The first footage from The Expendables 4 has been revealed at CinemaCon. The Expendables 4 is the continuation of the action franchise created by Sylvester Stallone in 2010 and is the first sequel since The Expendables 3 underperformed at the box office in 2014. The newest movie is directed by Need For Speed's Scott Waugh and brings back key characters like Stallone's Barney Ross and Jason Statham's Lee Christmas, as well as Dolph Lundgren's Gunner Jensen and Randy Couture's Toll Road. Newcomers to the franchise include Megan Fox, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, Tony Jaa, Andy Garcia, and Iko Uwais as the The Expendables 4's main villain.
The Expendables was made to be a throwback to the action films of the '80s and '90s, bringing together the main stars of that era into one film to replicate the movies that made them famous. To date, the series has featured the likes of Jean-Claude Van Damme, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford, Wesley Snipes, Chuck Norris, and Antonio Banderas, amongst others. The Expendables 4 looks to be keeping that trend alive, this time bringing in some Asian action stars to the franchise. The first two films in the series were R-rated spectacles, but The Expendables 3 opted for a younger cast of newcomers and a PG-13 rating, which many viewed as the fatal flaw that sank the box office numbers. Stallone has said that The Expendables 4 will return to its R-rated roots.
Footage from The Expendables 4, officially titled Expend4bles, was shown at Lionsgate's CinemaCon presentation (via THR, Barry Hertz, Flick Direct). It highlights the return to those aforementioned roots, showing the main Expendables stars back in action, as well as the newcomers. The footage in question was fairly minimal, with most of it being from the previous entries in the franchise before teasing some sparse action from the new entry, although without any story or context. It opens with Stallone saying, “This life, it’s not for everyone.” Franchise stats then flash across the screen, noting that more than 500,000 rounds of ammunition have been used and more than 7,000 dead bodies piled up over the past three films. The footage then teases a number of quick cut action sequences. Stallone was billed as "and Sylvester Stallone" in the footage, suggesting that he's taking more of a backseat role in this new entry, as has been rumored.
The rumor also suggests that Stallone will be killed off in The Expendables 4, with Statham's Christmas taking over as the franchise lead. Stallone finished his part of filming back in October 2021, and since that time there have been set pictures and videos that mostly feature Statham, as well as 50 Cent and Uwais, including a knife fight tease between Statham and Uwais. Uwais is the star of The Raid films, which helped launch him to superstardom, with his first venture to Hollywood being in Mark Wahlberg's Mile 22. He has since appeared in movies like Stuber, Triple Threat and Snake-Eyes, but will take the villain spotlight for Expend4bles, allowing him to show off more of his martial arts prowess to U.S. audiences.
It's great to have the Expend4bles crew back in action and while it's not exactly Oscar-caliber material, it's not trying to be. The series has mostly operated under the guise of recreating the glory days of a bygone action era and has been mostly successful (The Expendables 3 being the weakest of the bunch in that department). Whether Stallone continues to appear or the filmmakers continue to rotate actions stars in and out of the franchise, it's a fun place to relive the action movies of old, even if some of the stars are newer to the game. Expend4bles is expected to release sometime in 2022.
Source: THR, Barry Hertz, Flick Direct