An Expendables spinoff, starring one of the franchises’ original stars Jason Statham, is reportedly in development. In the summer of 2010, Sylvester Stallone started a brand new action franchise called The Expendables. It was about a group of mercenaries led by Stallone, and it also featured a host of other legendary action stars such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Statham, Jet Li, and Dolph Lundgren. It was an homage to the ‘80s action films that Stallone and many of his co-stars made their name off of, and it proved to be a success, grossing over $274 million worldwide. This led to an even more successful sequel, also featuring Jean Claude Van Damme and Chuck Norris, and then a rather disappointing third installment in 2014.
Since the 2014 installment, which dropped to a gross of $214 million, far below Expendables 2’s $314 million worldwide total, the franchise has had a rough road. The third film received criticism for watering down the content to fit a PG-13 rating, a move Stallone later regretted, and since then, it’s been unclear whether another film would ever materialize. After Stallone stepped away from future Expendables projects in 2017, many stars claimed they would not return without the creator of the franchise. However, Stallone has since changed his tune, and back in July, he announced that he was cooking up an Expendables 4. Now details of that adventure seem to be a lot clearer, and it looks to be very Statham heavy.
Today, The Illuminerdi has reported that the fourth installment of The Expendables will be a spinoff titled The Expendables: A Christmas Story. It has reportedly been in “active development” at Millennium Films/Nu Image for quite some time now, but unlike the previous films, this spinoff will see Stallone move to the side as Statham “will move to centerstage.” It is also reported that not only will Stallone be taking a backseat for his younger co-star, the action star will also have fewer scenes. Although his presence will reportedly be felt “throughout the film,” and his role will be “an emotional one for fans.” They are reportedly looking to shoot in the first half of 2020.
It’s an interesting development in the ongoing narrative of The Expendables’ future, and despite claims and statements from Stallone on social media, this new report has provided the clearest details that a new film is very much in the cards. Along with a title that connects to Statham’s character Lee Christmas, it sounds like they have decided on the future direction of the franchise as well with Statham, who is coming off the success of the Fast and Furious spinoff, Hobbs and Shaw, taking the reins from the Rocky star.
There have been plenty of stops and starts with Expendables projects over the last few years, but if this new installment does indeed come to fruition, it sounds like a promising move for the franchise. Stallone has been winding down a lot of his signature roles as of late with Creed II and the latest Rambo, and it sounds like this will be another end to one of his famous on-screen personas, with the rightful heir to the throne taking over from the Hollywood legend. In Expendables 3 it looked like they were setting up a lot of young, somewhat unknown stars to take over, and that was not received well by fans. Statham is a fan-friendly star, still capable of delivering the goods in action bonanzas like Expendables. So the Hobbs and Shaw star taking over feels right.
