The Expendables (2010)

The Expendables is a 2010 American action film written by David Callaham and Sylvester Stallone, and directed by Stallone, who also starred in the lead role. The film co-stars Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Terry Crews, Steve Austin and Mickey Rourke. The film was released in the United States on August 13, 2010. It is the first installment in The Expendables film series. This was Dolph Lundgren’s first theatrically released film since 1995’s cyberpunk film Johnny Mnemonic. The film is about a group of elite mercenaries tasked with a mission to overthrow a Latin American dictator whom they soon

discover to be a mere puppet controlled by a corrupt ex-CIA agent. It pays tribute to the blockbuster action films of the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was distributed by Lionsgate. The Expendables received mixed reviews, praising the action scenes, but criticizing the lack of story. However, it was commercially successful, opening at number one at the box office in the United States, the United Kingdom, China and India, and grossed a total of $274 million worldwide. A sequel, The Expendables 2, was released on August 17, 2012, and another sequel, The Expendables 3, was released on August 15, 2014.

Plot.

The Expendables, a group of elite mercenaries based in New Orleans, deploy to the Gulf of Aden to save hostages on a vessel from Somali pirates. The team consists of leader Barney Ross, blades specialist Lee Christmas, martial artist Yin Yang, military veteran Gunner Jensen, weapons specialist Hale Caesar, and demolitions expert Toll Road. Jensen instigates a firefight, causing casualties for the pirates. He then tries to hang a pirate, but Yang stops him when Ross and the team discourage it. Ross reluctantly discharges him from the team. Later, Christmas is upset to discover his girlfriend, Lacy, has left him for another man. Ross and rival Trench Mauser visit “Mr. Church” for a mission. Trench passes the contract to Ross, which is to overthrow dictator General Garza in Vilena, an island in the Gulf of Mexico.

Ross and Christmas fly to Vilena for undercover reconnaissance and meet their contact, Sandra, but are discovered. It is revealed that ex-CIA officer James Munroe is keeping Garza in power as a figurehead for his own profiteering operations, while Sandra is revealed to be Garza’s daughter. Ross aborts, but Sandra refuses to leave Vilena. Meanwhile, Jensen approaches Munroe to help and Garza is angered further when Sandra is waterboarded for information by Munroe. Meanwhile, Lacy has been physically abused by her new man, so Christmas beats him and his friends, revealing what he does for a living. Ross and the group discover that Church is a CIA operative and the real target is Munroe, who has gone rogue and joined forces with Garza to keep the drug money that funds the CIA to himself,

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but the CIA cannot afford a mission to kill one of their own directly because of bad publicity. Ross meets tattoo expert and friend Tool to express his feelings. Tool makes a confession about letting a woman commit suicide instead of saving her. Ross is then motivated to go back for Sandra alone, but Yang accompanies him. Jensen and hired men pursue them on the road, ending in an abandoned warehouse, where Yang and Jensen fight a second time. Ross shoots Jensen when he attempts to impale Yang on a pipe. Jensen makes amends and gives the layout of Garza’s palace. Ross boards the plane with Yang and finds the rest of the team waiting, and they infiltrate Garza’s compound. Thinking Munroe hired the team to kill him, Garza has his soldiers’ faces painted, preparing them for a fight. The team plants explosives throughout the site but Ross,

while saving Sandra, is captured by Munroe’s henchmen. The team saves him and kills the Brit, but is pinned down by Garza’s men as Paine wrestles Ross. Caesar fights back and Paine escapes. Garza finally stands up to Munroe, ordering him out and returning his money. Instead, as Garza rallies his men against the Americans, Munroe kills him and escapes with Paine and Sandra. Garza’s men open fire against the team, who fight their way through, detonating the explosives and destroying the compound. Toll kills Paine by burning him alive while Ross and Caesar manage to destroy the helicopter before Munroe can escape. Ross and Christmas catch up to Munroe, killing him and saving Sandra. Later, Ross gives his mission reward to Sandra to restore Vilena.

Development.

In mid-2005, writer David Callaham submitted the first draft of a mercenary-inspired action film titled “Barrow” to Warner Bros., as part of his “blind commitment” deal with the studio at the time. Callaham revised the script two more times and submitted his third final revision in early 2006. Having expressed interest in doing an ensemble film, Sylvester Stallone reviewed Callaham’s third/final revised draft of Barrow and used it as a “starting point” for The Expendables.

Casting.

Jean-Claude Van Damme was personally offered a role by Stallone, but turned it down because he felt there was no substance or development to the character. Stallone said that Van Damme told him that he should “be trying to save people in South Central.” At the premiere of the film, Stallone claimed to have been speaking to Van Damme over the phone and had said, “I told you!”, to which Van Damme concurred and expressed his regret over not participating. Van Damme would later appear as the main antagonist, Jean Vilain, in the film’s sequel. The role of Hale Caesar was initially conceived as a role for Stallone’s Demolition Man co-star Wesley Snipes. Snipes turned down the role because of his tax issues, and not able to leave the United States without the court’s approval. It was later rewritten for Forest Whitaker.

Due to a scheduling conflict prior to filming, Whitaker was replaced by 50 Cent before the part of Hale Caesar finally went to former NFL player Terry Crews. Steven Seagal was asked to make a cameo appearance, but turned down the offer due to negative experiences with producer Avi Lerner. Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Ben Kingsley, and Ray Liotta were all considered for the role of James Munroe before Stallone’s The Specialist co-star Eric Roberts was eventually cast in the role. By May 2009, the script had undergone a number of rewrites. Stallone’s Demolition Man co-star Sandra Bullock was rumored to have a role in the film, but revealed that she did not even know about the project. Despite the news, she did express interest in working in another action film and would have liked to appear in the film, depending on the storyline.

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The role of the man who hires the Expendables, Mr. Church, was difficult to cast. Schwarzenegger was offered that role, but instead appeared as fellow mercenary leader Trench. The role was then offered to Stallone’s Tango & Cash co-star Kurt Russell, whose agent replied that he was not interested in “ensemble acting at the moment”. Stallone spent several months after principal photography determined to find a big action name for the part. Rumors suggested that the role had been offered to friend and fellow former Planet Hollywood co-owner Bruce Willis, who was busy filming Cop Out. Willis’ casting as Mr. Church was confirmed by August 2009, as was the fact that he would appear in a scene with both Stallone and Schwarzenegger. To cast the soldiers, Stallone knew his filming location, Brazil, was home to many mixed martial arts fighters. He called Ultimate Fighting Championship champions Anderson Silva and brother Rogerio and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira to make casting calls, and had the three cameo as well.

Filming.

Film production began on March 3, 2009, with a budget of $82 million. Principal photography commenced 25 days later in Rio de Janeiro and other locations in Brazil, including Mangaratiba, Niteroi, Guanabara Bay, Colônia Juliano Moreira and Parque Lage. Filming originally ended on April 25 but was continued on May 11, in Elmwood and New Orleans, Louisiana, including the French Quarter, South Peters Street, Fort Macomb, Claiborne Avenue and the Interstate 10 overpass. Filming officially ended on July 1, but on October 27 there was a pick-up scene at a church in Los Angeles, California featuring Stallone, Schwarzenegger and Willis (the latter two doing the scene without compensation, according to Stallone in the Blu-ray Disc director commentary). On June 2,

West Coast Customs Street Customs built three customized 1955 Ford F100s for Sylvester Stallone for the film. One was built for a crash scene, the second for green screen, and the third for Stallone to keep. “The Expendables has a seventy million dollar budget,” Stallone’s Rocky IV co-star Dolph Lundgren says: “It’s an old-school, kick-ass action movie where people are fighting with knives and shooting at each other.” The flying boat used for filming is a Grumman HU-16 Albatross and the ship used as a setting in the opening scene was a Russian SA-15 type Arctic cargo ship Igarka. In Summer 2010, Brazilian company O2 Filmes released a statement saying it was still owed more than US$2 million for its work on the film.

Release.

The film had an original scheduled release date set at April 23, 2010, but was later pushed back four months until August 13, to extend production time. On March 17, 2010, the official international poster for the film was released. A promo trailer (aimed at industry professionals) was leaked online in August 2009. Sometime in October, nearly two months after the promo trailer was leaked, it was officially released online. The promo trailer was edited by Stallone and it was shown at the Venice Film Festival. On April 1, 2010, the official theatrical trailer for the film was released. The film had its red carpet Hollywood premiere on August 3, 2010. The grand premiere of the film was held at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada on August 10, 2010.

Home media.

The theatrical cut of The Expendables was released on DVD/Blu-ray Disc on November 23, 2010. The Blu-ray Disc is a 3-disc combo pack. An Extended Director’s Cut of the film was meant to be out for an early 2011 DVD/Blu-ray Disc release, but was first released on cable television instead. The Extended Director’s Cut was released on Blu-ray Disc on December 13, 2011. A 90-minute documentary called Inferno: The Making of The Expendables was released exclusively to the theatrical cut’s Blu-ray release.

Box office.

The film made its US debut at 3,270 theaters with approximately 4,300 screens, which earned it the #10 spot on the list of the “Biggest Independent Releases of All Time” at Box Office Mojo and the #16 spot on their list of top opening weekends for August. It earned $34.8 million in its opening weekend and took the #1 position in the U.S. box office. On the day of its release, the film earned $13.3 million in sales, exceeding the $9.7 million sum from the debut of the last previous summer action film The A-Team. Brandon Gray of Box Office Mojo stated that the film “took a commanding lead in its debut”, compared to competing films Eat Pray Love and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Ben Fritz of the Los Angeles Times stated that the “over-the-top shoot-’em-up” opened to a “very strong” reception.

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As well, he described it as “a crowd-pleaser even if critics didn’t take to it.” Research by Lionsgate found that between 38% and 40% of the film’s viewers were female. The results were unexpected, for a film thought to have limited appeal to female filmgoers. The Expendables remained at the top position in the U.S. box office during its second weekend, earning a weekend total of nearly $17 million. The film went on to gross $103.1 million in the United States, and $171.4 million in other territories, for a worldwide gross to $274.5 million.

Cast:

Sylvester Stallone as Barney Ross
Jason Statham as Lee Christmas
Jet Li as Yin Yang
Dolph Lundgren as Gunner Jensen
Eric Roberts as James Munroe
Randy Couture as Toll Road
Steve Austin as Paine
David Zayas as General Garza
Giselle Itié as Sandra
Charisma Carpenter as Lacy
Gary Daniels as The Brit
Terry Crews as Hale Caesar
Mickey Rourke as Tool
Bruce Willis as Mr. Church^[7]
Arnold Schwarzenegger as Trench Mauser