Expend4bles opens with epic flop while Nun 2 claims top spot again at the US box office
The film, also known as Expendables 4, stars several popular names, including Stallone, Statham, Curtis “50 Cent" Jackson, Megan Fox and Dolph Lundgren.
This image released by Lionsgate shows Sylvester Stallone in a scene from The Expend4bles.(Lionsgate via AP)
Sylvester Stallone and Jason Statham weren't enough to save Expend4bles from a debut box office flop. The fourth installment suffered the action-packed franchise's worst opening weekend while The Nun 2 took home the top spot for a third straight week, Comscore reported on Sunday (Sep 24).
The Lionsgate and Millennium's film, also known as Expendables 4, pulled in a mediocre US$8.3 million (S$11.3 million) for the big-budget project. It starred several popular names, including Stallone, Statham, Curtis “50 Cent" Jackson, Megan Fox and Dolph Lundgren. It's been nearly a decade since the franchise released a film, which opened with US$15.8 million and eventually grossed US$214 million globally.
But times have certainly changed, as the film barely placed second behind The Nun 2, a horror movie that earned US$8.4 million in its first week. It's been a solid start for that Warner Bros' project – a spinoff from the lucrative Conjuring franchise. So far, the Michael Chaves-directed sequel has grossed more than US$69 million.
In third, A Haunting In Venice earned US$6.3 million. Kenneth Branagh’s third Agatha Christie adaptation, following 2017’s Murder On The Orient Express and 2022’s Death On The Nile, has drawn in over US$25.3 million after two weeks.
The Equalizer 3, starring Denzel Washington, only dropped to fourth place with US$4.725 million. In four weeks, it has grossed US$81.1 million domestically.
Barbie, the biggest movie of 2023, is still carrying some momentum from the summer into the fall season. The Greta Gerwig box-office smash ranked in the top five, earning US$3.2 million this week and a domestic total of more than US$630 million after a 10-week period.
Sixth place went to My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3, with US$3 million, while It Lives Inside opened its first week with US$2.6 million. The Sony film Dumb Money, a dramatisation of the GameStop stock frenzy, stayed put in the eighth position for a second week in a row with US$2.5 million.
Blue Beetle fell to ninth, with US$1.8 million, and Oppenheimer rounded out the top 10 with US$1.6 million. The Christopher Nolan film has garnered US$321 million domestically.
In all, it was another slow output for box office figures as many Hollywood projects are still on hold due to the ongoing Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, and Writers Guild of America strikes.
