While the previous films in the series enjoyed success at the box office in spite of mixed or negative reviews, Expendables 4 was not able to continue this streak and became The Expendables' first financial flop. One person who wasn't surprised by the film's failure, though, was Dolph Lundgren, who said he could tell the fourth Expendables was going to be a disappointment early on.

Lundgren said Expendables 4 had issues starting with its script, which was the first entry in the series where star Sylvester Stallone was not involved in writing it. The former-Ivan Drago told ScreenRant his longtime friend and colleague's involvement guaranteed a certain level of quality that just wasn't there this time around.

“That project had issues from the beginning, and it usually starts with the script, it really didn't really have a good script,” Lundgen said. “I'm not playing the lead, so it's hard for me to weigh in on some of those 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.”

The Expendables 4 (Expend4bles), box office

Article Continues Below
More Entertainment News
WWE Superstar Bronson Reed, who just made his return from injury, in between Sabrina Carpenter and Sinners star Michael B. Jordan.
Rising WWE star compares injury return to Sinners, Sabrina Carpenter releasesAndrew Korpan ·
Oasis members Noel and Liam Gallagher, who were heard in a new video from their 2025 reunion tour rehearsals.
Oasis’ secret tour rehearsal leaked in new videoAndrew Korpan ·
Ana de Armas in the John Wick spin-off movie Ballerina.
Ballerina is afraid to not be a John Wick movie (Review)Andrew Korpan ·
Benicio del Toro and Mia Threapleton in Wes Anderson's new movie The Phoenician Scheme.
The Phoenician Scheme review: Wes Anderson still can’t get out of his own wayAndrew Korpan ·
Oasis members Liam and Noel Gallagher, who are busy with rehearsals for their upcoming 2025 reunion tour, with Wembley Stadium background.
Oasis’ Liam Gallagher shares NSFW ‘filthy’ reaction to first tour rehearsalAndrew Korpan ·
Taylor Swift, who bought back her music masters, and Travis Kelce after the AFC Championship.
Travis Kelce breaks silence on Taylor Swift’s $360 million music buybackAndrew Korpan ·

Lundgren added that the problems only seemed to mount from there as the original director was replaced a month into shooting, the lack of established franchise names in it, and opening the film during the SAG-AFTRA strike when no promotion could be done.

The actor was sure to avoid putting blame on new castmates like Megan Fox and Tony Jaa, who he said did a great job in spite of the issues.

Despite Expendables 4's failure at the box office and no official announcement from Lionsgate, Lundgren indicated that Stallone was already working on the script for Expendables 5. Stallone is also set to head to Europe for the start of Cliffhanger 2's production in the summer of 2024.