Spike Takes First Window for The Expendables

SANTA MONICA/VANCOUVER/NEW YORK: The Expendables, which opened as the number one movie in North America at the box office, has been licensed by Lionsgate to Spike TV for its first free-TV window.

The film, which grossed $34.8 million in its opening weekend, will premiere on Spike in April 2013. The movie—directed, starring and cowritten by Sylvester Stallone—is currently the number one movie in North America and brings together an iconic cast of action stars, including Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Eric Roberts, Randy Couture, Steve Austin, David Zayas, Terry Crews and Mickey Rourke.

"We are very excited about the tremendous box-office opening of The Expendables, and we’re delighted to license it to our partners at Spike TV as the latest film in our steady diet of high octane action thrillers ideally suited to their audience," said Lionsgate Television Group’s president, Kevin Beggs. "We’re committed to monetizing our strong slate of films in all distribution platforms, and Spike has proven to be a perfect partner for our action thrillers."

"The Expendables is one of this summer’s hottest action films, and we’re delighted to be the first network to offer it to our audience," added Spike TV’s president, Kevin Kay. "Lionsgate is one of the premier suppliers of the kind of explosive action thrillers that our viewers crave and we look forward to a continuing pipeline of action thrillers from them in the future."