Summary

• The Expendables 4's success depends on its budget and box office performance, especially since Sylvester Stallone and Jason Statham are at pivotal points in their careers.
• The Expendables franchise has historically had modest budgets that have helped the movies become financially successful, but the fourth installment may not follow suit.
• The movie's budget is reportedly $100 million, and in order for it to be considered a success, it needs to make at least $200 million at the global box office.

The Expendables 4 hopes to be another successful box office hit for the action movie franchise, but that depends on how much it cost to make and its ultimate box office total. Sylvester Stallone and Jason Statham return as Barney Ross and Lee Christmas in the fourth installment of the Expendables franchise. It comes at a pivotal point in both of their careers. Stallone is in need of another box office hit after being left out of Creed 3, while Statham is fresh off seeing Meg 2: The Trench make around $400 million worldwide. This means The Expendables 4's budget must help the movie be a box office hit.

The good news is that the Expendables movies have a rather solid track record of having modest budgets that help propel each installment to be financially successful. The first movie that assembled former action movie stars impressed by making $268.2 million worldwide, while The Expendables 2 went even higher and finished its theatrical run with $311.9 million. The franchise did experience a dip with the PG-13 The Expendables 3, which only made $209.4 million. All three movies still managed to be hits thanks to their relatively modest budgets, but The Expendables 4 might not be in the same boat.

The Expendables 4's Budget Is Reportedly $100 Million

Lionsgate has not officially disclosed how much the movie cost to make, but The Expendables 4 cast member Dolph Lundgren has suggested two different possibilities. In two separate interviews, Lundgren indicated that the budget was either $100M or $200M. While speaking to the German publication FILMSTARTS.de, the action movie star stated that the budget was "very high, I think around $100 million." This would put The Expendables 4 on par with the two previous sequels, as The Expendables 2 and The Expendables 3 both had budgets of $100M. The franchise history makes this estimate feel believable.

However, there is also a possibility that The Expendables 4 has the biggest budget in the franchise by a wide margin. During an interview with PopCulture, Lundgren suggested that the new Expendables movie may have cost $200M to make. He stated, "Well, it's definitely bigger. I mean, the budget is probably at least twice what the last one was, I think." If Dolph Lundgren is correct in this statement, then $200M would be the actual budget, as that is twice of The Expendables 3's $100M budget. This could be partially due to Sylvester Stallone's Expendables salary, but the $200M estimate still seems a bit outlandish.

The Expendables 4 Needs To Make At Least $200 Million To Succeed At The Box Office

The Expendables 4's box office likely needs to make at least $200M worldwide for the movie to be deemed a success. This would be based on the estimated $100M budget, as it is commonly said that a movie must make at least twice its budget to break even. The Expendables 4 has a strong chance of crossing this milestone given the franchise's box office track record. While the movie is not expected to do much business domestically, it should do rather well internationally, as it has already made $11M in China (via Variety). The franchise has always skewed more global than domestic, so The Expendables 4 should continue that trend.

Sources: FILMSTARTS.de, PopCulture, Variety