Jason Statham's had a super long career. If you love action, he is your man. There's plenty of films in his name to keep any action film buff going. Even with an insane amount of money he's made on-screen it looks like some franchises really didn't utilize his potential for all the good stuff that's possible. One franchise? Well, it was "The Expendables!" Let's see just why.
An Action Star- Jason Statham:
Jason Statham is really a super recognizable figure. If you haven't seen one of his movies yet? Now is a perfect chance to give it a try, as his performances really bring an action film to life. You might remember Statham as someone who took an unconventional journey to super stardom. If anything, you might say that Statham made a huge career leap after he had some, let's call them interesting jobs! There's the market stall work, as well as some early music video roles. Then, there's a super notable director that brought him into the mainstream!
The amazing, Guy Ritchie helped to put Statham into the big time in a "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (back in 1998). In 1999, his next big gig, which gave his career another big step, was in a classic action film directed by John Carpenter in a movie called "Ghosts of Mars!", a fun sci-fi thriller.
An Action Heavyweight
What makes "Statham" so cool is that while he appears in all sorts of roles, you always know you will see a lot of action, which he loves. In fact, one could even call him a "typecast" action star and it might not matter! Because that is why audiences just love his performances.
Even though you have a lot of roles to consider with Statham in them, he doesn't just do these single roles and is a very prominent performer for the big names in action films. There's the well known series "The Fast and the Furious" franchise where he plays a powerful force who has become an integral part of this series, but the most famous of all! He gets top billing!
There are even some standalone projects! He recently showed that he could carry a series without an existing franchise and this comes with an exciting success. That was with his latest film, "The Beekeeper!" It's a hit with audiences that came in at about $152 million and has fans looking out to see just what other exciting films are coming down the road!
Statham's Franchises:
He doesn't just show up in a film here or there. There's so many! We get to see a full collection of films that "Statham" is well known for but he really gets to have a ton of fun doing this!
Statham, who doesn't want to just play a part. He plays an extremely valuable role in helping create the legacy of his most famous characters and their world.
He really brings these big series to life!
- "The Transporter" (There are 4 movies!)
- "Crank" (only 2 films)
- "The Expendables" ( A whole collection, a massive 4 installments.)
- "The Mechanic ( there's a 2 part collection that was a major hit)
- "The Fast and the Furious" (A major hit, that brought so many amazing characters and storylines with 11 amazing movie adaptations that made audiences worldwide a fan!)
- "The Meg" has 2 installments.
This is really just a part of all of those amazing performances and films! And he just might have some more, too! It doesn't look like he is slowing down any time soon. In fact, there is another "Beekeeper sequel in the making. But this isn't the end! He even teams up again with a familiar director David Ayer (that helmed "The Beekeeper films!). Their next release, an adaptation, could bring a new story as well.
A Franchise That Almost Was
We have Statham's success and everyone who likes a good, entertaining film might enjoy seeing this iconic actor's roles.
His close pal Sylvester Stallone has created some pretty successful franchises and Statham has found himself at the center of this big ensemble saga as well! This might be a true gift, as Statham was surrounded by all the major stars from this action world in an epic project, called "The Expendables." In essence, this could have been the very best project in all of "Statham's" movies.
And if anything, there's no denying how the series had such immense success when those first two movies hit theaters! However, this big series had some setbacks along the way! It looked like everyone, fans and studio executives, were excited about "The Expendables 3!" but this fell flat and then, "The Expendables 4" ( released in 2023) was just the kiss of death, becoming a complete failure with Box Office numbers. A movie that made a whopping $100 Million just earned a measly $51 Million!
That might explain why there might not be any new "Expendables". It’s certainly one of those things that happened quickly, it wasn't intentional! But what makes it really stick out! Is that it is a movie where the stars seemed to lack passion, it just felt like it was trying too hard to be funny and ended up being bland! There were also issues with the visual effects, not the typical action scene effects. Even a major, prolific creator in the action genre Sylvester Stallone couldn't make a real splash! What was an impressive list of icons wasn't enough to give the project its success. Even Statham who usually has huge charisma. Even he seemed lost and this ultimately ended in the death of a powerful series.
Statham's Box Office Wins, And A Potential Franchise:
If you can't tell Statham is one of those super hard working actors. And 2023 showed us!
He had 4 huge movies hit theaters that year! He's got some big projects as well, such as his iconic Fast and the Furious installment "Fast X!" which brought back so many memorable characters in the latest chapter of this "The Fast Saga." He had another super blockbuster that hit a milestone in a memorable way as "The Meg 2: The Trench (which has made a great impact!). Fans seem to be pretty happy with what "Statham" has been bringing to the screen.
There's always the unexpected too! What appears to be an outlier was another film in 2023 "Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre, where he collaborated with Guy Ritchie and even that project fell just a bit short. "The Beekeeper came at a much needed time. In the long term it was one of "Statham's" greatest performances, as the actor continued his action films, giving a lot of reasons why audiences continue to want him in these big projects, and some great movies that have turned into really powerful franchises, along with Stallone who wrote another thrilling action-packed script. That is set to hit theaters and might have a chance to become a big series!
Statham's Biggest Miss:
You may see a ton of those hit, and then one that really fell flat and failed. In all those films and series, Statham had that special quality in so many of his movie franchises and has had this super-famous moment, bringing a new version of himself on-screen, that may have given "Statham" a completely different path. What did not work in those last few projects?
- It's no surprise that there is always a question about whether the writers put too many famous faces together. In essence the movies have had a little less to them. They became episodic!
- If you think this might sound like some creative choice or not working out, it certainly showed a great sense of inconsistency.
What made this worse is the fact that "The Expendables" was in a position to go further and really give audiences a new series! What if you put Statham on a stage of his own with his own unique adventure? Maybe, just maybe, "Expendables" should have just stopped as it seemed. There might have been a chance for a standalone film!
It is tough when it comes to a project that's on-screen, especially for action films like "The Expendables," the team needs to bring a compelling vision that's well planned, and audiences expect it to be thrilling! It turns out the audience expectations, maybe were not met, in this project!
