The Sylvester Stallone Action Franchise Leaving Netflix As Quickly As It Arrived
Though the film only just arrived on the streamer last month, The Expendables is scheduled to leave the Netflix rotation on October 4. The film features Sylvester Stallone in one of his most high-octane action performances of the 21st century alongside a massive ensemble of action film icons. First premiering in 2010, The Expendables would launch a franchise that spans four feature films, with the latest installment set to hit theaters in just a few weeks.
Sylvester Stallone’s greatest action franchise, The Expendables, arrived on Netflix last month, but all three films are leaving on October 4.
In addition to starring in The Expendables, Sylvester Stallone also co-wrote and directed the film, marking his first time directing a major ensemble piece and his 8th director credit on a feature film overall, according to IMDb. The film stars Jason Statham, Jet Li, David Zayas, Mickey Rourke, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Terry Crews, UFC fighter Randy Couture, and professional wrestler “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. Though the film’s cast serves as one of its greatest drawing points, Stallone initially tried to make the film even larger, reaching out to a number of high-profile action heroes of decades past.
Other actors Sylvester Stallone considered to appear in The Expendables include Jean-Claude Van Damme, Wesley Snipes, Forest Whitaker, Steven Seagal, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Ray Liotta, Ben Kingsley, Kurt Russell, and rapper turned actor Curtis ’50 Cent’ Jackson. Future installments in the series would continue to bring in additional high-profile action stars, including Jean-Claude Van Damme, who portrayed the second film’s main antagonist, Jean Vilain.
During the filming of The Expendables, Sylvester Stallone suffered 14 mild injuries; as like the rest of the cast, he was performing as many stunts as he could.
The Expendables follows Sylvester Stallone’s Barney Ross, who leads a team of highly specialized mercenaries. The team is hired to extract a number of hostages from a group of Somali pirates on board a massive shipping vessel before quickly realizing that a former business associate has double-crossed them. After taking on a mission that sees the team head to South America to stop a ruthless dictator, it becomes clear that the dictator is backed by an ex-CIA officer who keeps the brutal regime in power as a figurehead for his own operations.
Entrapped within a web of lies and international deceit, the Expendables must find a way to shoot, stab, and explode their way out of danger while mitigating an international geo-political incident far beyond their depth. The film features an incredible mixture of gripping action and campy 80s-inspired set pieces perfect for Sylvester Stallone’s later career. Many of the stunts and actions were performed by the cast themselves, resulting in Stallone sustaining over 14 mild injuries over the course of the shoot.
The Expendables marks the very first time that Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Bruce Willis have shared the screen together in a major motion picture, though the three had been real-life friends for a number of years before the project. The action star trio even served as three-way business partners in the Planet Hollywood restaurant and casino chain since 1991. Schwarzenegger’s appearance in the film is quite brief due to his obligation at the time as the 38th Governor of California, causing him to take time away from his acting career.
The Expend4bles arrives in theaters next month, adding Megan Fox to the line-up that includes Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, and Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson.
Though The Expendables received mixed reviews from critics, the film was a massive success at the box office, inspiring fans of the action genre to champion the franchise for years to come. The second and third installments of the series arrived on the scene in 2012 and 2014, respectively, with the upcoming fourth film, stylized as The Expend4bles, set to premiere on September 22.
Since the success of the first Expendables film, Sylvester Stallone has gone on to appear in such massive franchises as Creed, Guardians of the Galaxy, and The Suicide Squad, as well as leading his own television series, Tulsa King, on Paramount+.
Despite spending only a brief period on Netflix, all three films of the Sylvester Stallone-led franchise are available to watch on the streaming service until October 4. If you’re looking forward to the release of the fourth film later this month but haven’t had a chance to see these movies since their initial release, be sure to binge-watch the original trilogy before it’s too late. The Expendables is currently streaming on Netflix for a limited time only.
