It’s been nearly two decades since Sylvester Stallone ruled the box office with films like “Rocky” and “First Blood.” With the release next weekend of “The Expendables” -- a retro men-on-a-mission film with Stallone out front and center -- Lionsgate is betting that there is still gas left in Sly’s tank.
He won’t be doing the heavy lifting by himself. Stallone has cleverly surrounded himself with a cavalcade of current stars like Mickey Rourke and Jason Statham -- and '80s has-beens like Dolph Lundgren -- who are past their expiration date, but still command goodwill among filmgoers.
In true gang’s-all-here fashion, even Bruce Willis and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger pop up in cameos.
(Also read: 'Expendables' Producer Avi Lerner on Lining Up an Action Movie Dream Team)
“Ten years ago, they couldn’t have afforded these guys, but now it’s a different story,” Jeff Bock, a box-office analyst with Exhibitor Relations told TheWrap. “This is an action junkie's dream team, and that’s how they’re selling it -- with just a list of names.”
“They’re taking their lemons and making them into lemonade,” a rival marketing executive told TheWrap.
“Expendables” does not just represent a second chance for Stallone’s crew, it also offers an opportunity for redemption for Lionsgate’s marketing team.
The movie’s opening comes at a bumpy time in Lionsgate’s history. The studio’s other summer entry, the Katherine Heigl and Ashton Kutcher action romance “Killers,” crashed and burned. It only managed a lowly $46 million domestically on a $75 million budget. Although panned by critics, it also was crippled by a decision to release it concurrently with the similarly themed “Knight and Day.”
“There was a canceling-out effect, you even had trailers for both movies playing before the same movies at the same theaters,” Phil Contrino, editor BoxOffice.com, told TheWrap. “It’s a generic romantic-comedy premise that’s not strong enough for two movies back-to-back. It’s not asteroids hitting the planet.”
The studio also failed to translate rabid fanboy enthusiasm into a huge opening for its comic-book satire “Kick-Ass.” That movie grossed $96 million worldwide on a $30 million budget, but according to several marketing executives and analysts, Lionsgate’s schizophrenic campaign alienated fans. By playing down the movie's violence in trailers, Lionsgate failed to convey “Kick-Ass'” Tarantino-esque appeal.
“Lionsgate know how to sell ‘Saw’ and Tyler Perry movies,” Devin Faraci, editor of the film blog Chud, told TheWrap. “They messed up with ‘Kick-Ass’ because they made it look like ‘Mystery Men’ -- and nobody liked ‘Mystery Men.’”
Lionsgate declined to comment for this article.
So far the approach on “The Expendables” seems to be working. The fanboy community has been worked into a lather through clever videos and digital promotions that revel in the macho cast. This week, for example, the studio released a witty faux interview with Stallone, which closes with the latter-day action hero blowing up the set with a bazooka.
Taking a page from Paramount's highly successful viral campaign for "Paranormal Activity," it's also prominently displayed a link so fans can post and share the video on Twitter and Facebook.
