The actor who played Gunner Jensen in the franchise talks about a number of reasons why the fourth installment of 'The Expendables' tanked on box office.
- Jan 16, 2024
AceShowbiz - Dolph Lundgren believes that "The Expendables 4" failed for a multitude of reasons. The 66-year-old actor returned as Gunner Jensen in the action film that disappointed both critics and audiences and thinks that a mediocre script as well as a lack of creative involvement from Sylvester Stallone contributed to the poor response to the picture.
"That project had issues from the beginning, and it usually starts with the script, it really didn't have a good script," Dolph told Screen Rant.
"I'm not playing the lead, so it's hard for me to weigh in on some of the issues, but I know Stallone wasn't involved, like he usually is. He just played a character in it, and when he's in charge, the quality is going to be pretty good, it doesn't drop below a certain level. But he wasn't involved, so I think the problem was with the script, and then the director was replaced, like, a month before shooting."
Dolph also felt it was unwise to release the movie during the SAG-AFTRA strike last year as it meant members of the heavyweight ensemble cast - including Jason Statham, 50 Cent, and Megan Fox - were prevented from doing any promotional work for the project.
The "Rocky IV" star said, "Also, the picture opened during the strike, which wasn't very clever, so they couldn't do any publicity. If you would have had a big star-studded premiere with Megan and 50 and Stallone and Statham, and the rest of them, myself, Andy Garcia, there would have been more eyeballs on it. And I'm sure it would have done better, but it's too bad. I was disappointed."
