EXPENDABLES 3 Makes Lowest Debut in the Franchise with $5.9M Friday

Lionsgate and Millennium Films' The Expendables 3 drew just $5.9 million on Friday, looking toward $15 to 16 million for its debut weekend.

These numbers mark the franchise's worst premiere to date. The first EXPENDABLES film opened to $34.8 million in 2010; its sequel took in $28.6 million in its opening weekend in 2012.

Yesterday's soft EXPENDABLES 3 launch was likely affected by last month's leaked copy debacle -- users Downloaded the movie more than 1 million times before Lionsgate took action. The company is suing 10 individuals who anonymously released the film.

In THE EXPENDABLES 3, Stonebanks, who eluded death once before, now is making it his mission to end The Expendables - but Barney has other plans. Barney decides that he has to fight old blood with new blood, and brings in a new era of Expendables team members, recruiting individuals who are younger, faster and more tech-savvy. The latest mission becomes a clash of classic old-school style versus high-tech expertise in the Expendables' most personal battle yet.

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

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES and GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY will likely be sitting at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, by the end of the weekend. 20th Century Fox's LETS BE COPS comedy, which is aiming for $17 million by Sunday, is also slated to pass EXPENDABLES 3 at the weekend box office.