The Peacock streaming library is filled with over-the-top, nostalgia-inducing action this November. The NBCUniversal streamer has been stocking its library with fresh titles throughout the month, bringing subscribers can’t-miss movies like the original Jurassic Park trilogy and the beloved family movie Paddington. Peacock also hasn’t skipped out on the action, delivering plenty of fan-favorite action films, including a complete action franchise and the movie that just may have killed it.
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As of November 20th, all four movies in The Expendables franchise are streaming on Peacock, including the critical dud and box office bomb The Expend4bles. Created by David Callaham, the franchise centers around an elite team of mercenaries who take on dangerous and high-stakes missions around the world. Serving as an homage to 1980s and 1990s action blockbusters, the first three films were led by Sylvester Stallone’s Barney Ross and also featured Bruce Willis, Chuck Norris, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. The critically planned fourth installment, meanwhile, passed the torch to Jason Statham.
The Expend4bles Was a Franchise-Killer
The Expendables franchise has all you could want in action movies ¬– a nostalgic, star-studded spectacle with plenty of explosions, memorable one-liners, and pure, unrestrained fun. Although the quality varies from film to film, with The Expendables 2 being a standout with a 68% fresh critic score on Rotten Tomatoes and a great performance from Jean-Claude Van Damme as the villain, the franchise is mindless entertainment that is ridiculously fun to watch. The franchise has been incredibly lucrative, too, pulling in an estimated $855.2 million at the worldwide box office. Unfortunately, one movie completely missed the mark.
The Expend4bles was a critical and box office failure, and it just may have killed the franchise altogether. The film is the lowest-grossing and lowest-rated in the franchise, earning just $51 million worldwide on a $100 million budget and receiving just a 14% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie shifted away from the original premise, shifting focus away from nostalgic action stars to a new, more diverse ensemble of recognizable faces, including Statham’s Lee Christmas. Combined with a weak script and dialogue, poorly done special effects, and lackluster action, the movie was a massive flop.
The Expend4bles is widely viewed as the film that killed the franchise, and since its release, no other movies are currently in development. It was recently reported that Lionsgate has reportedly secured worldwide distribution rights to any future works derived from the franchise, though it remains to be seen if that will result in a fifth film.
What’s New on Peacock?
Peacock has plenty of great movies newly streaming on the platform, and the largest number of those additions arrived at the start of the month alongside The Expendables. Peacock subscribers can now stream other movies like Despicable Me, Dunkirk, The Intern, and Kick-Ass, as well as several Fast & Furious films and the original Jurassic Park trilogy.
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Image courtesy of Paramount+
