The weakest reviewed of the three “Expendables” movies also got off to the slowest start at the box office.
“The Expendables 3,” which received a paltry 34% on Rotten Tomatoes, earned just $5.9 million in its debut Friday. Third for the day behind “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” ($7.9 million) and “Guardians of the Galaxy” ($7.0 million, which puts the film’s cumulative gross at $205.0 million), the tally greatly trailed opening day marks for the first two “Expendables” films.
2010’s “The Expendables” earned $13.3 million on its August 13 release day. “The Expendables 2” grossed $10.5 million in receipts when it launched on August 17, 2012.
The latest “Expendables” will not even gross $20 million in its opening weekend. No matter how one slices it, a sub-$20 million total reflects a disappointing performance.
New releases “Let’s Be Cops” and “The Giver” followed in fourth and fifth place, respectively, Friday. After earning a combined $8.4 million on Wednesday and Thursday, “Cops” added $5.6 million to its haul Friday.
“The Giver” earned $4.7 million.
Both newcomers were panned by critics.
