The Transporter Refueled

The Transporter Refueled (French: Le Transporteur: Héritage; also known as Transporter 4) is a 2015 action thriller film directed by Camille Delamarre and written by Bill Collage, Adam Cooper, and Luc Besson. It serves as a reboot and the fourth film in the Transporter franchise. It stars Ed Skrein as Frank Martin, alongside Ray Stevenson, Loan Chabanol, Gabriella Wright, Tatjana Pajković, Wenxia Yu, Radivoje Bukvić, Lenn Kudrjawizki, Anatole Taubman, and Noémie Lenoir. In the film, Frank finds himself caught up in a bank heist and kidnapping plot orchestrated by Anna (Chabanol).

The Transporter Refueled
Theatrical release poster
Directed byCamille Delamarre
Written by
Based on
Characters
by
Produced by
  • Mark Gao
  • Luc Besson
Starring
CinematographyChristophe Collette
Edited byJulien Rey
Music byAlexandre Azaria
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 4 September 2015 (2015-09-04) (United States)
  • 9 October 2015 (2015-10-09) (France)
Running time
96 minutes[1]
Countries
  • China
  • France
LanguageEnglish
Budget$22 million[2]
Box office$72.6 million[3]

A fourth Transporter film was planned to feature original franchise star Jason Statham, who was offered a three film deal with EuropaCorp to produce additional installments. After negotiations with Statham fell through, Skrein was hired and the franchise was rebooted, featuring no returning cast members from the first three films. Principal photography took place in Paris.

The Transporter Refueled was theatrically released on 4 September 2015 in the United States and in France five days later, by EuropaCorp; it is the first Transporter film primarily distributed by EuropaCorp. The film received negative reviews from critics, who criticized the screenplay and found it underwhelming compared to other Transporter films. It grossed $72 million worldwide.

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 takes 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 Russian mobster who had victimized Anna years earlier. Anna's whole team rob Arkady's friends and frame him for it.

Cast
  • Ed Skrein as Frank Martin Jr., 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
  • Yu Wenxia 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
  • Lenn Kudrjawizki as Leo Imasov, the second person on Anna's hitlist for robbing their banks, who host nightclub dance parties.
  • Yuri Kolokolnikov as Yuri, a third person on Anna's hitlist for robbing their banks, and he owns a plane.
  • 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 $16 million in the United States and Canada, and $56.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $72.6 million.[3] Its largest territory was China with US$18.3 million.[15]

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 ¥69.8 million RMB.[16]

Critical response

The Transporter Refueled has received negative reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 15% based on 104 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."[17] On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 32 out of 100, based on 24 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[18] On CinemaScore, audiences gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale.[19]

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."[20]

References
  1. "THE TRANSPORTER REFUELLED (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 13 August 2015. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  2. Brent Lang (2 September 2015). "Labor Day Box Office: 'Transporter Refueled' vs. 'Walk in the Woods'". Variety. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  3. "The Transporter Refueled (2015)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
  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. 1 August 2014. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
  10. Ben Block, Alex (1 August 2014). "'Transporter Legacy' Set for March 2015 Release". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
  11. Fischer, Russ (4 August 2014). "'The Transporter Legacy' Now Shooting With Ed Skrein Starring". slashfilm.com. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
  12. "Transporter Legacy is Filming". mikethefilmguy.com. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
  13. "'The Transporter Legacy' Moved Into Summer". deadline.com. 5 November 2014. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
  14. Pedersen, Erik (1 April 2015). "'Transporter Refueled' & 'Hillsong – Let Hope Rise' Moved: See You In September". deadline.com. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  15. "The Transporter Refueled". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
  16. Kevin Ma (24 November 2015). "Hunger Games finale inflames Greater China". Film Business Asia. Archived from the original on 25 November 2015. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
  17. "The Transporter Refueled reviews". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  18. "The Transporter Refueled reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
  19. "'Straight Outta Compton' Going for Four-peat". deadline.com. 8 September 2015.
  20. "The Transporter Refueled Review - IGN". Uk.ign.com. 1 September 2015. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
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