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Jason Statham is no stranger to movie franchises, starting with The Transporter movies and continuing with The Expendables series, which has a third installment in the works that is looking to add even more action movie stars. Statham's latest, the action thriller Parker, opens today, and could be yet another franchise for the British action star. After all, the character of Parker has been the subject of 24 novels from the late author Donald E. Westlake, which means that there could be plenty Parker movies if audiences respond positively.
A career criminal, Parker sticks to a moral code that means he doesn't steal from the poor or hurt innocent people but has no problem resorting to violence if someone deserves it (see both Lee Marvin and Mel Gibson's portrayal of the character in 1967's Point Blank and 1999's Payback, respectively, for more info). In Parker, the anti-hero is betrayed by his crew and left for dead, so he heads to Palm Beach, Florida, seeking revenge and taking their next heist for himself as well. The movie looks like a perfect opportunity for Statham, an actor who seems uniquely dedicated to making nothing but action movies. But how much do you know about Statham's career? If you've got eight hours, we can make you a Statham expert.
time for the "essential statham" >> Posted 01.25.13 by Ryan -
Statham gets revenge, attempts an accent.
The character of career criminal Parker has made it to the big screen on several occasions, though never exactly under the same name. Created by the late author Donald E. Westlake, Parker was the protagonist of 24 novels Westlake wrote under the pseudonym of Richard Stark, the character of Parker was called Walker in 1967's Point Blank (and portrayed by Lee Marvin) and was called Porter when Mel Gibson played him in 1999's Payback, though both movies were based on the same book, Westlake's first "Parker" novel, The Hunter. In Parker, the character gets his original name back (even if no one is sure it's his real name in the first place), and is based on a different Westlake novel, Flashfire.
Ostensibly, the storyline remains the same, however. Like the other cinematic incarnations of the character, Parker, this time played by Jason Statham, has again been left for dead by his criminal partners and is looking to get revenge. "He’s a man who lives by a certain moral code," Statham told EW of the character, who can now be seen in the movie's first trailer. "He’s involved in criminal activities but he perceives all business to be in some way crooked. He never steals from people he feels can’t afford it and he doesn’t hurt people that don’t deserve it. So there’s a likeable quality to this anti-hero."
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watch the trailer and read more from statham on the role >> Posted 10.05.12 by Ryan -
Unlike some actors who feel the need to distance themselves from the action hero roles that made them famous by appearing in romantic comedies — we're looking at you, Gerard Butler — British tough-guy Jason Statham has never strayed very far from the roles that have been his bread and butter since first appearing as Bacon in Guy Ritchie's Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. But, just because Statham has made a name for himself playing surly ass-kickers, that doesn't mean that his characters are all one-dimensional. Case in point: Statham is one of the few tough-guys in The Expendables 2 who actually has a love interest (Charisma Carpenter), which allowed him to reveal his tender side.
Statham recently sat down to discuss returning as "tender" Lee Christmas in the sequel to The Expendables with our very own Jeremy Parsons. An action movie aficionado as well as an action icon in his own right, Statham revealed that he is a "massive Bruce Lee fan" and that he could watch Enter the Dragon "ten times a day" and "never tire" of watching it.
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Since making his debut in 1998's Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, British actor Jason Statham has been one of the most consistently-working action stars around. That made him a perfect fit for the Sylvester Stallone's lineup of past and present actions stars in both 2010's The Expendables and the upcoming sequel The Expendables 2.
The Expendables 2 arrives in theaters later this month, with Statham joining Stallone, Chuck Norris, Dolph Lundgren, Jet Li, Randy Couture, Terry Crews, Liam Hemsworth, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis in a tale of revenge against baddie Jean-Claude Van Damme, but, before that opens, we've compiled a brief history of Statham's best butt-kicking moments. Oh, you're welcome all right.
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The promotional campaign for The Expendables 2 has been primarily dedicated to releasing more and more new footage, but after releasing another new trailer to start the month, Lionsgate followed with an explosive poster instead. Getting back on track, the first preview clip from the movie is now online courtesy of AICN.
In the sequel, the 2010 original Expendables add a few newcomers, including Liam Hemsworth as sniper Billy the Kid and Yu Nan as Maggie. The whole team is out for revenge when one of their own is murdered. Not that we're taking bets, but we're willing to gamble (okay, maybe one bet) that Sylvester Stallone and Jason Statham are free from the chopping block, and Hemsworth might be too because of his ability to bring a more youthful, born in the '80s not lived through the '80s kind of crowd. Jet Li feels like the more emotional gut-check option because, seriously, who doesn't like Jet Li, but realistically, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, and Terry Crews shouldn't get too comfortable. The preview clip isn't interested in revealing which Expendable lives up to their name, but instead shows Stallone and Statham as Barney Ross and Lee Christmas, respectively, requiring assistance from Hemsworth to get them out of a jam.
watch the clip >> Posted 06.29.12 by Ryan -
The first full-length trailer for the upcoming The Expendables 2 was released last month and provided plenty of action and explosions for Sylvester Stallone and his company of aging action stars to contend with.
The latest trailer is no different, providing plenty of action, and injecting a few moments of humor, including a Terminator joke at Arnold Schwarzenegger's expense, as well as as more footage of Chuck Norris, including a shot of Norris, Schwarzenegger, Stallone, Bruce Willis and Jason Statham all lined up and firing their machine guns before the trailer goes down its long list of stars. There isn't much story revealed, so, if you must know, Expendables 2 sees Stallone and company out for revenge after one of their own is murdered.
check out the trailer >> Posted 06.06.12 by Ryan -
Usually, treasures like diamonds, bank vaults, and other things worth millions of dollars are the subjects sought after in heist movies. Typically, comic books don't fit the bill of the loot of a heist movie — that is unless, it's a comic book that was once owned by Nicolas Cage.
In 2000, several very expensive comic books were stolen from Cage's home, including the very rare Action Comics No. 1, which any comic book geek could tell you is the first ever appearance of Superman (there are only 100 known copies in existence). Cage had purchased the near-mint copy in 1997 for $150,000. Luckily for Cage, the comic book was insured. Fast forward to 2011, Cage's copy of Action Comics No 1. was discovered in an abandoned San Fernando Valley storage locker. Despite Cage's attempt to buy back the copy, the new owner auctioned off the comic book for a record $2.16M in November.
Now, the saga of Cage's Superman comic book is turning into a movie. THR reports that Lionsgate has picked up Action No. 1, a heist comedy Reno 911! creators Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon.
Garant and Lennon, who have also penned Night at the Museum, Herbie Fully Loaded, and The Pacifier, originally wrote their script with Cage in mind for playing himself but apparently Cage is out of the picture at this point. Jason Statham's name is being discussed as a possible lead but nothing is concrete as of yet. Though, it would be interesting (and highly entertaining) to see Cage give a meta performance.
Posted 03.09.12 by Chris -
After winning an Oscar for Black Swan and giving birth to her son, actress Natalie Portman is going back to work. She will start with two back-to-back movies with director Terrence Malick, who was recently nominated for an Oscar himself for last year's drama The Tree of Life.
According to Deadline, Portman will first appear in Knight of Cups alongside Christian Bale (The Dark Knight), Cate Blanchett (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) and Isabel Lucas (Immortals). Shooting on Knight of Cups begins this summer, and then Portman will move on to Lawless alongside Bale and Blanchett again, as well as Ryan Gosling (Drive), Rooney Mara (The Girl With the Dragon tattoo) and Haley Bennett (Marley & Me). Lawless starts production in the fall.
Statham to feel the Heat >> Posted 02.08.12 by Ryan -
Last August, writer-director-actor Sylvester Stallone stuffed enough current and former action stars into The Expendables to win audiences over and earn $274 million worldwide. Stallone instantly started talking about a sequel, using his Twitter to declare he wanted Bruce Willis back as a "supervillain" in the movie.
While we're not entirely sure of his intentions, Willis is back for The Expendables 2, along with fellow Expendables scene partner Arnold Schwarzenegger, with both actors having a more "substantial" role in the sequel, which has an even more expanded cast than the original. Strangely, details on the sequel have been scarce — a plot synopsis was revealed in May and involved the Expendables avenging the death of Mickey Rourke's character Tool, but was quickly dismissed. Fortunately, along with the teaser trailer comes a synopsis as well.
The Expendables are back and this time it's personal... Barney Ross (Stallone), Lee Christmas (Jason Statham), Yin Yang (Jet Li), Gunnar Jensen (Dolph Lundgren), Toll Road (Randy Couture) and Hale Caesar (Terry Crews) — with newest members Billy the Kid (Liam Hemsworth) and Maggie (Yu Nan) aboard — are reunited when Mr. Church (Willis) enlists the Expendables to take on a seemingly simple job. The task looks like an easy paycheck for Barney and his band of old-school mercenaries. But when things go wrong and one of their own is viciously killed, the Expendables are compelled to seek revenge in hostile territory where the odds are stacked against them. Hell-bent on payback, the crew cuts a swath of destruction through opposing forces, wreaking havoc and shutting down an unexpected threat in the nick of time — six pounds of weapons-grade plutonium; enough to change the balance of power in the world. But that's nothing compared to the justice they serve against the villainous adversary who savagely murdered their brother. That is done the Expendables way.
watch the trailer >> Posted 12.15.11 by Ryan -
Jason Statham movies usually aren't too complicated. Statham usually plays either a hitman (The Mechanic, Crank) or a mercenary (The Expendables, Killer Elite); a professional criminal (Revolver, The Italian Job) or a cop (Blitz, War). But in the upcoming action thriller Safe, Statham messes with tradition to play an ex-cop that's become a second-rate MMA fighter. Who saw that coming?
What hasn't changed, as evidenced in the first trailer for Safe, is all the things that audiences love about Statham movies: martial arts brawls, an overload of guns and gun loading, car chases and the requisite leap out of a window.
watch the trailer >> Posted 11.11.11 by Ryan