The world’s first line of defense is having a hard time going past the box office lines. The Sylvester Stallone and Jason Statham starrer, Expendables 4 is the latest installment in the $800 million franchise. Yet, it is reeling under the crunch of disappointing critical and viewer ratings and appeal. Further marred by the absence of its original cast members and action legends, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis, the latest movie finds itself struggling to stay afloat. As it opened to audiences with a preview and a debut screening on 22 September, it sunk to the depths of money-making.

Regardless, Expend4bles made franchise history on its opening day. Although not in the best possible way.

Expend4bles lands the franchise its lowest-ever opening day box office collection

In what was expected to bring the glory of the early days of Hollywood action back to glory, Expendables 4 was billed for action. As Sylvester Stallone took a backseat to let the new guns charge their aim at the screens, the outlook came out disastrously bleak. As Variety reported, the movie opened to a measly $3.2 million. Rub it with the fact that it managed to scrape off only $750,000 from Thursday previews and it instantly comes to light that the movie failed to take off.

Early predictions estimate a total of $50 million run globally, which is half of its $100 million budget. For comparisons, the previous trilogy, which also included Arnold Schwarzenegger as Trench, performed leagues better. The first-ever movie of the franchise, The Expendables, earned $103 million domestically and $274 million worldwide, back in 2010. It was then closely followed by 2012’s The Expendables 2 with a haul of $314 million. Finally, the third one, way back in 2014, bagged a total gross of $214.6 million.

Following the Expendables 4 release, it is now evident that Schwarzenegger was right all along when he had his reservations about starring in it.

Arnold Schwarzenegger had his concerns on the script for his Expendables character

The 76-year-old bodybuilding legend played the role of Trench with accurate perfection. Although his role in the franchise kept on diminishing with every movie, Schwarzenegger himself rejected starring in the fourth one. Turns out that Schwarzenegger had doubts and differences about the way his character and the script were written right from Expendables 3 onwards. Thus, his missing out on the fourth one was an early signal of the incoming disaster.

As such, Expend4bles now sits at a paltry 5.1 rating on IMDb. Several reviewers and critics have pointed out the paper-thin story that finds itself running all over the place. Many have outright dismissed the flick as being an action movie altogether. Despite Stallone’s presence, the movie is all but headed toward disaster.

Have you watched Expend4bles yet? Let us know your review and opinion in the comments below.