'Expendabelles' – Relive the spinoff of 'The Expendables' starring women

The action franchise The Expendables launches a female spinoff again.

Eclectic Pictures and Hollywood Ventures Group have teamed up to an “expansion led by women” of the franchise known in our region as The Indestructibles, provisionally titled Expendabellesaccording to THR reports.

Since the debut of the franchise in theaters in 2010, there have been several attempts by some filmmakers to create a version starring women in the main roles. In 2014, Roberto Luketic, director of Legally Blondewas to direct a version written by the film's screenwriters, Kirsten Smith and Karen McCullah, for Millennium Films. The plot would center on female agents who had to pose as prostitutes to rescue a kidnapped nuclear scientist, a very cancelable story today.

Eclectic and HVG announced the project at the Cannes Market, where the producers are in talks with distribution partners, investors and creative talent. The companies believe they have found a way to move forward with the project, which is part of a new series of “global commercial films” feature films.

The source explains about the plot of Expendabelleswhich will be “an origin story set in the late 90s, at the height of the tension and geopolitical uncertainty of the Y2K era.” The recently reinvented project—conceived more than a decade ago alongside Millennium by Heidi Jo Markel, Patrick Muldoon and Julie Kroll— plans to introduce a new generation of elite female agents in “a stylized, action-packed cinematic event, designed to expand the franchise's mythology without losing its own identity”.

The project advances with the support of Lionsgatethe producers declared to the media. The studio bought global distribution rights to the franchise from Millennium Films at the end of 2025. Previously, Lionsgate owned distribution in the US market.

Expendabelles will be produced by Markel, Glenn Gainor, with executive producers Sandy Climan, Joe Smith, Nelly Kim, Stephen R. Foreht, John Yarincik, and Kroll.

Eclectic Pictures and HVG are currently in the preparation phase of the project and are “actively gathering” creative talent to push the spinoff forward.

Markel stated in a press release:

“We are delighted to finally be able to bring to life Expendabelles alongside our incredible partners at Hollywood Ventures Group, who share our passion for reinventing this franchise on a much larger cinematic scale. There has always been strong global interest in female-led action franchises, and we believe the time has come to introduce a bold new generation of elite agents to this universe. What excites us most is the opportunity to elevate the material by combining it with top-notch creative talent and delivering a fresh, stylish and adrenaline-filled experience for audiences around the world.”

The first film of The Indestructibles starred Sylvester Stallone alongside figures such as Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Steve Austin, Terry Crews, Mickey Rourke and many more. Bruce Willis, Liam Hemsworth, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Harrison Ford, Wesley Snipes, Mel Gibson, Glen Powell, Antonio Banderas, Victor Ortiz and others appeared in later installments.

The most recent delivery, The Expendables 4was released in theaters in 2023, with a disappointing performance at the box office, accumulating $37.9 million in the global box office. As a comparison, the first film of 2010 made a global box office of $274.4 million.

What actresses could make up the main group of Expendabelles? We read you.