The Expendables 3 is a 2014 American action film directed by Patrick Hughes and written by Creighton Rothenberger, Katrin Benedikt and Sylvester Stallone.

The film features an ensemble cast of largely action film actors consisting of Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Antonio Banderas, Jet Li, Wesley Snipes, Dolph Lundgren, Kelsey Grammer, Randy Couture, Terry Crews, Kellan Lutz, Ronda Rousey, Glen Powell, Victor Ortiz, Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The Expendables—led by Barney Ross and formed by Lee Christmas, Gunner Jensen, and Toll Road—extract former member Doctor Death, a medic and knives specialist, from a dictator’s fortress prison-camp during his transfer on a train.

Arriving there, they reunite with Hale Caesar, who directs them to the drop point, where Barney is surprised to find out that the arms trader providing the bombs is Conrad Stonebanks, a disgraced former co-founder of the Expendables who went rogue and was presumed dead.

Blaming himself for Caesar's injuries, Barney disbands the Expendables and leaves for Las Vegas, where he enlists retired mercenary-turned-recruiter Bonaparte to help him find a new team of younger mercenaries.

As the final battle begins, Thorn uses a jammer device to delay the countdown, giving them just under half an hour before detonation.

In the aftermath, Caesar recovers from his wounds, and Barney officially accepts Galgo, Smilee, Luna, Thorn, and Mars into the team.

[30] On October 31, 2012, it was confirmed that Nu Image and Millennium Films were in the process of pre-selling international distribution rights for The Expendables 3.

[33] In March 2013, Stallone confirmed he was writing a script for the sequel and that he intended for the film to be more humorous with moments of drama.

[38][39] Also in July, actor Kellan Lutz and professional fighters Victor Ortiz and Ronda Rousey were added to the cast.

It was revealed that the film would feature several younger and technology-oriented action heroes who clash with the veteran Expendables.

[40] In August 2013, it was confirmed that Ford, Antonio Banderas and Glen Powell would join the cast and that Bruce Willis would not be reprising his role as Mr.

[15] Principal photography began on August 19, 2013, in Bulgaria and at the Nu Boyana Film studio in Sofia[1] and ended on October 22.

[43] In September 2013, Terry Crews revealed in an interview that Jason Statham survived an on-set mishap when the truck he was driving plunged into the Black Sea after its brakes had failed.

[51] On June 17, a long cinematic trailer was released, giving a first look at Gibson as Conrad Stonebanks as well as showcasing the film's story for the first time.

On July 1, the MPAA granted The Expendables 3 a PG-13 rating; the given description being "violence including intense sustained gun battles and fight scenes and for language."

"[59] On July 25, 2014, three weeks ahead of the film's premiere, a DVD-quality illegal leak was downloaded, via file sharing sites, more than 189,000 times over a 24-hour period.

[61] On July 31, 2014, the film's studio, Lionsgate, filed a lawsuit in California federal court against ten anonymous individuals for copyright infringement.

[63] In August 2014, cloud hosting provider Hulkfile.eu ceased its operations worldwide because the company said it had no other option after it was damaged by the Lionsgate lawsuit.

[64] In June 2015, Lionsgate settled out of court with the operators of Played.to, a video hosting site for streaming a leaked copy of the movie.

[68] The film was released on August 15, 2014, in the United States and earned $875,000 during its late night Thursday screenings from 2,200 locations.

The site's critics consensus reads, "Like its predecessors, The Expendables 3 offers a modicum of all-star thrills for old-school action thriller aficionados but given all the talent assembled, it should have been a lot more fun.

"[74] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 35 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".

[76] Kelsey Grammer won the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor for his work in the film (along with Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return, Think Like a Man Too and Transformers: Age of Extinction) while Mel Gibson and Arnold Schwarzenegger were also nominated in that category at the 35th Golden Raspberry Awards.