Jason Statham’s New Movie Is Box Office Disaster
As the box office numbers for The Expendables 4‘s opening weekend roll in, it appears that Jason Statham can’t win them all, according to USA Today. As of this writing, the fourth installment of the Expendables franchise has only pulled in $8.3 million against its reported production budget of $100 million, marking the franchise’s worst opening weekend.
Meanwhile, the Jason Statham starring Meg 2: The Trench is pulling incredible numbers, and is sitting on top of a pile of money that’s quickly approaching the $400 million mark since its August 4 premiere.
The Expendables 4 – in spite of an ensemble cast including Jason Statham and Sylvester Stallone – has earned the lowest opening weekend box office of any film in the series.
Internationally speaking, The Expendables 4 earned $10.4 million, bumping the total worldwide box office numbers for the Jason Statham starring movie to $19 million. Meanwhile, The Nun II from the Conjuring universe has grossed $69.2 million stateside, as well as $135 million internationally for a total of $204.2 million in total earnings.
Looking at the box office numbers for the entire year, Barbie remains the champion with $630.5 million stateside, along with $791.8 million in other territories, getting very close to $1.5 billion territory when you add it all up.
On the critical front, The Expendables 4 isn’t doing too hot either. For context, the first three Jason Statham starring films scored anywhere from 31 to 67 percent on the critical front, with the latest installment hitting an all time low critical rating at 15 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
It has been reported that Jason Statham’s Lee Christmas will take over as the lead character for future movies in Stallone’s absence, but if the future of the franchise is hinging on the financial success of the current installment, things aren’t looking good at this point in time.
But it’s worth noting that when you consider the audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, the film currently has a 71 percent, which marks the highest audience score for the franchise. Normally a disproportionately high audience score means that a movie will perform well commercially, but in this case, the box office numbers are more in line with the critical response.
The Expendables 4 marks Sylvester Stallone‘s final contribution to the franchise, and it seems like he called it quits at just the right time. It has been reported that Jason Statham’s Lee Christmas will take over as the lead character for future movies in Stallone’s absence, but if the future of the franchise is hinging on the financial success of the current installment, things aren’t looking good at this point in time.
To date, the entire Expendables franchise has earned over $800 million, so there may be hope for a continuation of the series when you consider the overall financial success of past installments.
The Future Of The Expendables
Sources suggest that there is a possibility of an Expendables 5. Producers have stated in the past that as long as there’s an appetite for the soon-to-be Jason Statham led franchise, they’ll ultimately continue making these movies for the fans. But with the current numbers for The Expendables 4, it remains to be seen if it will pull the box office numbers for a fifth installment to get the green light.
The Expendables 4 is falling short in many ways compared to its predecessors, and the film has been criticized for its poor CGI effects, over-the-top violence, and its lackluster plot. But we’re also witnessing a transitional phase for the franchise in which Sylvester Stallone is passing the torch over to Jason Statham, and one poor performance at the box office doesn’t necessarily mean the end is fast approaching.
When you consider how much star power Jason Statham has, and how he’s curently cleaning up with Meg 2: The Trench, it’s clear that if the right script is produced for yet another sequel, then there’s still money to be made on the Expendables front.
