctor "Doc" Death   Wesley Snipes  
John Smilee   Kellan Lutz  
Luna Maya   Ronda Rousey  
Thorn   Glen Powell  
Mars   Victor Ortiz  
Goran Vata   Robert Davi  
Easy Day   Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson III
Gina
CIA Agent 		  Megan Fox
Decha   Tony Jaa
Galan   Jacob Scipio
Lash   Levy Tran
Suarto Rahmat   Iko Uwais
Marsh/Ocelot
CIA Agent 		  Andy García

Additional crew and production details

Film Crew/Detail
Composer Cinematographer Editor(s) Production companies Distributing company Running time
The Expendables Brian Tyler Jeffrey Kimball Paul Harb
Ken Blackwell 		Nu Image
Nimar Studios
Millennium Films
Wide Picture Studios
Splendid Film Studios
Rogue Marble Productions
Nu Image Entertainment GmbH 		Lionsgate 103 min
The Expendables 2 Shelly Johnson Todd E. Miller Lionsgate
Millennium Films
Le Vision Pictures
Nu Image Productions
Splendid Film Studios 		103 min
The Expendables 3 Peter Menzies Jr. Paul Harb
Sean Albertson 		Lionsgate
Davis Films
Ex3 Productions
Millennium Films
Nu Image Productions
Nu Boyana Film Studios 		126 min
Expend4bles Guillaume Roussel Tim Maurice-Jones Michael J. Duthie Lionsgate
Grobman Films
Templeton Media
Millennium Films
Nu Boyana Studios
Media Capital Technologies 		103 min

Reception

Box office performance

Film Release date Box office gross Budget Ref.
North America Other territories Worldwide
The Expendables August 13, 2010 $103,068,524 $171,401,870 $274,470,394 $80–82 million [6][7]
The Expendables 2 August 17, 2012 $85,028,192 $229,947,763 $314,975,955 $100 million [8]
The Expendables 3 August 15, 2014 $39,322,544 $175,335,033 $214,657,577 $90–100 million [9][10]
Expend4bles September 22, 2023 $16,710,153 $34,423,450 $51,133,603 $100 million [11]
Total $244,129,413 $611,108,116 $855,237,529 $370–382 million

Critical and public response

Film Rotten Tomatoes Metacritic CinemaScore[12]
The Expendables 42% (211 reviews)[13] 45 (35 reviews)[14] B+
The Expendables 2 67% (135 reviews)[15] 51 (28 reviews)[16] A−
The Expendables 3 31% (178 reviews)[17] 35 (36 reviews)[18] A−
Expend4bles 14% (125 reviews)[19] 30 (33 reviews)[20] B–

The Expendables received mixed reviews from critics. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes the film has a 42% approval rating based on reviews from 210 critics, with an average rating of 5.3/10. The website's consensus states: "It makes good on the old-school action it promises, but given all the talent on display, The Expendables should hit harder."[13] On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the film has received a mean score of 45, based on 35 reviews.[14] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave it an average grade of B+.[21]

The Expendables 2 received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has a 67% approval rating from 134 critics, with an average rating of 5.9/10. The website's consensus states: "Taut, violent, and suitably self-deprecating, The Expendables 2 gives classic action fans everything they can reasonably expect from a star-studded shoot-'em-up — for better and for worse."[15] Metacritic gave it a score of 51 out of 100, based on reviews from 28 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[16] CinemaScore polls reported that moviegoers gave the film an average grade of A− on an A+ to F scale.[22][23]

The Expendables 3 received negative reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 31% rating based on 178 reviews with an average rating of 4.9/10. The site's consensus reads: "Like its predecessors, The Expendables 3 offers a modicum of all-star thrills for old-school action thriller aficionados — but given all the talent assembled, it should have been a lot more fun".[17] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 35 out of 100 based on reviews from 35 critics.[18]

Expend4bles was panned by critics, with much criticism aimed at its lackluster CGI. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 14% of 125 critics' 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."[19] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 30 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews.[20] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale.

Music

Soundtracks

Title U.S. release date Length Composer(s) Label
The Expendables: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack August 10, 2010 71:41 Brian Tyler Lionsgate
The Expendables 2: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack August 14, 2012 56:49
The Expendables 3: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack August 12, 2014 60:09 La-La Land Records
Expend4bles (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) September 22, 2023 26:22 Guillaume Roussel Millennium Media Records

Other media

Comic books

Video games

  • The Expendables 8-bit is a single-player side-scroller browser video game created by Flipline Studios as a promotion for the first movie in collaboration with Lionsgate. Stylized after Nintendo Entertainment System games, playable characters included Barney Ross, Lee Christmas, and Yin Yang. It was available for free on the official Facebook page for the movie.
  • The Expendables 2 Videogame is a downloadable four-player cooperative shoot 'em up video game. It was published by Ubisoft for PC, PlayStation Network (PSN) and Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) and released on July 31, 2012, for PSN and August 20 for PC (via Steam) and XBLA. The game's plot is a prequel to The Expendables 2, with Barney Ross, Gunnar Jensen, Yin Yang and Hale Caesar appearing as playable characters. Lundgren and Crews voiced their respective characters.
  • The Expendables 2: Deploy & Destroy is a single-player tower defense, real-time strategy online-only game. Published by Roadshow Films and Soap Creative, the game was released on July 13, 2012. Its plot was derived from village scenes in the film, where players can choose their squad from the cast, set up defenses and battle the enemy.
  • The Expendabros: A standalone expansion of the game Broforce based on The Expendables 3 and released in August 2014. Later, The Expendabros expansion became free to play in order to promote The Expendables 3 and remained so until December 31 of the same year when it was discontinued.[30][31]

Bollywood adaptation

In May 2013, Original Entertainment confirmed to have sealed a five-picture deal with Millennium Films to produce Bollywood remakes of First Blood, The Expendables, 16 Blocks, 88 Minutes, and Brooklyn's Finest, with the productions for First Blood and The Expendables expected to start at the end of that year.[32]

Canceled projects

The Expendabelles

In October 2012, plans for an all-female centered film were announced titled, The Expendabelles. Karen McCullah and Kirsten Smith were hired to co-write the script, while Avi Lerner, Mark Gill, Julie Kroll, Boaz Davidson, and Kevin King will serve as producers.[33] The film was intended to be a joint production between Millennium Films, Eclectic Pictures, and Summertime Entertainment.[34] Stallone is not involved with the project.[35] By the following month, Lerner had entered early negotiations with actresses Meryl Streep, Cameron Diaz and Milla Jovovich to star in the film.[36] The producer stated that they were looking for a female director for the project, while also stating that principal photography was scheduled to take place in Bulgaria, where previous installments had been filmed.[37]

By February 2014, it was announced that Robert Luketic had been hired as director. Stallone stated that he is not involved with the spin-off, but that he would like to see Sigourney Weaver appear in the movie.[38][39] By August, Lerner stated that the script was nearing its final draft.[40] Later that month, the studio released an updated official synopsis for the film as: "The Expendables universe has a new team. An elite group of highly trained female mercenaries are brought together for a covert hostage rescue mission. Once they are behind enemy lines, the women discover that they will also need to topple an evil dictator bent on world domination. It becomes clear there is no such thing as the right man for the job. The ExpendaBelles is the ultimate story of female empowerment and kick-ass teamwork."[41] All studios involved had intended to begin production early-2015.[42] In November 2022, President of Millennium Films, Jeffrey Greenstein officially stated that the project was shelved. Stating that the project went through various iterations of having to "explain" why a team of only females was the center of the movie, the creatives have opted to instead integrate more female characters into the franchise.[5]

In 2024, a fan on TikTok published a female version of the Expendables that includes: Angelina Jolie,Scarlett Johansson, Kate Beckinsale, Milla Jovovich, Katheryn Winnick, Sofia Boutella, Charlize Theron,Gina Carano, Ivanna Sakhno, Linda Hamilton, Úrsula Corberó and Mariska Hargitay. The cast was welcomed by some spectators with more than 500,000 views. And this same fan found a synopsis for this female version:

When a CIA agent is captured by a criminal organization at the killimani, Talia Stone (Angelina Jolie) help of Summer Larsen (Scarlett Johansson) decides to call on their former partners and two new recruits to free this last prisoner by the criminal group.

In this story In the "Women's Expendables" project, Angelina Jolie, as team leader, reunites her former team consisting of Scarlett Johansson, Kate Beckinsale, Katheryn Winnick and Gina Carano, while welcoming two new recruits (Sofia Boutella, Ivanna Sakhno) ready to meet all challenges. Milla Jovovich stands as the main enemy, with Ursula Corberó as her right-hand man, bringing an additional threat. Charlize Theron plays the prisoner agent, while Mariska Hargitay, a close friend and faithful confidant of Angelina Jolie's character, runs a bar where the team meets . In addition to saving Charlize Theron, the team must also free the inhabitants of a village, including a young woman with whom the character of Angelina Jolie will develop a fusional mother-daughter relationship, thus pushing the group of women to fight with even more determination for a noble cause. But the chances of seeing this project are very unlikely.

References

  1. ^ "Lionsgate Considers Turning 'The Expendables' into a TV Series". May 31, 2012. Archived from the original on January 5, 2020. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
  2. ^ "'The Expendables' Event Series in Works at Fox with Sylvester Stallone Producing". March 5, 2015. Archived from the original on February 24, 2020. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
  3. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (June 6, 2016). "Shane Brennan Re-Ups Deal With CBS TV Studios". Archived from the original on March 2, 2020. Retrieved November 3, 2018.
  4. ^ Ritman, Alex (November 5, 2021). "AFM: Millennium Boss on Casting 'Expendables 4' and Small-Screen Plans ('Rambo' TV?)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on November 5, 2021. Retrieved November 6, 2021.
  5. ^ a b Roxborough, Scott (November 4, 2022). "Millennium Films' Jeffrey Greenstein on Updating Hollywood's Most Macho Studio for the 21st Century". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on November 5, 2022. Retrieved November 5, 2022.
  6. ^ Fritz, Ben (August 12, 2010). "Movie projector: Stallone's 'Expendables' to blow away 'Eat Pray Love' and 'Scott Pilgrim'". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 22, 2018. Retrieved August 30, 2010. "The Expendables" cost $82 million to produce
  7. ^ "The Expendables (2010)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  8. ^ "The Expendables 2 (2012)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  9. ^ "The Expendables Franchise Box Office History". The Numbers. Archived from the original on April 24, 2019. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
  10. ^ "The Expendables 3 (2014)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  11. ^ "Expend4bles (2023)". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved May 7, 2024.
  12. ^ "CinemaScore". CinemaScore. Archived from the original on April 13, 2022. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
  13. ^ a b "The Expendables (2010)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  14. ^ a b "The Expendables (2010)". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  15. ^ a b "The Expendables 2 (2012)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  16. ^ a b "The Expendables 2 (2012)". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  17. ^ a b "The Expendables 3 (2014)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  18. ^ a b "The Expendables 3 (2014)". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  19. ^ a b "Expend4bles (2023)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved May 7, 2024.
  20. ^ a b "Expend4bles (2023)". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved May 7, 2024.
  21. ^ "Box Office: 'Expendables' Blow Up". Los Angeles Times. August 15, 2010. Archived from the original on August 18, 2010. Retrieved June 29, 2012.
  22. ^ Stewart, Andrew (August 19, 2012). "'Expendables' wins weekend with soft $28.8 mil". Variety. Reed Business Information. Archived from the original on August 24, 2012. Retrieved August 20, 2012.
  23. ^ Finke, Nikke (August 17, 2012). "'The Expendables 2′ Tops Crowded Box Office With $11.5M Friday/$30M Weekend, 'Bourne Legacy' $5.4M/$17.2M, 'Paranorman' $5.3M/$15.3M, 'Sparkle' $5.0M/$15.5M". Deadline Hollywood. PMC. Archived from the original on November 12, 2012. Retrieved August 18, 2012.
  24. ^ "Chuck Dixon to pen 'Expendables' comic". Digital Spy. March 30, 2010. Archived from the original on November 4, 2018. Retrieved October 28, 2018.
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  31. ^ "Steam Community :: Group Announcements :: Broforce". steamcommunity.com. August 7, 2014. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved December 26, 2014.
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  41. ^ Mike Fleming Jr (February 6, 2014). "Berlin: Robert Luketic To Helm Millennium's 'The ExpendaBelles'; Who Should Star?". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on July 7, 2014. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  42. ^ "Producer Avi Lerner Provides Update on Female EXPENDABLES Movie, THE EXPENDABELLES; Plan to Begin Filming Early Next Year". Collider. August 4, 2014. Archived from the original on January 9, 2020. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
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