You know you’ve made it as an action star when you successfully headline your own franchise.Arnold Schwarzeneggeris a major reason whyThe Terminatorbecame a sci-fi staple,Wesley Snipeshelped propel the comic book movie back into relevance withBlade, andKeanu Reevesgave his career a jumpstart withJohn Wick. In the case ofJason Statham, he owes his action-star bonafides to The Transporter franchise. The trilogy stars Statham as Frank Martin, a courier for the criminal underworld. He lives by three simple rules: never change a deal, no names, and never open the package. This simple code gets rather complicated in the firstTransporter, when Frank learns that his latest package is actually a girl named Lai(Shu Qi).The success ofThe Transporterled to two more films, butStatham eventually wound up departing the franchise. What was the reason for this departure? The answer lies in a lopsided contract.
Jason Statham Left the Action Franchise Over a Contract Dispute
Though the first threeTransportermovies weren’t critical box office darlings, they were box office successes, as bothTransporter 2andTransporter 3did very well in their theatrical runs. Given that kind of success, it only makes sense that EuropaCorp - the producer behind theTransporterfranchise - would want to do more films.But according to Statham, Europa wanted him to sign before a script was written, andhe explained toVulturewhy that was a deal-breaker:
“You know what? It was obviously a great experience doing those films, and I would have loved to keep doing it. But they wanted me to sign on and do three more films without even seeing a script, and they offered me less money to do three than I’d get paid for one! So it was a business decision. I would have loved to have done it, but you can’t really sign on without doing a script, and to sign on for three of them? And to get paid a pittance? I just couldn’t see the value in that.”
Jason Statham’s ‘Crank’ Took a Classic Noir and Dipped It in Rocket Fuel
The star of ‘The Beekeeper’ goes full tilt in this bananas action thriller.
Statham’s comments highlighted a trend that other creatives have spoken about, especially as blockbuster filmmaking became more and more prevalent.Far too often, film stars will sign a contract locking them into a role before they see a script, which canlead to chaos or a perfect storm of creativity. But the combination of no script and significantly lower pay was a deal-breaker for Statham, and it isn’t hard to see why.He was the major draw of the Transporter films; his snarky demeanor as Frank, combined with the intense action sequence, is what kept viewers coming back to the theater.
The Transporter Franchise Has Tried To Live on Without Jason Statham
With Statham’s departure from the Transporter franchise, Europa decidedto push the reboot buttonand cast Ed Skreinin a new film,The Transporter: Refueled. It failed to hit the same note as Statham’s films, with critics finding the plot of Frank reuniting with his father (Ray Stevenson) to lack the intensity of previous films, althoughSkrein did get praise for his performance. Prior to the release ofThe Transport: Refueled,aTransportertelevision series was launched withChris Vancestepping into Frank’s signature suit. Butmassive creative turnover, includinglosing a pair of showrunnersand being unavailable to watch on mainstream cable, meant that the show was short-lived. It was canceled in 2015, shortly beforeThe Transporter: Refueledmade its debut in theaters.
Another element that may have hampered efforts to keep theTransporterfranchise going was the lack of involvement fromLuc BessonandRobert Mark Kamen.Besson and Kamenwrote the script for all three of Statham’sTransporterfilms,crafting his world and character; in fact, the work they did on this series bled over into their work onTaken.The Transporter: RefueledandTransporterseries also lacked the directorial vision ofLouis Leterrier, whose fast-paced style of directing helped shape theTransporterfilms as much as Besson and Kamen’s scripts. While everyone involved,particularly Statham, has gone on to bigger and better projects,The Transporterlosing its main star is a reminder of how franchises can be a double-edged sword, and how it’s important to keep the people who make said franchise what it is around.
The Transporter
A former special forces operative works as a highly skilled driver, transporting dangerous goods for shadowy clients. His strict rules ensure efficiency, but when he breaks one of his own by opening a mysterious package, he becomes entangled in a deadly human trafficking operation, leading to intense action sequences.
The Transporteris available to watch on Hulu in the U.S.
Watch on Hulu
