Expendables Franchise Return Talks Confirmed By Crews

In an interview with ScreenRant's Grant Hermanns for his Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Replacer campaign, Crews discussed his future with the Expendables movies, teasing his possible return now that Lionsgate has secured rights to the franchise.

"I had a meeting at Lionsgate probably two months ago, and they kind of gave me the headlines that they're going to do some stuff with the Expendables," Crews revealed.

The Hale Caesar actor indicated that a lot of different options are on the table for upcoming Expendables-related content. "They were talking about TV projects, movies and spinoffs, different things like that," he explained.

Crews went on to discuss the industry’s current fixation on entertainment that helps audiences revisit the past. "Nostalgia is king right now," he said. "We've got to go back to go forward. And I'm 100% down."

The Expendables star then talked about his experience on the movies alongside actors like Sylvester Stallone, and his belief that the series could have as long a life as another Stallone franchise:

"We didn't know what we were doing, and it took over the world. It was so cool. And I think there's room for more. There's got to be more, man! If you can get as many Creeds and Rockys as they got, you can get more Expendables. Caesar didn't die, so we got that. It's all good."

Lionsgate Makes Deal With Millennium Films For ‘The Expendables’ Rights

Lionsgate has made a deal with Millennium Films to acquire rights to develop and produce all derivative works, including future film and TV productions, of The Expendables franchise, as well as worldwide distribution rights to John Rambo, the upcoming sixth installment of the Rambo film series.

Deadline first reported that Noah Centineo would star in John Rambo and that Lionsgate was the front-runner to land the package. Sources now say that deal has closed. The mini-major will be selling the film at the upcoming American Film Market.

The wide-ranging agreement also makes Lionsgate lead studio and production partner with Millennium on all future Rambo TV projects moving forward and includes the opportunity for the studio to participate in future Rambo films. In addition, Lionsgate now holds the rights to develop derivative works based on Expendables, including derivative films and TV series, video games, immersive experiences and other cross-platform extensions of the action franchise which has grossed nearly $700 million at the global box office. 

Lionsgate already distributes all existing The Expendables films in the U.S., Canada and the UK. In addition, the studio distributes Rambo (IV) and Rambo: Last Blood (V) in the U.S. and Canada, and holds UK distribution rights to Last Blood. Lionsgate also distributes First Blood (Rambo I), Rambo: First Blood Part II and Rambo III across Latin America and Southeast Asia. 

The John Rambo film will introduce a new chapter in the franchise, with Centineo in final negotiations to take the title role and Sisu filmmaker Jalmari Helander set to direct. Production is slated to begin next year in Thailand.

John Rambo will be produced by Millennium Media and Templeton Media, from a screenplay by Rory Haines and Sohrab Noshirvani (The Mauritanian, Black Adam). Kevin King Templeton, Les Weldon and Jonathan Yunger will produce. Dallas Sonnier and Amanda Presmyk of Bonfire Legend executive produce.

The deal was negotiated by Goldsmith, EVP & Co-Head, Acquisitions & Co-Productions Charlotte Koh and SVP of Business & Legal Affairs Christopher Davis on behalf of Lionsgate and by CEO Trevor Short and Yunger for Millennium Media.