Jason Statham's $310 Million Transporter Reboot Lands on Streaming

Before he became an action star, Jason Statham made his name in Guy Ritchie films such as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch. His big break arrived in 2002 with The Transporter, in which he played Frank Martin, a former special-ops driver who delivers mysterious packages under one strict rule: never open the cargo.

Directed by Louis Leterrier and Corey Yuen from a screenplay by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen, the film opened on Oct. 11, 2002, was produced for $20 million and earned $43 million worldwide. Transporter 2 followed three years later and Transporter 3 arrived in 2008.

The series lay dormant for seven years before a 2015 reboot, The Transporter Refueled, recast the lead with Ed Skrein and positioned the film as a prequel. Refueled grossed $72 million against a $22 million budget, bringing the franchise total to $310 million. The decision to recast came after negotiations with Statham stalled — EuropaCorp reportedly wanted him to commit to three films without seeing scripts and was unwilling to meet his terms.

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