Director Louis Leterrier may have found a new fast and furious family helming the likes of Fast X, but things for the filmmaker were plenty fast and furious back in 2002, when he teamed up with Jason Statham for The Transporter. Now, speaking with Comicbook.com, Leterrier has called for more sequels in The Transporter franchise with The Stath back in the lead.
“I mean, that would be a dream. No, I mean we’ve shot commercials together, we’ve seen each other socially, but we hadn’t worked together for a long, long time and just seeing him being able to work with him, call action on the shot he was in. Directing him was just like it was so great and it was the beginning of his career, the very beginning of my career with two different people. But at the same time, you know, our heart is the same and our love for each other is the same. It was a true pleasure. So, I mean, why not like that? You know, Frank Martin is a great character. The Transporter is a great character. An Jason [Statham] is an amazing actor. We need more Transporter, right?”
The movie that put Statham on the map as a bona fide action star, The Transporter introduces audiences to Statham as Frank Martin, an ex-soldier turned mercenary driver living in France, who finds himself involved in a people smuggling plot. Of course, they don’t know that, alongside being an expert driver, Martin also possesses a very particular set of skills. Skills that allow him to beat everyone he meets to a pulp.
Would You Like to See Jason Statham Return as The Transporter?
The Transporter franchise spawned two sequels, 2005’s Transporter 2 (also helmed by Leterrier) and 2008’s Transporter 3, before Statham decided to walk away after the studio wanted him to “sign on and do three more films without even seeing a script.” Thus, The Transporter was rebooted with The Transporter Refueled in 2015. Recasting Statham with Deadpool star Ed Skrein, the reboot was met with negative reviews from critics and is largely seen as the unwanted child of the series.
While we wait and see whether a new Transporter movie led by Statham ever comes to fruition, the action star is currently busy battling sharks in the creature feature sequel, Meg 2: The Trench. The follow-up takes the action to higher heights and even greater depths as Jason Statham and Wu Jing lead a daring research team on an exploratory dive into the deepest depths of the ocean. Pitted against colossal Megs and relentless environmental plunderers, our heroes must outrun, outsmart, and outswim their merciless predators in a pulse-pounding race against time.
Directed by Ben Wheatley, from a screenplay by Jon Hoeber & Erich Hoeber and Dean Georgaris, Meg 2: The Trench is out now in theaters.
As for Louis Leterrier, he will return after helming Fast Xto direct Fast and Furious 11, which is currently scheduled to be released on April 4, 2025.
