Transporter (franchise) explained

Transporter
Caption:Franchise logo
Creator:Luc Besson
Robert Mark Kamen
Owner:EuropaCorp
Films:
Tv: (2012–2014)
Soundtracks:
  • The Transporter
  • Transporter 2
  • Transporter 3

Transporter (French: Le Transporteur) is a French action thriller film franchise, comprising four films released between 2002 and 2015, and a television series. Jason Statham plays Frank Martin in the first three movies, a professional freelance courier driver. Chris Vance portrays Martin in the sequel television series, and Ed Skrein portrays him in the fourth film, a reboot.

Background

Frank Martin is the protagonist of the films and television series. He is portrayed as a former Special Forces operative who was team leader of a search and destroy unit, with a military background including operations "in and out of" Lebanon, Syria and Sudan, as well as a recipient of the Bronze Star. He retires from service after becoming fatigued and disenchanted with his superior officers, and uses his skills as a private driver for hire while maintaining an apparently legitimate life living off of his army pension. Martin operates in accordance with a strict code of conduct, and expects his clients to adhere to his rules. The character is portrayed with varied backgrounds in different installments of the franchise. In the television series, it is revealed that he was orphaned as a child, enlisted in the British Army as an adult and later transferred to Special Air Service. In the film, The Transporter Refueled, his father Frank Martin Sr. is a former British spy who retires to work on his relationship with his son.

Films

The Transporter (2002)

See main article: The Transporter. Frank Martin (Jason Statham) is a highly-skilled driver known only as "The Transporter." He will transport anything, no questions asked, always on time, and is known as the best in the business. He strictly follows three rules when transporting: Rule Number 1: "Once the deal is made, it is final," Rule Number 2: "No names," and Rule Number 3: "Never open the package." Frank inadvertently breaks his own rule, opens the package and finds a bound and gagged woman.

Transporter 2 (2005)

See main article: Transporter 2. Frank is hired as the driver for a wealthy family in Miami, Florida. Frank bonds with their young son, whom he drives to school every day. When the boy is kidnapped, Frank must again act in order to protect his young "package" and his family. Eventually, he unravels a scheme involving biological weapons and the nefarious Gianni Chellini. Inspector Tarconi plays a more prominent role in this film. It is established that he and Frank are now friends, and Tarconi goes as far as to lie to the police to cover for Frank.

Transporter 3 (2008)

See main article: Transporter 3. Frank is pressured into transporting Valentina (Natalya Rudakova) the kidnapped daughter of Leonid Vasilev (Jeroen Krabbé), head of the Environmental Protection Agency for Ukraine, from Marseille through Stuttgart and Budapest until he ends up in Odesa on the Black Sea. Along the way, with the help of Inspector Tarconi (François Berléand), Frank has to contend with the people who strong armed him to take the job, agents sent by Vasilev to intercept him, and the general non-cooperation of his passenger, who he realises is the package midway through the film. Despite Valentina's cynical disposition and Frank's resistance to getting involved, Frank and Valentina fall for each other, while escaping from one life-threatening situation after another.

The Transporter Refueled (2015)

See main article: The Transporter Refueled. In May 2013, at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, a new reboot trilogy was announced with EuropaCorp and China's Fundamental Films co-producing and distributing the titles.[1] [2] The films were to be budgeted between $30 million to $40 million each and at least one was planned to be shot in China.[3] [4] Luc Besson will co-finance, distribute, produce and write all the films.[5] English actor Ed Skrein replaced Jason Statham as Frank Martin on the fourth installment of the series.[6] The fourth film, The Transporter Refueled, directed by Camille Delamarre, was released in the United States on 4 September 2015.

Television

See main article: Transporter: The Series. Transporter: The Series is a television series based on the Transporter films which premiered in 2012 on 11 October in Germany on RTL, and on 6 December in France on M6. Chris Vance took over the role of Frank from Jason Statham and was joined by Hungarian actress Andrea Osvárt, who played Carla, the leading female role in the series,[7] a former Intelligence agent who organises his missions, and French actor François Berléand, the only returning actor from the film series, who reprised his role as Inspector Tarconi.[8] The series was intended to premiere on Cinemax but they pulled out due to production problems. TNT picked it up and aired both seasons.[9]

Cast and crew

Principal cast

CharacterOriginal seriesReboot
The TransporterTransporter 2Transporter 3The Transporter RefueledSeason 1Season 2
Frank Martin
Jason StathamEd SkreinChris Vance
Inspector Marcelle TarconiFrançois Berléand François Berléand 
Lai KwaiShu Qi 
Darren "Wall Street" BettencourtMatt Schulze 
Mr. KwaiRic Young 
Gianni Chellini Alessandro Gassman 
Audrey Billings Amber Valletta 
Lola Kate Nauta 
Stappleton Keith David 
Jack Billings Hunter Clary 
Max Shannon Briggs 
Valentina Vasileva Natalya Rudakova 
Johnson Robert Knepper 
Leonid Tomilenko Jeroen Krabbé 
Leonid's Aide Alex Kobold  
Malcom Manville David Atrakchi 
Flag Yann Sundberg 
Ice Eriq Ebouaney 
Frank Martin Sr. Ray Stevenson 
Anna Loan Chabanol 
María Tatjana Pajković 
Gina Gabriella Wright 
Qiao Wenxia Yu 
Arkady Karasov Radivoje Bukvić 
Maissa Noémie Lenoir 
Dieter Hausmann Charly Hübner
Carla Valeri  
Juliette Dubois Delphine Chanéac 
Caterina "Cat" Boldieu Violante Placido
Jules Faroux Mark Rendall
Olivier Dassin Dhaffer L'Abidine
Zara Knight Elyse Levesque

Additional crew

Crew memberThe Transporter
(2002)
Transporter 2
(2005)
Transporter 3
(2008)
The Transporter Refueled
(2015)
DirectorCorey YuenLouis LeterrierOlivier MegatonCamille Delamarre
Producer(s)Luc Besson & Stephen ChasmanMark Gao & Luc Besson
Writer(s)Luc Besson & Robert Mark KamenLuc Besson, Adam Cooper & Bill Collage
ComposerStanley ClarkeAlexandre Azaria
EditorPierre MorelVincent Tabaillon & Christine Lucas-NavarroCarlo Rizzo & Camille DelamarreJulien Rey
CinematographerNicolas TrembasiewiczMitchell AmundsenGiovanni Fiore ColtellacciChristophe Collette
Production company(s)Canal+
TF1 Films
EuropaCorp
Current Entertainment
Canal+
TPS Star
TF1 Films
EuropaCorp
Current Entertainment
Canal+
TF1 Films
EuropaCorp
Apipoulaï Prod.
Grive Productions
Current Entertainment
Canal+
TF1 Films
EuropaCorp
Belga Films
Relativity Media
Distributor20th Century FoxLionsgate FilmsEuropaCorp
Runtime92 minutes87 minutes104 minutes96 minutes
Release date11 October 20022 September 200526 November 20084 September 2015

Reception

Box office performance

FilmRelease dateBox office grossBox office rankingBudget
North AmericaOther territoriesWorldwideAll time North AmericaAll time worldwide
The Transporter11 October 2002$25,296,447$18,632,485$43,928,932
  1. 2,660
$21,000,000[10]
Transporter 22 September 2005$43,095,856$42,071,783$85,167,639
  1. 1,701
$32,000,000[11]
Transporter 326 November 2008$31,715,062$77,264,487$108,979,549
  1. 2,284
$40,000,000[12] [13]
The Transporter Refueled4 September 2015$16,029,670$56,600,000$72,629,670
  1. 3,669
$22,000,000[14]
Total$116,137,035$194,568,755$310,705,790$115,000,000[15] [16]

Critical and public response

FilmRotten TomatoesMetacriticCinemaScore
The Transporter54% (128 reviews)[17] 51 (27 reviews)[18] B+
Transporter 252% (122 reviews)[19] 56 (29 reviews)[20] B+
Transporter 340% (115 reviews)[21] 51 (26 reviews)[22] B−
The Transporter Refueled15% (105 reviews)[23] 32 (24 reviews)[24] B−[25]

Appearances in other media

Jason Statham made a small appearance in the 2004 film Collateral, credited as "Airport Man". Louis Leterrier, co-director of the 2002 action film The Transporter, interpreted Statham's scene as a portrayal of his Transporter character Frank Martin.[26] Zebbie Gillese voices Frank Martin / Transporter in the 2021 Netflix original film , in which he is depicted as the stagecoach driver of Benedict "Cosby" Arnold.[27]

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: 'Transporter' sequels announced at Cannes Film Festival. 19 January 2022. Digital Spy. 22 May 2013.
  2. News: Cannes 2013: Transporter 4-6 Announced. 19 January 2022. Empire Magazine. 22 May 2013.
  3. News: 'Cannes: Three New 'Transporter' Films in the Works . 19 January 2022 . . 19 May 2013 .
  4. News: New Transporter trilogy bound for big screen with parts 4 5 and 6 announced. 24 July 2013. Metro. 22 May 2013.
  5. News: Sequel Bits: 'Transformers 4', 'Expendables 3', 'Transporter 4-6', 'The Hobbit', 'Anchorman 2', 'Pacific Rim 2'. 19 January 2022. /Film. 21 May 2013.
  6. News: Transporter 4 will star Ed Skrein in Jason Statham role. 15 February 2014. . 10 February 2014.
  7. News: Cinemax's 'Transporter' Series Casts Male & Female Leads. Nellie . Andreeva . . 20 May 2011.
  8. News: 'Transporter': 'Lost's' Stephen Williams to Helm Pilot (Exclusive). Lesley . Goldberg . . Los Angeles, California . 23 June 2011.
  9. Web site: MIPTV: 'Transporter' Series Reboot for TNT Heavy on Action . The Hollywood Reporter . 8 April 2014 . Scott . Roxborough . 19 January 2022.
  10. Web site: The Transporter (2002) . Box Office Mojo . 21 December 2014.
  11. Web site: Transporter 2 (2005) . Box Office Mojo . 21 December 2014.
  12. Web site: Transporter 3 (2008) - Financial Information . The Numbers.
  13. Web site: Transporter 3 (2008) . Box Office Mojo . 21 December 2014.
  14. Web site: The Transporter Refueled (2015) . The Numbers . November 24, 2015.
  15. Web site: Transporter Franchise Box Office History . .
  16. Web site: Franchise: Transporter . Box Office Mojo . 25 December 2020 .
  17. Web site: The Transporter (2002) . . 13 September 2002 . 16 December 2023.
  18. Web site: The Transporter Reviews . . 21 December 2014.
  19. Web site: Transporter 2 (2005) . Rotten Tomatoes . 2 September 2005 . 16 December 2023.
  20. Web site: Transporter 2 Reviews . Metacritic . 21 December 2014.
  21. Web site: Transporter 3 (2008) . Rotten Tomatoes . 26 November 2008 . 16 December 2023.
  22. Web site: Transporter 3 Reviews . Metacritic . 21 December 2014.
  23. Web site: The Transporter Refueled reviews . Rotten Tomatoes . 16 December 2023 . September 6, 2015.
  24. Web site: The Transporter Refueled reviews . Metacritic . December 16, 2023.
  25. Web site: 8 September 2015 . Anthony D'Alessandro . Anita Busch . 'Straight Outta Compton' Going for Four-peat . . Transporter Refueled earned a B- CinemaScore on par with the third installment .
  26. Web site: Chris . Carle . Louis Leterrier Interviewed . IGN . August 31, 2005 . April 17, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190528074927/https://www.ign.com/articles/2005/08/31/louis-leterrier-interviewed . May 28, 2019 . live .
  27. News: Bro, say can you see? "America: The Motion Picture" shows we're not just dumb, we're drawn that way. 30 June 2021. Salon. McFarland. Melanie. 30 June 2021.