Looks Like We're Rebooting 'The Transporter' Now
Credit: EuropaCorp
Director Luc Besson has pitched his plan for a reboot to The Transporter franchise, and the action director has reportedly been given the greenlight.
Besson's EuropaCorp will reboot the franchise with the upcoming fourth Transporter film, to be followed by Transporter 5 and Transporter 6, if the fourth film is a success. Transporter 4 will be co-produced with Mark Gao's Shanghai-based Fundamental Films, and if it performs as expected, the sequels will be set up as official Chinese co-productions, in order to allow for easier access to China's surging box office.
However, with the reboot comes a considerable change to fan expectations, as Jason Statham, who played titular driver Frank Martin in the first three Transporter films, will not reprise his role in any of the new movies. Instead, these new films will serve as an origin story to the Frank Martin character, which has me wondering why they're considering this a reboot and not, instead, a prequel. But I suppose a completely new actor in the role of Frank Martin constitutes an overhaul of the franchise. Hence, a reboot.
The original Transporter premiered in 2002, and kickstarted a trilogy that went on to gross roughly $250 million worldwide. The film was was even spun off as a TV series. Season 1 of The Transporter, starring Chris Vance, aired on Cinemax in 2011. Season 2 has been picked up by TNT and will premiere this fall, which is somewhat fitting. Because if film and TV are going to run out of ideas, they might as well run out of ideas at the same time.