During what is expected to be the worst weekend for theatrical ticket sales so far this year, Expendables 4 landed $8.3 million in its opening weekend, representing the worst opening for a film in the Jason Statham-fronted franchise. It was narrowly bested by The Nun II, which continues its reign at the September box office.
The Lionsgate and Millennium’s Expendables 4, which was financed by Millennium, played at 3,400 theaters and was estimated to earn in the $15 million range heading into the weekend before dropping off.
It’s the first entry in the franchise in nearly a decade, after 2014’s The Expendables 3. That film grossed $15.8 million in its opening weekend and went on to earn a total of $214 million at the global box office. The 2010 franchise starter opened with $35 million and 2014 opened with $28 million. The first three Expendables outings have collectively grossed an impressive $800 million at the global box office.
Sylvester Stallone and Statham return to the blow-em-up franchise, along with alumni Dolph Lundgren and Randy Couture. The official synopsis for the film reads: “The Expendables are the world’s last line of defense and the team that gets called when all other options are off the table. But new team members with new styles and tactics are going to give ‘new blood’ a whole new meaning.” Megan Fox, 50 Cent, Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais, Jacob Scipio, and Levy Tran are among the newcomers to the series, along with Andy Garacia.
Topping Expendables 4 is box office holdover New Line/Warner’s The Nun II, which in its third weekend added a projected $8.4 million for a domestic haul to date of nearly $70 million. Globally, the film will cross $200 million, with an international gross of $20.8 million.
Other holdovers include Disney’s A Haunting in Venice. The latest installment in Kenneth Branagh’s Agatha Christie-inspired movie series has a cume of $25 million after its second weekend in theaters, where it netted $6.3 million. Globally, the film sits at $71 million.
In fourth position is Denzel Washington’s Equalizer 3, which earned $4.7 million, breaking $80 million at the domestic box office. Barbie rounded out the top five, adding $3.2 million over its tenth week of release. The Greta Gerwig-directed feature now has a global gross of $1.41 billion, with $630 million coming from the domestic box office.
Elsewhere, Sony continued to roll out Dumb Money in a limited release, expanding from eight theaters to 616 locations for a projected two-weekend cume of $2.8 million.
I, Tonya filmmaker Craig Gillespie directed the R-rated comedy-drama about the GameStop stock market story that took news cycles by storm during the COVID-19 pandemic (and inspired several Hollywood projects in the process). Paul Dano, Seth Rogen, Shailene Woodley, and Pete Davidson are among the stars in the ensemble cast.
The domestic box office is weathering weeks of poor performance, with fall’s buzzy awards films and the much-anticipated Taylor Swift Eras concert film still on the horizon. Of course, Hollywood’s biggest focus this weekend is likely not what is happening at the multiplex. Instead, all eyes are on the AMPTP and WGA as they continue their negotiations to end a historic strike that has lasted some 145 days, with studio sources telling THR that the AMPTP has presented their “best and final” offer.
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