Even though Jason Statham just took over from Sylvester Stallone as the lead of The Expendables series, he’s already got a better action movie franchise replacement in the pipeline. The Expendables 4, marketed under the gimmicky title Expend4bles, was supposed to mark Stallone passing the torch to Statham to continue the franchise without him. The fourth movie saw Stallone’s Barney Ross handing over the reins of the mercenary squad to his right-hand man, Lee Christmas, played by Statham. But The Expendables 4 kind of fumbled its attempt to transition into a new chapter of the saga. The series might not be able to survive without Stallone at the helm.
After the underwhelming response to The Expendables 4, Statham is already hyping up his next action-packed starring vehicle, and it could launch a brand-new franchise that’s more exciting than continuing to drag out The Expendables series. Rather than filling another actor’s shoes in the lead role of The Expendables franchise, Statham could be better off building his own franchise from the ground up. His next big action movie release looks like it could be the perfect jumping-off point to launch that franchise. He’s already hyping up his new movie’s franchise potential, and a sequel to that movie will be better for his career than The Expendables 5.
Jason Statham’s The Beekeeper Could Be His Big New Franchise (Not The Expendables)
Statham’s next starring vehicle, The Beekeeper – set to be released on January 12, 2024 – could be his big new franchise. The Beekeeper is a revenge thriller starring Statham as Mr. Clay, a highly skilled operative who used to work for a covert agency of “Beekeepers.” When his friend and neighbor takes their own life after being conned in a phishing scam, Mr. Clay sets out to exact vengeance against the people responsible. Instead of continuing to drag out The Expendables series way past its prime, The Beekeeper is a fresh start with all-new characters and worldbuilding to explore in a potential franchise.
In his media appearances hyping up the release of The Beekeeper, Statham is already talking about the possibility of turning The Beekeeper into a franchise. He’s teased that there’s a rich mythology around the Beekeepers organization that he’d love to “dive into” if the movie is successful enough to earn a sequel. Director David Ayer has already laid the groundwork for two franchises that he never got to complete with his comic book movie Suicide Squad and his fantasy crime thriller Bright. It might be third time lucky for Ayer if The Beekeeper is a big enough hit to fulfill its franchise potential.
Why Jason Statham Is Better Off With A New Franchise After The Expendables 4
Statham will have a lot more freedom starting his own franchise with The Beekeeper than he would taking over for Stallone in The Expendables franchise. If The Expendables 4 had been a huge hit, it might be a different story, and a post-Stallone Expendables series starring Statham could work. But The Expendables 4 was widely panned by critics, and one of the main criticisms levied at the movie was Stallone’s disappointingly limited screen time. Stallone is barely in The Expendables 4, and that was a big let-down. It would be even more of a let-down if there was an Expendables movie that didn’t feature Stallone at all.
As proven by the Transporter, Crank, Mechanic, and Meg franchises, Statham is more than capable of launching and carrying his own movie franchises. He doesn’t need to inherit franchises from other stars. The Expendables franchise is Stallone’s baby. Even if Stallone has willingly handed the reins over to Statham, audiences won’t accept an Expendables movie without Stallone’s involvement. The Beekeeper is Statham’s opportunity to launch another franchise of his own; he doesn’t need a hand-me-down from another actor. The critical and commercial failure of The Expendables 4 proves that the series won’t work with anyone besides Stallone leading the team into battle.
Will The Expendables 5 Ever Happen?
The Expendables 5 is unlikely to ever come to fruition, because the Jason Statham-led The Expendables 4 was a massive box office bomb. It only grossed a meager $51.1 million at the worldwide box office (via Box Office Mojo). This figure only made it halfway toward making back the film’s whopping $100 million production budget, and that’s before taking marketing costs into account. A movie’s break-even point is roughly 2.5 times its production budget, which would be $250 million for The Expendables 4. Since it only got 20% of the way to breaking even, the studio almost definitely won’t have enough faith in the franchise to greenlight The Expendables 5.
