The Expendables movie franchise is set to continue to achieve commercial success, despite the news that Sylvester Stallone is bowing out after the release of The Expendables 4” The franchise, which continues to counter mixed reviews with box office success, will appear following an 8-year absence as The Expendables 4 with a cast including 50 Cent, Megan Fox, Tony Jaa, and Iko Uwais. The film will be released in 2022 amid the shock announcement that Stallone is quitting the franchise and will pass on the baton to co-star Jason Statham. Clearly, the franchise feels the star-studded casts will keep moviegoers coming back for more.
The Expendables franchise has been able to take full advantage of the popularity of action films. The box office success of the franchise demonstrates the longevity of this genre. Alongside the usual cash-ins such as original motion picture soundtracks, the franchise has developed comic books and video games. There has even been a Bollywood remake. The popularity of the action-adventure genre has also led to a boom in officially franchised slot and casino games. Fans of the franchise can be found using their no deposit bonus uk deal at the likes of Pokerstars and their ”The Expendables Megaways” slot. Featuring characters from the film franchise in order to attract fans and appeal to new players, the availability of the title really demonstrates the popularity of the movies.
In other words, the attraction of this type of action film franchise is that there is a stream of new movies and innovations to keep fans coming back for more. A secret of the success of the movie franchise, which features a group of elite mercenaries, is the star-studded cast Stallone has been able to put together. In fact, the cast seems to become more impressive with each film. Stallone and Jason Statham have featured in all of the films of the Expendables franchise, playing the characters Barney Ross and Lee Christmas. The original Expendables film, written and directed by Sylvester Stallone and released in 2010, featured a co-star ensemble including Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Terry Crews, Steve Austin and Mickey Rourke.
This was followed by The Expendables 2 in 2012 which saw older action movie heroes such as Chuck Norris, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger added to the cast. “The Expendables 3” continued the tradition in 2014 with a who’s who of Hollywood stars including Antonio Banderas, Wesley Snipes, Mel Gibson and Harrison Ford joining Stallone and Statham.
“The Expendables” franchise has had mixed reviews with criticism of the flimsy plots, but the movies have been box office successes. The three movies have had a combined budget of $280 million and have grossed $804,103,926 worldwide. Stallone has countered criticism of the plots and explained the success of the franchise: “Not so much the action; the action is self-evident. But it’s just relating to the audience in a way that they can identify with whatever the mission is, with the characters at hand.”
With Expendables 4 set to be released late 2022 and reports of an as-yet-untitled spin-off film, there is every sign that the Expendables franchise will continue to be popular amongst fans worldwide even without Stallone at the helm.
