The Expendables 4 Was Always Going To Be Rated R [Exclusive]

It's almost time to see your favorite action stars from across the decades team up to fight the bad guys again in "Expend4bles." The first two films — 2010's "The Expendables" and 2012's "The Expendables 2" — were action packed with some wild violence. Of course, they were rated R for some juicy and intense action scenes. However, the last film, 2014's "The Expendables 3," softened up the whole thing with a PG-13 rating, which left a lot of fans disappointed. The new film will be full R. Violence is back, baby! (The bloodier the better for fictional violence, as far as I'm concerned.) Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren and Randy Couture return to their franchise roles, with Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, Megan Fox, Tony Jaa, and Andy García joining the cast.

/Film's own Jeremy Mathai recently spoke to Scott Waugh who is taking over directing duties for the fourth film. He mentioned some "gnarly kills" in the latest offering and asked if Waugh wanted to "push the envelope" in terms of the violence they could get in there. 

Waugh said that he "100 percent" pushed the envelope: 

My first question was, when they asked me if I wanted to direct it, I said, 'Are we adhering to this PG-13, or can we go back to hard R?' And then, when they said, 'No. 100% R,' I was super excited, because I was like, 'That's what the fans want in this franchise.' So we could design visceral moments that, in your head, you think, Man, are we going too far? And then you're thinking, to myself, I think the audience is going to really love that. Fortunately, the audience response has been kind of classic because [...] in moments that would pretty much gross most people out, there's been applause [laughs]."

Back in 2014, Stallone said a future film would have an R-rating. He mentioned that "The Expendables 3" was "a horrible miscalculation on everyone's part in trying to reach a wider audience, but in doing such, diminish the violence that the audience expects. I'm quite certain it won't happen again." 

He also mentioned considering a time travel element or "an unnatural environment" that might have shaken things up a bit. Perhaps it would have helped that last film, which wasn't exactly an audience favorite. Part of the appeal of these flicks is their humor. The weirdness of all these action stars we recognize on sight from other films gives the whole thing a surreality that is just ... violent fun. Time travel wouldn't have strained belief in something so goofy to begin with. (The same goes for the comic book series "The Expendables Go to Hell," in which they actually do go to hell.) That is not a dig. I like these movies an awful lot!

As far as the studio side of things, Waugh said that they understood the film he was making. He explained: 

"The beauty of this one, Millennium, the owners of the franchise with Lionsgate, they understand the brand, they understand what the audience wants, and they're not afraid to go there, so they never had to say, 'Hey. That's a little too graphic. Can we pull it back?' There was never that discussion, which was liberating as a filmmaker."

I love that there was no pushback on the violence. This is an action film, and action means that people are going to get roughed up and killed. It's what audiences expect, and as one of those audience members, it's what I want to see. The synopsis for "Expend4bles" reads:

Reuniting as the team of elite mercenaries, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, and Sylvester Stallone are joined for the first time by Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, Megan Fox, Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais, Jacob Scipio, Levy Tran, and Andy Garcia. Armed with every weapon they can get their hands on and the skills to use them, 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.

"Expend4bles" hits theaters on September 22, 2023.