Movies that were saved by China at the box office

What’s better than one action movie star? All of them. The novelty of seeing every macho action movie actor in one movie powered The Expendables to a $34 million opening weekend in 2010, on its way to $103 million domestically and $268 million worldwide. With a modest $80 million budget, 80s icons Stallone, Schwarzenegger, and Lundgren proved they were back in business in a big way. The Expendables 2 flexed its muscles and got its budget bumped up to $100 million, and while its domestic box office returns were about 15% lower ($85 million), it’s worldwide take topped $311 million. However, by the time the third film rolled around in 2014 the nostalgia had worn off in North America. The Expendables 3 cost $100 million to produce, but opened to $15 million and earned a dreadful $39 million in North America, making it a dud at the domestic market. 

So what saved the old dudes’ reunion from turning into a total dumpster fire? Its overseas gross, most of it coming from China. The film earned $214 worldwide, $72 million of it coming from China. In other words, nearly 34% of its gross came from one country. The action heroes were saved by China, but with puny margins like that, we haven’t seen an Expendables sequel since, and probably never will.

Written by: Looper