Expend4bles Second Weekend Box Office Spells Absolute Doom For The Franchise

Not that there was much hope after the movie's very disappointing opening weekend, but it's now a certainty: "Expend4bles" has killed the franchise. Period. Barring an absolutely stellar performance on VOD, Sylvester Stallone and his band of aging action heroes will need to be put out to pasture for good. Lionsgate's fourth installment in the "Avengers but for action movies" series dropped off a cliff in its second weekend, leaving no hope at all for a reversal of fortune. Not to put too fine a point on it, but this may now go down as one of the most high-profile bombs of the year.

"The Expendables 4" fell all the way to ninth place on the charts in its second weekend, taking in a mere $2.49 million, per The Numbers. The $100 million budgeted blockbuster already suffered a franchise-worst debut, taking in just $8 million the prior weekend. And let's be clear, that's by far the worst for the series, as the next-closest was 2014's "The Expendables 3" at $15.8 million. Things went from bad to catastrophically bad in a calendar week. To make matters worse (as if they weren't bad enough already), overseas audiences are not going to come to the rescue this time around.

Currently, director Scott Waugh's fourth installment in the series sits at $13.2 million domestically and, more concerning, just $23.1 million internationally for a running total of $36.4 million. "Expendables 3" was not a winner as it topped out at $209.4 million globally with just $39.3 million of that coming from domestic ticket sales. The saving grace was overseas markets, particularly China, where the film took in $72.8 million. As of this writing, the latest sequel has earned just $19.3 million in China. It's not looking good, to put it lightly.

Mainstream cinema has become so dominated by franchises, sequels, and reboots that it's easy to see why Lionsgate would give this a go, even after what happened with "Expendables 3." That movie was PG-13, so why not try going R-rated again and double down with potential appeal by adding newer, relatively younger cast members such as Megan Fox and 50 Cent? It would have seemed like a reasonable enough gamble were it not for that $100 million budget. With that level of investment, this is on course for financial catastrophe.

At this rate, "Expend4bles" would be exceedingly lucky to see a $100 million global finish. It still has a few markets to open in but, quite frankly, the way it's going, I see it making a lot less than that. Granted, these movies have global appeal and between international sales rights, VOD, cable, Blu-ray, and other revenue streams, the long-term fate of this film has yet to be determined. That said, that $100 million figure does not account for marketing. It is beyond difficult to imagine a world in which this movie ever sees a dime of profit, even after other revenue streams are accounted for. More likely, someone is going to be left holding the bag and will be out millions. This was a grave miscalculation by Lionsgate.

We are far removed from the high this series experienced with 2012's "Expendables 2," which earned $312 million worldwide against a $100 million budget. Those returns justify a sequel seven days a week in Hollywood. But after the third entry stalled, it probably would have been best to just let this series die, or make one on the cheap with smaller stars as more of a direct-to-video play. Now though, with this movie's disastrous performance, it feels safe to say the franchise is good and truly dead. So don't hold your breath waiting for that "Expendables" TV show.

"Expend4bles" is in theaters now.