Jason Statham’s $310 Million Action Franchise Reboot Storms Onto Streaming

Before Jason Statham became the action hero we know and love today, he was mostly known as a supporting character in Guy Ritchie films. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels introduced the English actor to American audiences, while Snatch further showcased his talents on the big stage. His big break came in 2002 when he was front and center in an action thriller that would go on to spawn two sequels. Grossing $238 million at the box office, the franchise was rebooted in 2015, and now, it’s that attempt to relive the glory days that has found a new streaming home.

Kicking off in 2002, The Transporter stars Statham as Frank Martin, a former special-ops driver who makes a living transporting mysterious packages with one strict rule: never open the cargo. When his curiosity eventually gets the better of him, Frank finds himself caught up in a human trafficking operation that forces him to use his unique set of skills to bring down a ruthless criminal network.

Directed by Louis Leterrier and Corey Yuen from a screenplay by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen, The Transporter hit theaters on Oct. 11, 2002, and was a modest hit at the box office. Produced for $20 million, it managed to generate $43 million in ticket sales worldwide, which was enough to warrant a sequel. As such, Transporter 2 came along three years later, followed by Transporter 3 in 2008. After that, the series was dormant for seven years before it was brought back with a new leading man, which spelled disaster for the series’ future.

‘The Transporter Refueled’ Was a Critical Disaster

Now streaming on HBO Max, The Transporter Refueled didn’t start out as a reboot. The idea was to continue the saga with a whole new trilogy that would bring back Statham’s character of Frank Martin. Sadly, negotiations with the star fell apart because not only did EuropaCorp want him to commit to three movies without ever seeing scripts, but they also didn’t want to pay him what he was worth.

Instead of scrapping the whole idea, though, the producers moved forward with a reboot, bringing Ed Skrein on board to portray a younger version of Martin, thus making the movie a prequel to the original trilogy as well. The result was a financial windfall, as The Transporter Refueled took in $72 million worldwide against a $22 million budget, bringing the franchise total to $310 million.

Unfortunately, that’s where the success of The Transporter Refueled started and stopped. The film was panned by pretty much everyone who saw it. To this day, it holds just a 16% rating on Rotten Tomatoes from critics, and a Popcornmeter score of 30%. So, while it may have been a financial hit, the poor reviews killed any momentum the franchise had, putting an end to future plans to make more movies.

What’s Next for Jason Statham?

Now a bona fide action star, Statham has recently been seen in hits like Shelter, The Beekeeper, A Working Man, and the ridiculously fun MEG series. At age 58, he shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon, and he’s got the itinerary to prove it.

There are no less than three films on Statham’s plate right now, including The Beekeeper 2 and a new action thriller titled Viva La Madness, which will see The Stath reunite with Ritchie for their seventh collaboration together. Before we get to all those, though, look for his newest movie, Mutiny, to hit theaters on Aug. 21 of this year.