Although the fourth installment to the action movie franchise ‘The Expendables’ appear to be still long ways off, film studios Lionsgate has made a bold move to enter the franchise in the mobile gaming scene. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Lionsgate has partnered with Millenium Films and Hong Kong-based game developer Fifth Journey in developing the mobile game based on “The Expendables” movie series.
Technically, this would not be the first time that the franchise will enter the gaming world. During the release of “The Expendables 2” four years ago, a video game based on the film, playable though the PC and the gaming consoles was released. A follow-up video game was released titled “The Expendables 2: Deploy and Destroy.”
Two years after the third film came out, the video game “The Expandabros” was released as well for free. The game was a hybrid based on the video game “Broforce” and the movie “The Expendables 3.”
The announcement about the mobile game was made by Lionsgate’s head of interactive venture Peter Levin and Fifth Journey co-founder Eric Tan. Levin says the collaboration for the development of the mobile game is the perfect example of a cross-platform merger between a powerful brand, a global franchise, and high-end technology.
Clearly, Lionsgate’s marketing strategy is doing splendidly well because allowing the popular franchise to venture into mobile gaming will definitely take it to a whole new level.
It is also not the first stime for the studio to take a film franchise into the gaming world. Several of its previous initiatives include partnerships with other successful game developers including the one with Telltale Games for the episodic zombie game “The Walking Dead,” and another game based on the HBO hit TV series “Game of Thrones.” The film outfit is also working closely with Starbreeze Studios and Next Games with their upcoming mobile game based on “John Wick.”
Variety reports “The Expendables” mobile game will likely be playable for mobile phones and tablet owners by the end of 2016, coinciding with the release of the fourth installment to the film franchise. The mobile game will be based on the hit movie, its sequels, and its characters played by an ensemble cast composed of Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, and many more.
The film franchise has been a blockbuster success and it is about time it crosses over to the mobile gaming world. The first film hit the big screen back in 2010. It was followed by two sequels released in 2012 and 2014, with the latest sequel rumored to be coming to fans by 2016. If this were to be true, then the franchise would follow a two-year gap for each sequel.
The franchise drew a large fan base and earned nearly $800 million in global box office revenues. Even though the fourth movie is still in the works, rumors say that a fifth movie is already being planned as well as a Fox television show coming along with it. There seems to be truth to this rumors as film lead Jason Statham has declared he’s going to do “The Expendables 4” or even “The Expendables 5” if director and co-star Sylvester Stallone wants him to.
Despite announcing his involvement in another hit film franchise, “Fast & Furious 8,” the 47-year old action star is in the “The Expendables” movie series for the long haul. Action film veteran Arnold Schwarzenegger has expressed that the franchise is greatly written and with how things went with “The Expendables 3,” there’s definitely room for one more movie.
News and casting rumors about the latest Expendables movie have been making a buzz ever since the confirmation of a fourth film came out. According to Crossmap, Chinese actor Jackie Chan states that Stallone has asked him to appear in the latest iteration to the action movie franchise. The 61-year martial artist admits Stallone has been asking him to appear in the movie since the second film.