“The Expendables” was a bit of a curiosity when it originally hit theaters in 2010 as the Sly Stallone-directed action film looked to not only resurrect the careers of various action stars but also tried to bring back a certain type of R-rated action film that got popularized in the 1980-1990s. Echoing the ultra-violence that Stallone had previously brought with his film “John Rambo.” In the wake of the superhero genre, it was a nice bit of counterprogramming to see Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, and others assembling including cameos from Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger. This would continue with the second installment seeing Jean Claude Van Damme and Scott Adkins playing villains with Willis and Schwarzenegger getting boosted action-focused scenes also with a cameo of sorts from former martial artist Chuck Norris leaning into his legendary badass status.

However, when it came to “The Expendables 3” the studio decided to court a younger audience by throwing off the mature rating for a more box office friendly PG-13. That didn’t seem to work out for the sequel as it ended up only earning $214.6 million at the global box office, a near hundred million dip from what “The Expendables 2” had made in 2012 and seemed to be a cautionary tale about switching ratings during a successful run in the quest for more box office dollars.

Nearly a decade later Lionsgate/Millineum Media is finally back with “The Expendables 4” as they hoped to coax back that mature audience. An audience that has since been entertained by four “John Wick” installments (“John Wick 4” earning Lionsgate $426.5 million earlier in the year) and expecting a lot more from action leads delivering actual fights alongside inventive sequences, an increasing issue with Stallone pushing 80 and other co-stars not getting any younger. The studio being aware of this seemingly pivoted to Jason Statham’s Lee Christmas stepping up as the franchise lead with new additions like Megan Fox and Curtis Jackson (50 Cent), who aren’t exactly action-genre royalty like Statham has become.

Well, it looks like the opening domestic numbers are in and they’re already drastically behind “The Expendables 3” ($15.8 million) with an estimated $8.3 million and nabbing the #2 spot behind “The Nun II,” which is much lower than the projected $15 million and is now a franchise low for the studio. For some perspective, the original film from 2010 opened to an impressive $34.8 million and given an assumed $90-100 million production budget this isn’t exactly good news for Lionsgate.

This doesn’t bode well for future installments and it’s unclear if the overseas markets can make up these hiccups. Statham isn’t always seen as a box office champ, but earlier this year his blockbuster shark pic “Meg 2: The Trench” at Warner Bros. was able to rake in $390.7 million.

SOURCE: BOX OFFICE MOJO