After three movies and one television show barely scratched the surface of a man whose driving has the power of punches and vice versa, Luc Besson will return to flesh out the story of nattily dressed delivery guy Frank Martin with a fourth—and possibly even fifth and sixth—film in The Transporter series. Unfortunately, Jason Statham will not be returning for this potential second trilogy, preferring to focus on exploring less creatively fallow ground, like a sequel to his remake of The Mechanic. So that leaves Besson to resort to the only alternative, besides letting nearly a dozen years of The Transporter franchise be enough, especially since its star and primary selling point is no longer interested: a reboot with an “origin story.”
At last, Besson will tell us the tale of how Frank Martin came to be The Transporter, such as the years he spent in “elite” driver’s ed and that class he took in customs regulations. And provided Besson can find an actor who can portray a younger version of the character who isn’t the already overtaxed Chris Pine, he’ll move forward with the film as a Chinese co-production to take advantage of the Chinese box office, where audiences are not nearly so discerning about the integrity of their driving-and-punching sagas.