Despite having arguably the best ensemble cast to date, The Expendables 3 woefully under-performed this weekend, as it made its Box Office debut, grossing only $16.2 million in the United States.
While $16.2 million may sound like a lot of money (it still is, and is too much to call the film a flop just yet), it’s still $10 million less than predicted, and looks even worse when you consider the first Expendables opened with a [then] surprising $34.8 million, and The Expendables 2 even debuted with an impressive $28.6 million.
What’s worse still is not that fact it only came in fourth at the US Box Office and saw Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles hold on to the number one spot (Turtles was always designed to be a summer blockbuster, and predicted to perform higher than Expendables 3), and Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy retain its number two placing, but that nothing-comedy Lets Be Cops took third with a US domestic haul of nearly $18 million (just at the weekend, making a total of $26.1 million for its full five day debut).
But what’s being blamed for the failure? In a word, piracy; a few weeks prior to release a DVD quality copy of The Expendables 3 was leaked online, and many analysts claim the widespread availability of the film online has damaged the Box Office results, much like they claim happened with X-Men Origins: Wolverine back in 2009.
Though we can’t believe it’s piracy alone which has damaged the rankings, because despite the huge action set pieces and fantastic cast, The Expendables 3 has been receiving negative reviews across the board (while we admit it had it’s positives, our review explains it should’ve been a lot more fun than it was), and unlike The Expendables, and The Expendables 2, has ditched the hard R-rating and plumped for a more family friendly PG-13 rating (hoping to score an extra generation of cinema-going fans, but likely alienating older series’ fans in the process, and failing to interest the younger market), which, on top of potential series fatigue, has led to a clear drop in profits this time out.
Still it’s not all bad news, as figures from other markets haven’t become fully available as yet and action movies such as The Expendables’ tend to perform far better internationally anyway; Expendables 2 made $85 million in North America, but grossed a whopping $220.4 million on the international circuit; meaning there could still be life in the old dog yet, particularly as Lionsgate distribution chief Richie Fay insists its getting an “A-CinemaScore… the folks that are getting to see it are really enjoying it, and we’re in a good place as far as the older audience coming out over a period of time.
You can read our full Expendables 3 review here.
You can also find our Guardians of the Galaxy review here.
Matt Wheeldon – @TheMattWheeldon.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter.
