Expedn4bles premiered in theaters over the weekend but isn’t garnering the same success as previous entries in the series. The movie is currently the worst-rated film of the franchise, and has had one of the worst opening weekends to match.
Despite the struggles, Expedn4bles director Scott Waugh hopes to come back for a fifth movie. In a recent interview with Comicbook.com, the director shared his thoughts on a sequel and the franchise’s future.
“First of all? Hell yes. I’d come back for a five,” Waugh shared. “I had a blast. I considered it an honor to direct this kind of franchise.” When asked if there are any actors he’d like to see in the franchise in the future, Waugh replied, “I do not have anyone in my mind, I like to service story first, so let’s see what the story is and then we can look at the smorgasbord of cool talent that’s out there and see who else we can have pluck in and put in. I think the tough part of the brand is we’ve kind of ran through the gamut.”
He adds, “Yes, we have ran through the entire gamut of ’80s action stars. So I think that’s where the brand’s trying to elevate now with going to some of the newer stars.”
Expedn4bles had an impressive lineup of stars including Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, and Randy Couture from previous movies. The latest installment adds Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Megan Fox, Tony Jaa, Jacob Scipio, Levy Tran, and Andy García to the ensemble cast. During the interview, Waugh also talked about working with Stallone in the movie.
“Well, if anyone knows Sly, his ability to take the backseat is completely incapable. He is such an incredible storyteller in his own right, and his resume will lean deeply into that,” Waugh explained. “So I think Sly is such a wonderful collaborator and I think Jason [Statham] and myself especially, we always were respectful of him and asked for his opinions. Sly loves to be involved and I love for him to be involved because he has such a wealth of expertise. So, it was super fun working with him.”
Expedn4bles had a poor opening weekend based on the franchise standards with just $19 million worldwide. The film faces an uphill battle as it tries to recoup the estimated $100 million production cost, and is also the lowest-rated film in the series, receiving just 16% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes. The audience score was much better at 69%.
Will we be seeing a fifth movie? Since this strongly depends on the performance of the fourth, the future for the series looks bleak. Hopefully, enough viewers will see the movie in theaters in the coming weeks for it to at least break even.
