The Transporter Refueled

The Transporter Refueled
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Camille Delamarre
Produced by	Mark Gao Luc Besson
Written by	Adam Cooper Bill Collage Luc Besson
Based on	Characters by Luc Besson Robert Mark Kamen
Starring	Ed Skrein Ray Stevenson Loan Chabanol Gabriella Wright Tatjana Pajković Wenxia Yu Radivoje Bukvić Lenn Kudrjawizki Anatole Taubman Noémie Lenoir
Music by	Alexandre Azaria
Cinematography	Christophe Collette
Edited by	Julien Rey
Production companies	Belga Films Canal+ EuropaCorp OCS TF1 TF1 Films TMC Relativity Media
Distributed by	EuropaCorp (Worldwide) Fundamental Films (China)
Release dates	4 September 2015 (United States) 9 September 2015 (France)
Running time	96 minutes[1]
Country	France
Language	English
Budget	$25 million[2]
Box office	$72.6 million[3]

The Transporter Refueled (French: Le Transporteur : Héritage) is a 2015 French action film directed by Camille Delamarre and written by Bill Collage, Adam Cooper, and Luc Besson. It is the fourth film in the Transporter franchise and the first film to be distributed by EuropaCorp in North America, but features a new cast, with Ed Skrein replacing Jason Statham as the title role of Frank Martin. It is the first installment of a planned Transporter reboot trilogy.

Filming began on 1 August 2014, in Paris, France. The film was released on 4 September 2015 in the United States and 9 September in France.

Plot

Former special-operations mercenary Frank Martin is living a less perilous lifestyle than he had previously, transporting classified packages for questionable people. Then he took the contract from Anna following his three rules of no names, no questions and no renegotiations. According to the contract, he should be near the bank for her and her two packages. However, he finds himself thrust into danger again when Anna and her accomplices Gina, Maria, and Qiao orchestrate a bank robbery and kidnap Martin's father to confront and kill Arkady Karasov, a human trafficker who had victimized Anna years earlier. Anna's whole team robbed Arkady's friends and framed him for it.

Cast

• Ed Skrein as Frank Martin, a former mercenary turned contract driver, known mainly as the Transporter.
• Ray Stevenson as Frank Martin Sr., a retired secret agent and Frank's father
• Loan Chabanol as Anna, one of four runaway sex slaves who wants to take revenge on Karasov for an event 15 years prior to the events of the film.
• Gabriella Wright as Gina, Anna's friend and another one of four runaway sex slaves who set out against Karasov
• Tatjana Pajković as Maria, Anna's friend and another one of four runaway sex slaves
• Wenxia Yu as Qiao, Anna's friend and another one of the four runaway sex slaves
• Radivoje Bukvić as Arkady Karasov, a powerful Russian mobster who kidnapped Frank's father, as well as Frank's former brother-in-arms and was responsible for the event that occurred 15 years prior to the events of the film, which involved Anna and her friends.
• Noémie Lenoir as Maissa
• Yuri Kolokolnikov as Yuri, a third person on Anna's hitlist for robbing their banks, and he owns a plane.
• Lenn Kudrjawizki as Leo Imasov, the second person on Anna's hitlist for robbing their banks, who host nightclub dance parties.
• Samir Guesmi as Inspector Bectaoui
• Anatole Taubman as Stanislav Turgin

Production

At the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, a new trilogy was announced with EuropaCorp and China's Fundamental Films co-producing and distributing the titles.^[4][5] The films will likely be budgeted between €25 million and €30 million each and at least one will be shot in China.^[6] Luc Besson will co-finance, distribute, produce and write all the films.^[7] The franchise was rebooted after negotiations with Jason Statham fell through.

EuropaCorp wanted Statham to sign a three contract deal, without revealing the script first. English actor Ed Skrein replaced Statham as Frank Martin in the fourth installment of the series.^[8] In March 2015, the title was changed from The Transporter Legacy to The Transporter Refueled.

Principal photography of the film began on 1 August 2014, in Paris, France.^{[9][10][11][12]}

Release

The film was previously set to be released on 6 March 2015.^[9] On 5 November 2014, EuropaCorp moved the film for a 19 June 2015 release.^[13] On 1 April 2015, EuropaCorp again moved the film back to a 4 September 2015.^[14]

Box office

The Transporter Refueled grossed US$72.6 million worldwide,^[15] with its largest territory being China with US$18.3 million.^[16]

In its opening weekend in North America, the film grossed $7.4 million, finishing 4th at the box office. It was also 4th on its opening weekend in China, grossing CN¥69.8 million.^[17]

Critical response

The Transporter Refueled has received negative reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 16%, based on 94 reviews, with an average rating of 3.8/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "The Transporter Refueled has little to offer beyond a handful of decent action sequences, leaving this reboot's title feeling more like wishful thinking than a restatement of purpose."^[18] On Metacritic the film has a score of 32 out of 100, based on 24 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".^[19] On CinemaScore, audiences gave the film an average grade of "B-" on an A+ to F scale.^[20]

IGN awarded it a score of 7.0 out of 10, saying, "The shadow of Jason Statham loomed large over this reboot, but Ed Skrein nails it, meaning the franchise is in safe hands."^[21]

References

1. "THE TRANSPORTER REFUELLED (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 13 August 2015. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
2. Brent Lang (2015-09-02). "Labor Day Box Office: 'Transporter Refueled' vs. 'Walk in the Woods'". Variety. Retrieved 2016-10-19.
3. "The Transporter Refueled (2015)". Box Office Mojo. 2015-11-19. Retrieved 2016-10-19.
4. "'Transporter' sequels announced at Cannes Film Festival". digitalspy.co.uk. 22 May 2013. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
5. "Cannes 2013: Three New Films In The Transporter Franchise Announced". empireonline.com. 22 May 2013. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
6. "New Transporter trilogy bound for big screen with parts 4 5 and 6 announced". metro.co.uk. 22 May 2013. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
7. "Sequel Bits: 'Transformers 4', 'Expendables 3', 'Transporter 4-6', 'The Hobbit', 'Anchorman 2', 'Pacific Rim 2'". slashfilm.com. 21 May 2013. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
8. "Transporter 4 will star Ed Skrein in Jason Statham role". theguardian.com. 10 February 2014. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
9. "Luc Besson Drives His Own 'Transporter' Reboot To U.S. In 2015". deadline.com. August 1, 2014. Retrieved August 2, 2014.
10. Ben Block, Alex (August 1, 2014). "'Transporter Legacy' Set for March 2015 Release". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved August 2, 2014.
11. Fischer, Russ (August 4, 2014). "'The Transporter Legacy' Now Shooting With Ed Skrein Starring". slashfilm.com. Retrieved August 28, 2014.
12. "Transporter Legacy is Filming". mikethefilmguy.com. Retrieved August 28, 2014.
13. "'The Transporter Legacy' Moved Into Summer". deadline.com. November 5, 2014. Retrieved November 9, 2014.
14. Pedersen, Erik (April 1, 2015). "'Transporter Refueled' & 'Hillsong – Let Hope Rise' Moved: See You In September". deadline.com. Retrieved April 6, 2015.
15. "The Transporter Refueled". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
16. "The Transporter Refueled". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
17. Kevin Ma (2015-11-24). "Hunger Games finale inflames Greater China". Film Business Asia. Retrieved 2015-11-24.
18. "The Transporter Refueled reviews". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved April 17, 2016.
19. "The Transporter Refueled reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
20. "'Straight Outta Compton' Going for Four-peat". deadline.com.
21. "The Transporter Refueled Review - IGN". Uk.ign.com. 2015-09-01. Retrieved 2016-10-19.

External links

• Official website
• The Transporter Refueled at the Internet Movie Database
• The Transporter Refueled at Box Office Mojo
• The Transporter Refueled at Rotten Tomatoes