The Expendables 4 added to the thrilling action franchise after nearly a decade away from the big screen, with newcomers like Megan Fox and Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson joining mainstays Sylvester Stallone and Dolph Lundgren.
This epic cast of characters banded together in The Expendables 4 as the core team looked to prevent a potential nuclear war between Russia and the USA.
Hitting theaters on September 22 and joining films like The Nun 2 and Five Nights at Freddy’s in the late summer/early fall release line-up, Stallone and crew hoped to bring another action thriller into the spotlight.
The Expendables 4 Begins Playing Online Soon
YouTube Movies set an official online release date for The Expendables 4, with the film being set to be available in online markets on Friday, October 13.
With the film initially debuting in theaters on September 22, this will be only a 21-day gap between its big-screen arrival and its imminent online release.
As of Sunday, October 1, The Expendables 4 hadn’t even broken $20 million at the global box office, and it’s now tracking to earn the lowest box office total of any of the four movies overall.
This window lines up with some of the shortest theater-to-streaming windows of 2023, with Jason Statham’s The Meg 2: The Trench actually tying this mark during its own theatrical run.
Looking at other studios, two of Warner Bros.’ big DCU releases, The Flash and Blue Beetle, both hit digital markets after only 32 days in theaters, with both films flopping at the box office.
An exception to this worrying box office trend was Margot Robbie’s Barbie, which became the hit blockbuster of the year with over $1.4 billion in box office earnings.
Will The Expendables Continue After the Fourth Movie?
With The Expendables 4 coming to theaters to such dismal results nearly a decade after its most immediate predecessor, it does beg the question of whether continuing this franchise is a good idea financially.
The star power isn’t necessarily the issue, as actors like Stallone (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3) and Lundgren (Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom) are still viable supporting stars in major movies from recent memory.
Even with the film coming to theaters on a weekend that didn’t have too much competition, it hasn’t been able to separate itself as a box office winner.
Although this sequel still has plenty of time left to make up the deficit in theaters, seeing it become available so early digitally isn’t an excellent sign for its prospects.
And with the rest of the year only bringing bigger competition such as The Marvels and Wish, it’s unlikely that The Expendables 4 will hold a place as one of 2023’s top outings.
The Expendables 4 is still playing in theaters, and it will be available to watch digitally on Friday, October 13.