As the fourth installment in a franchise that already seemed like it was on its last leg, Expend4bles had its work cut out. It needed to step away from the family-friendly setting of the third film and let loose as far as its action and violence were concerned. But this did not help director Scott Waugh’s film, as critics and audiences alike panned it and dubbed it the worst in the franchise so far. The film, which hit theatres in September last year, is now coming to OTT. It will be available to stream on Lionsgate Play starting January 5.
Expend4bles follows Sly Stallone’s Barny Ross and his bunch of muscle for hire—Expendables—on a mission to prevent nuclear detonators from falling into the wrong hands. This, of course, is easier said than done and the Expendables are faced with a formidable opponent, hell-bent on raining fire on humanity. The film’s cast includes Jason Statham, Curtis ’50 Cent’ Jackson, Megan Fox, Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais, Jacob Scipio, Dolph Lundgren, Levy Tran, and Andy García, among others.
And, although the entire film was more or less carried by Statham’s Christopher Lee, with Stallone hardly there in it and having expressed that he’s done with the franchise that he started, more installments are likely. This despite the fact that this edition made it the worst performing of the franchise at the box office. Stallone, who wrote the earlier three films and directed the first, has, apparently, had creative differences with the studio, state reports.
The franchise, which has had the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jean Claude Van Damme, Bruce Willis, Wesley Snipes, Antonio Banderas and Mel Gibson, among others, on its cast, will have to find a worthy replacement for Stallone if and when a fifth film does get made. The makers have indicated that there will be more installments, and Dwayne Johnson is a name that’s being heard as a possible contender for the spot left vacant by Stallone’s exit.
