Expend4bles to go back to basics after negative reception to last movie

Expend4bles will see the franchise go "back to basics" after the poor reception to the third Expendables movie.

The franchise tells the story of a group of mercenaries, led by Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone) and Lee Christmas (Jason Statham).

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Three movies have been produced so far and the franchise is a throwback to 80s action flicks which is why Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Harrison Ford and Chuck Norris are among the stars who have made appearances.

The third movie was released in 2014 but it received a negative reception as producers made the decision to make it PG-13 instead of R-rated, which didn't go down well with the action-hungry fans.

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Expend4bles will be R-rated.

"Expendables 3 wasn't received as well as we would have hoped," producer Kevin King Templeton told UPI in a recent Zoom interview. "We had to really rethink what we were going to do next -- the whole idea of going back to basics."

"Hindsight is 20/20, but we understood as producers that was a mistake to release PG Expendables when your core audience just loves it so much," producer Les Weldon added.

"This is why we were so committed to making this a hard R, going back more to the roots."

Schwarzenegger not in Expend4bles

The former Governor of California appeared in The Expendables in a cameo role but his part was expanded for the second and third movies.

The Expendables 4 is released this weekend, but Arnie won't be involved.

"It’s done and I’m not in it," he told Parade.

"I said, ‘You know what, we have done this and I’m out of it.’ And really understood. I did as a favour to Sly. I shot it on a Saturday for two hours quickly in a church with Bruce Willis. Sly said, ‘Oh, can you do Expendables 2?’ and I did that for a weekend.

"Then it was expanded for Expendables 3. And that was it. We’re going to do something together one day."

In addition to The Expendables, Schwarzenegger and Stallone appeared alongside each other in The Escape Plan.