The Expendables
Directed by	Sylvester Stallone (1) Simon West (2) Patrick Hughes (3)
Screenplay by	Sylvester Stallone David Callaham (1) Richard Wenk (2)
Produced by	Avi Lerner
Starring	See below
Music by	Brian Tyler
Production companies	Nu Image Millennium Films
Distributed by	Lionsgate
Release date	2010 – present
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$180 million
Box office	$586,970,394

The Expendables is a series of American ensemble action films written by Sylvester Stallone.The film series itself was created to pay homage to the blockbuster action films of the 1980s and 90's and also pays gratitude to the action stars of those decades, as well as more recent stars in action. The series consists of three films: The Expendables (2010), The Expendables 2 (2012), and the upcoming third film The Expendables 3 (2014). The series has received mixed to negative critical reception in regards to plots and dialogue between the characters; however, many critics praised the use of humor and action scenes.

The Expendables, a group of elite mercenaries who carry out all sorts of missions, ranging from assassination to rescue, are deployed to a South American island, Vilena, to overthrow a Latin American dictator, General Garza, who is interfering with the plans of a group of "people" led by a man known only as Mr. Church. However, the team leader, Barney Ross, soon realises that Garza is merely a puppet being controlled by a ruthless rogue CIA officer, James Monroe, who is Mr. Church's real target. Ross decides to abort the mission, but ultimately decides to return and rescue Garza's estranged daughter, Sandra, from Vilena.

A while after the first film, the Expendables accept another mission from Mr. Church to make up for losses caused by the mission in Vilena, but they end up in a conflict with a rival mercenary group, the Sangs, and their newest and youngest member is murdered by their leader, Jean Vilain. Ross swears vengeance on Vilain for his protegé's death and starts to track him down, in the process learning that Vilain threatens the world with five tons of weapons grade plutonium he intends to excavate from an abandoned Soviet mine and sell to the highest bidder.

The Expendables come face to face with the team's co-founder Conrad Stonebanks. Ross was forced to kill Stonebanks after he became a ruthless arms trader, but Stonebanks survived and has now made it his mission to destroy The Expendables. Ross resorts to recruiting a new and younger generation of Expendables to help the team overcome his old adversary.

In March 2012, Couture said a third installment of The Expendables might begin production in late 2012, after the release of The Expendables 2.^[1] In April 2012, Steven Seagal said he was offered a role in a third film.^[2] In August 2012, producer Avi Lerner confirmed that Nicolas Cage had been signed for the (potential) sequel. He also said that the producers intended to bring back the series' stars (attempting to have Rourke reprise his role), had approached Clint Eastwood about a role, and had plans to pursue Harrison Ford and approach Wesley Snipes after his release from prison.^[3] Stallone said, "We are thinking about different concepts—the third one is the hardest. The second is the natural progression. The third, that’s when the air gets rare. We’re thinking ambitiously about it...You now have to give audiences something they don’t expect at all—maybe even going into a different genre."^[4] Also in August, however, Norris said he would not return for a sequel.^[5] On August 13, 2012, Van Damme indicated that Stallone might include him in The Expendables 3 as Claude Vilain, brother of Jean Vilain.^[6] On October 31, 2012, it was confirmed that Nu Image and Millennium Films were in the process of pre-selling international distribution rights for The Expendables 3.^[7] On December 19, 2012, it was reported that Jackie Chan had agreed to join the sequel on the condition that he would have more than a minor role.^[8]

In August 2012, producer Adi Shankar's production company, 1984 Private Defense Contractors, hired screenwriter Dutch Southern to write an all-female action film. It was also reported that the film, inspired by The Expendables franchise, will be fully financed by 1984 Private Defense Contractors and that the company has already began talks with several prominent female action stars.^[9]

In September 2012, actress and former MMA fighter Gina Carano signed on to lead the all-female ensemble. Shankar said, "I don't know how I'm supposed to make a movie that is supposed to be the female version of The Expendables without Gina Carano in it. It would be like making Twix without caramel or Jamba Juice without jamba".^[10]

In October 2012, Katee Sackhoff, best known for her role as Kara Thrace on the television series Battlestar Galactica, joined the project. Shankar said, "If you spend five minutes with Katee it becomes blatantly obvious that she would pwn [sic] most male action stars".Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).

In August 2013, Sharni Vinson, who played the lead in the 2013 horror film, You're Next, joined the cast.^[11]

Note: A gray cell indicates character did not appear in that medium.

The Expendables received mixed to negative reviews from critics. The film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes shows that 41% of critics gave the film a positive review based upon reviews by 192 critics.^[12] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the film has received a mean score of 45, based on 35 reviews.^[13] CinemaScore polls, however, reflect solid audience approval with a B+ average grade.^[14]

The Expendables 2 received mixed reviews from critics. The film garnered a 65% approval rating from 119 critics – an average rating of 5.8 out of 10 – on the review-aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, which gave the following consensus: "Taut, violent, and suitably self-deprecating, The Expendables 2 gives classic action fans everything they can reasonably expect from a star-studded shoot-'em-up — for better and for worse."^[15] Metacritic gave it a score of 51 (out of 100) from 28 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.^[16] CinemaScore polls reported that moviegoers gave the film an average grade of A– on an A+-to-F scale, compared to The Expendables' B+.^[17][18]

Wikiquote has quotations related to The Expendables.

• Official website
• The Expendables at IMDb
• The Expendables at Box Office Mojo
• The Expendables at Rotten Tomatoes
• Interview with Gary Daniels, The Brit