From 'The Transporter' to 'A Working Man', Jason Statham is the last marketable action hero
He's cheap, efficient, and blunt... just like his screen tough guys.
Fighting a shark? Call Jason Statham.
Fighting drug smugglers? Call Jason.
Find yourself with a sex trafficking problem? Call the bullet-headed Brit.
Dealing with phone-scamming bastards? Call Statham.
Need to give The Rock a good run for his money and someone to fight alongside him without an ego the size of an ocean? Same guy.
Dirty cops? Cop killers? Same guy.
Need someone to beat up the President? Better call Jason.
For over 20 years and countless movies, Statham has provided movie fans with jolts of excitement that didn’t leave the studio that funded the adventure unhappy. While the unnecessary Snow White remake tanked and others middled in the box office waters, Statham’s latest action banger, A Working Man, cruised to a smooth $30 million worldwide take home during its first weekend of release.
Those aren’t dollars to go crazy about or sing out loud about the revival of the movie theater experience, but a reminder that there is one true king when it comes to bone-crunchers with a good smile and big heart: Statham wears the mantle right now, and has carried it for awhile.
David Ayer’s Working Man cost $40 million to produce, so the first four days of release took care of 75% of the budget. The next few weeks are pretty empty, so the gross will cruise close to $75-100 million by the time it starts to hit the shores of streaming, where it will do very well for the action movie lovers who simply don’t make it to the theater anymore. Like it or not, those folks are Statham’s bread and butter.
Make no mistake, though. Statham’s general appeal starts on the big screen. Ayer’s 2023 team-up with him, The Beekeeper, also cost $40 million to produce and ended up with a whopping $162 million worldwide gross. His big budget endeavors also bring home the cheddar biscuits. The Meg 2: The Trench may have cost $129 to make, but it brought home just shy of $400 million worldwide. That’s the stuff Marvel dreams of at the moment.
Trust me when I say that Marvel CEO Kevin Feige has been ringing Statham’s phone until the number was blocked to come rescue his just-above-water monster ship. They need him more than he needs them, five years ago and especially now. I won’t blame the atrocious gross of the completely unnecessary Expendables 4 on him. That was a ship that his best friend and Working Man co-screenwriter, Sylvester Stallone, helped sink.
In the same vein, one can’t give him too much credit for his part in the last two atrocious Fast and Furious editions, but he does get credit for the cold-blooded and taut Guy Ritchie film, Wrath of Man. Going slightly against type as the leader of a criminal organization who seeks revenge for his son, Statham turned the $40 million-budgeted film into a $104 million-grossing hit.
Like most of his films, Ritchie’s movie had decent legs, taking home only $8 million during its first weekend. The first Meg grossed $529 million on a $130 million budget. The list goes on and on, and it starts and ends with the star of the show. Place Vin Diesel’s giant head into those roles, and the receipts aren’t as rich or respected. Unlike his former F&F foe-turned-ally, Statham keeps his head down and just keeps working without any off-screen fuss. In other words, he shows up on time.
What about Tom Cruise? While I appreciate the guy’s dedication to stunts and the action genre, his Mission and Top Gun adventures exist in another realm than Statham’s calm and collected slices of cinematic pizza. One guy’s ego and way of doing things overshadows the productions and requires boatloads of hype. Statham’s movies are what they are when they walk in the door; no fuss, no fluff. You also don’t have to wait 2-3 years for a new ass-kicking edition.
Also, Statham isn’t jumping on couches cheering about his new romance nor does he believe in the weirdest religion ever. In fact, Statham would have just kicked Cruise off the couch all together.
Here’s a crisp example of his power and ability to bring home the cash. Back in 2016, Mechanic Resurrection, a sequel to his solid remake of a Charles Bronson action thriller, grossed $125 off a (guess what) $40 million budget, and it received terrible reviews.
That’s what makes him unique: Statham breaks the boundaries of certain movie star entrapments. He can open a film in January, when the studios usually dump their crap onto audiences’ shoulders. He can open a film that gets bad reviews, because picky film critics don’t need to like his films for the casual movie fan to enjoy the goods. You can pit him against anything, and the movie will make money.
In his next film, he plays a chef at a glamorous restaurant who finds out drugs are being smuggled through the business. As it turns out, those chopping skills weren’t learned in culinary school, but the British army. Teaming up with his sous chef, played by Jack Quaid, he will stop at nothing to finish all the entrees and dish the coldest one to the bad guys. I just made that up, but try and tell me he couldn’t bring home $100 million on that setup alone.
He’s the last of his kind in an era that has lost the value in what an actor like him can achieve. In a current landscape of remakes and IP-powered drivel that keeps trying to replicate the past, Statham manages to replicate the past and bring home the bacon. Audiences want him however they can get him, which can’t be said for just about everyone else. He makes 57 years of age look like a million bucks, both literally and figuratively.
I’ve been a fan of his work since he donned a black suit and tie for The Transporter series. An ordinary fella who transports precious goods and snaps into action when innocent people are hurt due to a military background that doesn’t need to be fleshed out in a murky flashback. With him, you just believe it. That’s the conviction that the Oscars or any awards show aren’t required to illuminate.
My friend and Buffet subscriber,
, put it best in his box office report this morning, with a wonderful Field of Dreams correlation:“The one constant through all the years has been Jason Statham. The star system has been erased by a blackboard, still waiting to be rebuilt or erased again. For the last 25 years, there was one thing America could count on. Jason Statham was always there, making the kind of non-franchise, R-rated, reasonably-budgeted pulpy actioners that otherwise threatened to go extinct. In the 2010s, with Hollywood gripped in a relentless pursuit of all-quadrant fantasy franchise global box office riches and post-Columbine desire to squeeze every kind of movie into the PG-13 box and now as the studio programmer and mid-budget drama have long given way to IP-driven mega-budget fantasy franchises and nostalgia-charged attempts to turn one-and-done blockbusters into brands. But Jason Statham has marked the time. When Jason Statham would arrive, full of righteous indignation and relatively justifiable violence, people would come.”
That about sums it up. Statham doesn’t need flash and dance, or a big red carpet. Real deals simply walk in and entertain.