The “Transporter” series is the little franchise that could.
“Transporter 3″ didn’t earn big bank during its theatrical run, although $32 million isn’t shabby for a no-budget threequel with zero stars besides the hulking Jason Statham.
But the film sold nearly 2 million copies in its first week of DVD release, and it became the number two downloaded film on iTunes and Amazon Video on Demand.
So what gives?
Two factors are at play. One, Statham is extremely comfortable in his niche. He’s an action hero, and doesn’t feel the need to do comedy or Serious Work. He knows what puts food on his table.
And there’s always a yearning for full-on action movies. When I used to work at a mom ‘n’ pop video store, any movie with an actor brandishing a gun on the cover would fly off the shelves. No matter who the actor was … Sylvester Stallone or Jeff Speakman.
The “Transporter” series is just the latest example of audience hunger for no nonsense action films.
(Photo: Jason Statham’s “Transporter 3″ earned a solid debut on both DVD and download sales.)
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I'm an award-winning journalist and film critic with more than a decade of experience in newspapers, magazines and the Web. I'm a member of both the Washington, DC Area Film Critics Association and the Denver Film Critics Society.
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