Why has The Expendables franchise crashed and burned so hard, and is a fifth movie still possible? The Expendables is one of the biggest Sylvester Stallone action franchises, with the first entry arriving back in 2010. The series sold itself on its pairing of action greats, with the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Jet Li, and many more teaming up onscreen for the first time. The Expendables movies arrived during a strange time for the genre, where PG-13 comic book movies were the norm, while the action films Stallone made his name on were out of vogue.

That’s what made The Expendables feel so refreshing – even if they all received critical brickbats. The series felt bulletproof before the arrival of the third entry, and there was even talk of a female-focused spinoff dubbed The Expendabelles. Cut to 2025, the property’s future is looking bleak, and there’s a good chance Expendables 5 will never happen. Considering how strong The Expendables began, its collapse is borderline impressive.

The First Two Expendables Movies Were Box Office Hits

Audiences were nostalgic for The Expendables’ brand of mayhem

After Rocky Balboa and Rambo (2008) revived his career following a run of duds, Stallone created The Expendables as a new franchise for himself. The project actually began as a dark thriller following a group of burnt-out mercenaries, but excitement about its announcement saw Stallone turn the film into a love letter to 1980s action instead. Stallone directed the first entry too, which promised a return to the old-fashioned, R-rated thrills of his career heyday. This propelled both The Expendables and The Expendables 2 to box office success – and the future looked bright.

There are valid critiques that could be flung at the first two entries. Much of their humor falls flat, the action is often choppy and overedited and the cinematography can be flat and colorless. Still, their impressive ensembles and retro stylings made them a fun night out. The Expendables 2 grossed even more than its predecessor, with the sequel dialing back on the darker themes while delivering more impressive action.

The Expendables 3 Was The Franchise’s First Misstep – What Went Wrong

A PG-13 Expendables is not what audiences signed up for

It’s a relatively obscure piece of trivia that Chuck Norris almost forced The Expendables 2 to be PG-13. The Christian actor agreed to appear in the sequel so long as it had no foul language and was a film younger viewers could enjoy. Stallone would later confirm (via AICN) that the PG-13 reports were true, but after a vocal backlash, the sequel was re-edited to include CG-enhanced bloodshed, resulting in an R rating.

Now, some people might look at what happened to Expendables 2 as a lesson not to mess with the franchise’s formula by watering it down; that’s not the lesson producers took away, sadly. The Expendables 3 was built from the ground up as a PG-13 experience with the specific intent of bringing in younger viewers to the saga. Tapping into the same audience that goes to see Fast & Furious 6 might sound good on paper, but since the series was built around R-rated action, this became a big problem.

Despite the large bodycount, the threequel is a bloodless affair, and the action just becomes dull after a time. Another issue with The Expendables 3 is how overstuffed it is; with the old and new Expendables included, there are too many characters and subplots to track. The sequel also suffered a blow when Bruce Willis refused to return as the team’s CIA contact, with Stallone lambasting even Willis on X/Twitter, stating “GREEDY AND LAZY . . . A SURE FORMULA FOR CAREER FAILURE.”

Hype for The Expendables 3 was already muted due to its rating, but the film suffered another blow when it leaked online just prior to release. While the sequel didn’t bomb, it grossed $100 million less than the second film and resulted in an extended hiatus for the series.

The Expendables 4 Took 9 Years To Happen (And It Was A Colossal Flop)

Expend4bles was truly 4bomin4ble

Following The Expendables 3’s underperformance, spinoffs like The Expendabelles or The Expendables: A Christmas Story were mooted, but none came together. For a time, it appeared the franchise might be done entirely, but a fourth entry eventually came together – but it made some sweeping changes. Stallone’s role was reduced to a guest appearance, while the film moved away from nabbing action icons in favor of building a team made up of recognizable faces like Andy Garcia, Megan Fox and 50 Cent.

The Expendables 4 felt like it was stripping away the gimmicks in favor of creating a lean action experience, but it proved to be the weakest entry to date. Expenda4bles doesn’t have an original idea in its head and is littered with distractingly poor CGI and greenscreen. The action itself is serviceable if bland, the story is generic slop and the twist involving the “death” of Stallone’s Barney is staggeringly unconvincing.

The Expendables 4 was a critical and commercial disaster, and barely grossed half its production budget back. It didn’t help the sequel’s chances that it had been close to a decade since the previous outing, which was also a big letdown. Regardless, Expendables 4 is an utter mess; a sloppy, badly sтιтched-together blockbuster that only briefly comes to life during a brief section where Statham and Tony Jaa’s characters team up during the second act.

Will The Expendables 5 Happen?

Has the franchise become Expendable?

Despite sporadic claims a fifth Expendables is in development, the response to the fourth film suggests otherwise. The sequel was hated by critics and viewers alike, and the fact Expend4bles didn’t make any money won’t convince producers to rush ahead with another. If a fifth film does happen, it probably won’t be for at least another five years and won’t feature the team in its current configuration.

Some key players like Statham or Stallone may reappear, but it should really focus on a new team. The stink of Expendables 4 will stick to the property for some time, so letting audiences forget about it will only aid the chances of Expendables 5 happening someday. The series needs a serious facelift following the third and fourth chapters, and another sequel in the same mold would be a terrible call.

What The Expendables 5 Would Need To Save The Franchise

It might be time for the team to get Expended

One of the strangest calls of The Expendables is that, to date, only one team member has died: Liam Hemsworth’s sniper, Billy the Kid. Stallone doesn’t believe in killing off characters to create drama, which is why his team has a shockingly high survival rate. One of the first changes a fifth Expendables should make is canceling that rule; the films badly need to introduce some stakes, including letting the occasional teammate die.

The franchise could use some fresh faces too, so adding more luminaries such as Keanu Reeves, Charlize Theron or even Dwayne Johnson would get audiences excited about the franchise again. It wouldn’t be the worst idea to scale back on CG effects either, and after the performance of part four, a smaller budget would help reduce the financial risk. Finally, nabbing a director with a strong vision and knack for working with big ensembles (John Woo, David Ayer, Guy Ritchie, etc), would help steer The Expendables ship in the right direction.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes, The Numbers, AICN, X/Twitter