Jason Statham Will Return In 'The Mechanic 2' But Won't Star In 'Transporter 4'

With three films in The Transporter series (not to mention two ridiculous Crank films and The Expendables franchise), British action star Jason Statham is no stranger to sequels. However, it appears four films is just too much for the actor to reprise his role as driver Frank Martin. THR has word that Luc Besson and his EuropaCorp banner is moving forward with a fourth film in The Transporters franchise as a Chinese co-production with Mark Gao and his Fundamental Films company in Shanghai. But Statham will not return, because the film will serve as a reboot focusing on Frank's origin story this time. More below!

In addition, if the film performs as well as producers hope, a fifth and sixth installment following the younger version of the character will be planned. The reboot is on sale right now at the European Film Market. While The Transporter films were never anything beyond ridiculous action fun, it's annoying to see the series go the boring way of so many other franchises that begin to run long by crafting a prequel following the mysterious character's origins. However, fans of Statham might be happy to hear that another one of his characters will make a return.

Another report from THR says German director Dennis Gansel has been hired to direct The Mechanic 2, a sequel to the 2011 action thriller which starred Statham as Arthur Bishop, an elite assassin with a talent for cleanly killing targets, often making it look like an accidental death and with a strict code of conduct. This will be the first production Gansel has taken on in the United States after directing hit films in Germany like Before the Fall, The Wave and The Fourth State, making him one of Germany's most popular directors. It's not clear if Ben Foster will return, but we're sure fans will be fine since Statham is involved.