Expendables 4 Nets $750K in Thursday Previews – Thursday evening saw the highly anticipated arrival of ‘Expendables 4,’ the latest addition to the thrilling action series brought to you by Millennium Media and Lionsgate. At 6 p.m., the movie’s previews began, and within no time, it raked in a substantial $750,000 in ticket sales.
This fourth installment, featuring the dynamic Sylvester Stallone and Jason Statham, is expected to generate between $15 million and $17 million during its opening weekend. If it surpasses the opening weekend earnings of 2014’s ‘The Expendables 3‘ at $15.8 million, Lionsgate will undoubtedly be pleased. ‘Expendables 4’ is currently screening at 3,518 locations, including 900 premium large format (PLF) screens such as XD, RPX, Dolby, 4DX, and D-box. Lionsgate is distributing the film not only in the United States but also in the United Kingdom, under the direction of Scott Waugh.
However, it’s worth noting that ‘Expendables 4’ fell short of the preview earnings of ‘Expendables 3,’ which garnered $875,000 from showings that began at 8 p.m. This was somewhat disappointing. To provide some context, ‘Expendables 4’ outperformed Gerard Butler’s ‘Plane,’ another Lionsgate release, which earned $625,000 in previews and opened with $10.2 million back in January. Nevertheless, ‘Expendables 4’ couldn’t match Stallone’s pre-pandemic success with ‘Rambo: Last Blood,‘ also known as ‘Rambo 5,’ which earned $1.3 million from 7 p.m. showtimes, resulting in an $18.8 million opening.
Critically, ‘Expendables 4’ received the lowest Rotten Tomatoes rating in the franchise’s history, with only 14% positive reviews. However, this franchise has never been a favorite among critics. On the bright side, it has consistently appealed to audiences, with the first film earning a B+ Cinemascore, and the second and third entries both earning an A-. Interestingly, the second film in 2012 received the highest critical praise on Rotten Tomatoes, at 67%, while the original in 2010 was rated at 41% “rotten,” and the third installment was at 31% “rotten.”
Looking ahead, the overall domestic box office has been struggling, with last weekend being the second-lowest grossing weekend of 2023, totaling just $62.8 million. Unfortunately, this weekend isn’t expected to fare much better and might even perform worse. To inject some energy into the market, A24 is re-releasing the Talking Heads concert film ‘Stop Making Sense’ in 300 IMAX locations, and Barbie is making her debut in IMAX auditoriums.
Here’s a roundup of Thursday’s box office performance and the week’s totals for other films:
- ‘The Nun II’ from New Line completed its second week with $19 million at 3,743 theaters, bringing its running total to $60 million after a $925,000 Thursday, which was an 8% drop from Wednesday.
- 20th Century Studios/Disney’s ‘A Haunting in Venice’ took second place on Thursday, earning an estimated $804,000, which was a 22% decrease, with a total of $19 million for its first week at 3,305 theaters.
- Sony’s ‘Equalizer 3‘ saw its third week earning $10 million at 3,528 theaters, with a $584,000 Thursday, a 10% decline, and a cumulative total of $76.5 million. It is currently trailing 9% behind ‘Equalizer 2’ at the same point in its run, which reached $102 million, and it’s also 9% behind the first film, which concluded with $101.5 million domestically.
- Focus Features’ ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3‘ in its second week earned $6.9 million, bringing its running total to $20.8 million. Thursday brought in $419,000, an 11% decrease from Wednesday, across 3,678 theaters.
- Warner Bros.’ ‘Barbie,’ just before its IMAX-heavy tenth weekend, earned $5.1 million in its ninth week at 3,012 theaters. Thursday’s earnings were $315,000, a 10% increase from Wednesday, bringing its cumulative total to $627.2 million. It is likely to remain the 11th highest-grossing movie at the domestic box office, with Universal’s ‘Jurassic World’ holding the 10th spot at $653.4 million. This week’s IMAX release includes a fresh post-end credits sequence.