The Expendables 04 (2023)

Introduction

Expend4bles (also known as The Expendables 04) is a 2023 American action film that is the fourth instalment in The Expendables film series, following The Expendables 3 (2014). The film stars an ensemble cast including Jason Statham, Sylvester Stallone, Dolph Lundgren, and Randy Couture reprising their roles from previous films, with Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Megan Fox, Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais, Jacob Scipio, Levy Tran, and Andy García joining the cast. It is directed by Scott Waugh from a screenplay by Kurt Wimmer, Tad Daggerhart, and Max Adams, based on a story by Spenser Cohen, Wimmer, and Daggerhart.

The Expendables 4 was released in China on 15 September 2023, and in the United States a week later, by Lionsgate. The film received largely negative reviews from critics, with much of the criticism focusing on the lacklustre cast, plot, violence and the poor CGI effects.

Outline

The Expendables are sent to Libya to keep mercenary Rahmat from stealing nuclear warheads for the mysterious Ocelot, whom Barney Ross failed to apprehend 25 years prior. However, the team is incapacitated when all of their vehicles are destroyed in the ensuing fight. Barney, who had stayed behind on the plane, is killed when it is shot down.

At his memorial service, CIA operative Marsh reveals that the team will go after Ocelot and Rahmat, but without Lee Christmas, who jeopardized the mission trying to save Barney. He is replaced by Gina, his former lover, who also brings female operative Lash into the team. The team travels to Asia, but is secretly trailed by Christmas, who had slipped Gina a tracking device earlier. Barney’s death opened a sealed file which states that there is an eyewitness that could identify Ocelot.

It is revealed that Ocelot plans to ignite World War III by letting the nuclear warheads explode in the Russian Far East, transporting them on a ship disguised as an American aircraft carrier. As the Expendables and Marsh board the ship, they are ambushed and taken hostage. Marsh is taken away to negotiate a prisoner exchange for the eyewitness.

Meanwhile, Christmas travels to Thailand to recruit former Expendable Decha, who has turned towards pacifism but agrees to bring him to the ship to avenge Barney. As Christmas fights his way through the ship, Decha has a change of heart and helps him rescue the rest of the team. They launch an attack on Rahmat‘s forces, during which Christmas kills him. However, Toll Road has been heavily wounded and needs immediate medical care.

During the prisoner exchange, Marsh is revealed to be Ocelot, hoping to financially profit from igniting World War III. While the team leaves on Decha’s boat to save Toll Road, Christmas stays behind to turn the ship around to avoid a global conflict. He confronts Marsh, who is surprisingly killed by Barney, who reveals that he faked his own death to lure Ocelot out of hiding. They escape the nuclear explosion and celebrate with the team.

Cast

Jason Statham as Lee Christmas: The team’s knife expert and second in command. As Stallone was looking to pass the franchise’s lead on to Statham, he did about 80% of all filming and oversaw post-production, also serving as a producer.
Sylvester Stallone as Barney Ross: The leader of the Expendables. Stallone confirmed that the film would be his final appearance as Barney Ross, with Statham expecting to take over the series after his departure. Due to this, his role in the film was limited.
Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson as Easy Day, a new member of the Expendables.
Megan Fox as Gina, a CIA operator and member of the Expendables as well as Christmas’s former girlfriend.
Dolph Lundgren as Gunner Jensen: A volatile member of the team, undone by years of combat stress. Lundgren stated that his character has been sober for several years now and is on a philosophical soul search.
Tony Jaa as Decha, a former member of the Expendables.
Iko Uwais as Rahmat, a mercenary and the main antagonist.
Randy Couture as Toll Road: The team’s demolitions expert.
Jacob Scipio as Galan, a new member of the Expendables and son of former member Galgo.
Levy Tran as Lash, a CIA operator and a new member of the Expendables.
Andy García as Marsh / Ocelot, a CIA agent.

Additionally, Sheila Shah has been cast as Mandy, alongside Eddie Hall as a bouncer.

Production

Development

After The Expendables 3 (2014) underperformed at the box office, the future of the series was left in doubt and production stalled over several years. By November 2014, it was announced that the project is being developed with intent to retain its R-rating like the first two films. In December 2016, Sylvester Stallone announced that the fourth instalment will be the final film in the series, while a scheduled tentative release date was set for 2018. By March 2017, Stallone had left the project and the franchise, due to creative differences over the script and direction for continuing the franchise. In January 2018, after vocal support from other cast members (including Arnold Schwarzenegger), Stallone announced his return to the series with a post to his social media platforms; confirming new developments on the fourth movie.

By August 2020, Vértice Cine announced their involvement as a production studio on the movie, alongside Lionsgate and Millennium Films. They also revealed that Patrick Hughes will return to the series as director. In November 2020, the president of Millennium Media, Jeffrey Greenstein, stated that the studio is continuing to work on The Expendables 4 after various delays within the industry worldwide due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In August 2021, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Scott Waugh would be directing the film, replacing Hughes, as well as Statham serving as a producer of the film, while Stallone confirmed his involvement with the project, and that The Expendables 4 was the same project as The Expendables: A Christmas Story, previously reported as a spin-off but in fact the film’s working-title during development. Stallone further stated that production was set to commence in October of that year. According to Dolph Lundgren, the film had a budget of $100 million.

Writing

In July 2018, Gregory Poirier announced his role as screenwriter. Production was tentatively scheduled to begin by April 2019, though it was not until July of that year that Stallone announced that he was continuing to work on the script for the project. The script was completed later that year, though negotiations with producers were ongoing. In August 2021, it was announced that Spenser Cohen wrote the most recent draft of the script with Max Adams, from a story by Cohen.

Casting

Over the years, multiple actors reported interest or claimed they were approached to star in a fourth instalment. In March 2014, Pierce Brosnan stated that he had agreed with producer Avi Lerner to star in a fourth instalment. By April of the same year, Sylvester Stallone revealed his first choice for the villain was Jack Nicholson, while mentioning his interest in convincing Clint Eastwood to join the production. According to Jackie Chan, he was approached to star in the film by Stallone but was unsure about having limited screen time in an ensemble film, which is why he had turned down roles in the previous two entries. Dwayne Johnson publicly expressed interest to play a villainous character in a new instalment during a 2014 Q&A and reiterated his interest to join the series in 2022. In May 2015, Hulk Hogan claimed that he was in talks with Stallone to play the film’s main villain.

In June 2020, Jean-Claude Van Damme expressed interest in returning to the franchise, publicly pitching his idea of playing Claude Vilain, the brother to his villain character, Jean Vilain, from The Expendables 2. Despite discontent with how his character was handled in The Expendables 3, Arnold Schwarzenegger proclaimed he was interested in returning to the series if he liked the script. However; on 29 May 2023, Schwarzenegger confirmed that he would not be returning to the franchise, citing a general disinterest. While he was not included in the fourth movie, Kellan Lutz proclaimed interest to return in a fifth instalment in an Instagram post. On the other hand, Terry Crews, who had starred in all previous films, refused to appear in any new entries after claiming he was sexually assaulted by Stallone’s agent, Adam Venit, alleging he was pressured by producer Avi Lerner to drop the case if he wanted to stay in the series.

However, none of the actors mentioned above were subsequently cast, and the cast was announced to include returning stars Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Randy Couture, and Dolph Lundgren, while new cast members were revealed to be Eddie Hall, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Megan Fox, Tony Jaa, Andy García, Sheila Shah, Jacob Scipio and Levy Tran, with Iko Uwais playing the villain.

Filming

In August 2021, it was stated that principal photography would begin in October. Filming officially commenced on 29 September 2021. In October 2021, Stallone announced on social media that he had finished filming his scenes for the movie. The film was shot in London and Bulgaria and the Jackie Chan Stunt Team handled stunt choreography. In November 2021, production was shot in Greece, including the city of Thessaloniki. Members of the Greek Armed Forces were used as extras and alleged they were not compensated for their month-long official deployment, despite working overtime. On 03 December 2021, Tony Jaa confirmed filming had wrapped.

Post-Production

The film had been retitled Expend4bles by June 2023.

Music

On 26 April 2023, Guillaume Roussel announced that he would be composing the film’s score, replacing Brian Tyler from the previous three instalments.

Release

Theatrical

The Expendables 4 was released in China on 15 September 2023, and was theatrically released by Lionsgate on 22 September 2023. The film was originally scheduled to be released in 2022.

Marketing

In April 2022, the first standee posters for the film were unveiled at CinemaCon. The first teaser trailer footage was released exclusively to the attendees at Lionsgate’s presentation at the convention. On 06 June 2023, the first poster for the film was released, with the first trailer releasing a day later. A second trailer advertising the film’s R rating was released 23 August 2023.

Box Office

As of 24 September 2023, The Expendables 4 has grossed $8.3 million in the United States and Canada, and $10.7 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $19 million.

In the United States and Canada, The Expendables 4 was initially projected to gross $15-17 million from 3,518 theatres in its opening weekend. After making $4.3 million on its first day (including $750,000 from Thursday night previews), estimates were lowered to $8 million. It went on debut to $8.4 million, finishing second behind holdover The Nun II.

In China, the film opened to $10.9 million, narrowly finishing first before a Chinese film.

Trivia

Sylvester Stallone confirmed this is the first of a new trilogy.
Sylvester Stallone’s first choice for the villain was Jack Nicholson.
Filming for this movie wrapped on 15 October 2021, this will be the first Expendables film to have any scenes shot in the United Kingdom.
- Sylvester Stallone has said that he’s “taking a backseat” for this movie as Jason Statham’s character Lee Christmas will be the central character in this movie.
There were rumors that Bruce Willis might return as Church, but this time as a villain.
- However, this was not the case as Iko Uwais was cast as the lead villain, and Bruce Willis retired from acting in 2022 as a result of his aphasia, which was sadly diagnosed as a symptom of frontotemporal dementia in 2023.

Production & Filming Details

Director(s):
- Scott Waugh
Producer(s):
- Vessela Banzourkova … line producer
- Christa Campbell … executive producer
- Guymon Casady … executive producer
- Spenser Cohen … executive producer
- Michael S. Constable … executive producer
- Jason Constantine … executive producer
- Allen Dam … executive producer
- Boaz Davidson … executive producer
- Jon Feltheimer … executive producer
- Claiton Fernandes … co-executive producer
- Vladimir Fernandes … co-executive producer
- Jeffrey Greenstein … executive producer
- Lati Grobman … executive producer
- Victor Hadida … co-executive producer
- Anna Halberg … executive producer
- Basil Iwanyk … executive producer
- K. Blaine Johnston … executive producer
- Eda Kowan … executive producer
- Avi Lerner … executive producer
- Yariv Lerner … producer
- Gisella Marengo … co-producer
- Balan Melarkode … co-executive producer
- Abby Mills … co-producer
- Euzebio Munhoz Jr. … co-executive producer
- Matthew O’Toole … co-producer
- Stephen Paul … executive producer
- Lonnie Ramati … co-executive producer
- Trevor Short … executive producer
- Jason Statham … producer
- Kevin King Templeton … producer
- Robert Van Norden … executive producer
- Les Weldon … producer
- Gareth West … executive producer
- Christopher Woodrow … executive producer
- Jonathan Yunger … executive producer
Writer(s):
- Kurt Wimmer … (screenplay by)
- Tad Daggerhart … (screenplay by)
- Max Adams … (screenplay by)
- Spenser Cohen … (story by)
- Kurt Wimmer … (story by)
- Tad Daggerhart … (story by)
- Dave Callaham … (characters)
Music:
- Guillaume Roussel
Cinematography:
- Tim Maurice-Jones
Editor(s):
- Michael J. Duthie
Production:
- Campbell Grobman Films
- Media Capital Technologies (in association with)
- Millennium Films
- Nu Boyana Film Studios (production facilities)
Distributor(s):
- Lionsgate
Release Date: 15 September 2023 (China).
Running time: 104 minutes.
Rating: 15.
Country: US.
Language: English.