“Expend4bles” got off to a soft start on Thursday, earning $750,000 in preview showings. That compares to the $875,000 earned by “Expendables 3” in August of 2014, which led to a $16 million Fri-Sun debut. Nine years later, with poor reviews (14% on Rotten Tomatoes compared to the series high of 67% for “Expendables 2” in 2012) and little in the way of buzz or excitement, the latest Sylvester Stallone/Jason Statham actioner looks like — at least in America — another example of a franchise continuation that nobody asked for.
The new film again stars Stallone and Statham while also bringing Megan Fox, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Tony Jaa and Iko Uwais onboard.