The Expendables (film series)

The Expendables (2010)

The Expendables, a group of elite mercenaries who carry out all sorts of missions, ranging from assassination to rescue, are deployed to a South American island, Vilena, to overthrow a Latin American dictator, General Garza, who is interfering with the plans of a group of "people" led by a man known only as Mr. Church. However, the team leader, Barney Ross, soon realises that Garza is merely a puppet being controlled by a ruthless rogue CIA officer, James Monroe, who is Mr. Church's real target.

The Expendables 2 (2012)

A while after the first film, the Expendables accept another mission from Mr. Church to make up for losses caused by the mission in Vilena, but they end up in a conflict with a rival mercenary group, the Sangs, and their newest and youngest member is murdered by their leader, Jean Vilain. Ross swears vengeance on Vilain for his protegé's death and starts to track him down, in the process learning that Villain threatens the world with five tons of weapons grade plutonium he intends to excavate from an abandoned Soviet mine and sell to the highest bidder.

The Expendables 3 (2014)

The Expendables come face to face with the team's co-founder Conrad Stonebanks. Ross was forced to kill Stonebanks after he became a ruthless arms trader, but Stonebanks survived and has now made it his mission to destroy The Expendables. Ross resorts to recruiting a new and younger generation of Expendables to help the team overcome his old adversary.

The Expendables 4 (2018)

In March 2014, Pierce Brosnan stated that he had agreed with Avi Lerner to star in an Expendables film, but added that he was not sure which one he would appear in, saying "I have no idea which one it would be, I just said yes. It could be [Expendables 7]". Stallone revealed his first choice for the villain was Jack Nicholson. The Expendables 4 might receive an R rating. In December 2016, Stallone announced in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that the fourth film will be the last film in the series and is set for a 2018 release date. In March 2017, it was announced Stallone would be leaving the franchise due to disagreements over the script and direction of the franchise.

In April 2017, supporting star Arnold Schwarzenegger said he will not be returning for the fourth film without Stallone, and for the fact his character Trench had a small role in the third film.

The ExpendaBelles

In October 2012, Millennium Films, the studio behind The Expendables, announced plans for an all-female version of the film titled The ExpendaBelles.

On October 28, 2013, Lerner was negotiating with actresses Meryl Streep, Cameron Diaz and Milla Jovovich to appear in the film and was looking for a female director to direct it.

On February 6, 2014, Deadline reported that Robert Luketic was set to direct. The logline was also revealed:

When America’s Navy SEALs are wiped out trying to penetrate the island lair of a deadly despot who has captured one of the world’s top nuclear scientists, it becomes clear that there is no such thing as the right man for the job and that this is a mission so impossible that only women can handle it. The only way in: some of the world’s deadliest female operatives must pose as high-class call-girls shipped in by private plane to satisfy a dictator–and instead save the scientist and the day.

In July 2016, Stallone made it clear that he is not involved with the female-centered spin-off.

Television series

The Expendables is planned to be making the transition to the small screen for an event series in development, set to air on Fox network. Stallone is executive producing alongside the films’ producer Avi Lerner and Shane Brennan.

Bollywood remake

In May 2013, Original Entertainment confirmed to have sealed a five-picture deal with Millennium Films to produce Bollywood remakes of Rambo, The Expendables, 16 Blocks, 88 Minutes, and Brooklyn's Finest, with the productions for Rambo and The Expendables expected to start at the end of that year.

Video games

The Expendables 2 Videogame is a downloadable four-player cooperative shoot 'em up video game. It was published by Ubisoft for PC, PlayStation Network (PSN) and Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) and released on July 31, 2012 for PSN and August 20 for PC (via Steam) and XBLA. The game's plot is a prequel to The Expendables 2, with Barney Ross, Gunner Jensen, Yin Yang and Hale Caesar appearing as playable characters. Lundgren and Crews voiced their respective characters. According to review aggregators Metacritic and GameRankings, the game received generally negative reviews.

The Expendables 2: Deploy & Destroy is a single-player tower defense, real-time strategy online game. Published by Roadshow Films and Soap Creative, the game was released on July 13, 2012. Its plot was derived from village scenes in the film, where players can choose their squad from the cast, set up defenses and battle the enemy.

A standalone expansion of the game Broforce was based on The Expendables 3. Entitled The Expendabros, it was released in August 2014. Later, The Expendabros expansion became free to play in order to promote The Expendables 3 and remained so until December 31.

Reception

The Expendables received mixed reviews from critics. The film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes shows that 41% of critics gave the film a positive review based upon reviews by 192 critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the film has received a mean score of 45, based on 35 reviews. CinemaScore polls, however, reflect solid audience approval with a B+ average grade.

The Expendables 2 received mixed to positive reviews from critics. The film garnered a 65% approval rating from 124 critics – an average rating of 5.8 out of 10 – on the review-aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, which gave the following consensus: "Taut, violent, and suitably self-deprecating, The Expendables 2 gives classic action fans everything they can reasonably expect from a star-studded shoot-'em-up — for better and for worse." Metacritic gave it a score of 51 (out of 100) from 28 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. CinemaScore polls reported that moviegoers gave the film an average grade of A– on an A+-to-F scale, compared to The Expendables' B+.

The Expendables 3 received mixed to negative reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 33% rating, based on 152 reviews, with an average rating of 4.9/10. The site's consensus reads: "Like its predecessors, Expendables 3 offers a modicum of all-star thrills for old-school action thriller aficionados — but given all the talent assembled, it should have been a lot more fun." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 35 out of 100, from 35 critics.