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 $72.6 million worldwide.
Plot
In 1995, Russian criminal mobster, Arkady Karasov, and his associates, Leo Imasov and Yuri, took over rival gangs' sex trafficking business at the French Riviera. One of the prostitutes is a young Anna, and Maïssa. Karasov takes an interest in taking Maïssa with him. Fifteen years later, Anna is calling someone to start implementing their plan to bring down Karasov's criminal enterprise.
Former special forces operative, Frank Martin, is working as a skilled chauffeur for a living transporting classified packages and people for questionable clients in his Audi S8. Frank picks up Frank Martin Sr., a retired MI6 agent and Frank Jr.'s father.
Later that night, at the Carlton Cannes Hotel, Anna and Qiao kill the accountant in charge of Karasov's money. They place a dead prostitute's body in the hotel room before escaping. At Frank Jr.'s residence, during a dinner with his father, Anna calls Frank Jr. for a "transporter", and asks him to meet her at the Hotel Barrière Le Majestic Cannes.
The next morning, Karsov and his lady, Maïssa, discover that his accountant has been killed, and a dead prostitute is found wearing a necklace that belonged to his group. Meanwhile, Frank Jr. meets with Anna, who tells Frank Jr. to pick her up at the Mediterranean Bank in Monte Carlo, and Frank Jr. accepts.
Frank Jr. meets Anna at the bank, where he is joined by three women, including Qiao and Maria. Suspicious, Frank tells the women to get out of the car, but they threaten him with a gun and a live video of his father being held at gunpoint to force Frank Jr. to cooperate. Frank Jr. drives away and manages to outrun the police. Frank drives the women to a safe house and meets up with Gina and his father. Anna reveals that his father was ingested with poison and will die if Frank Jr. does what he was told since they have the antidote. Frank reluctantly accepts, and Anna tells Frank Jr. that they are going to steal anesthetic gas. Frank Jr. learns that Anna and the women were former prostitutes of Karasov, whom he shared a history with while in the military. Meanwhile, Karasov and Maïssa discovered that the women stole a logbook containing the list of Karasov’s associates, and Karasov realized that Frank Jr. was involved.
Frank takes Gina, Qiao, and Anna to a rave party club owned by Imasov. They set off the gas to knock everyone in the club, including Imasov out, allowing them to get his fingerprints which gives them access to his bank account, and Anna transfers the money to her account. Frank Sr and Maria infiltrate Yuri's plane and secure his fingerprints to his account before Frank Jr. picks them up. Maria was shot by one of Yuri’s bodyguards, so they took her back to the safehouse to save her life before Anna revealed that the poison was a ruse. Frank Jr. and Sr. leave after the girls accomplish the job.
Karasov’s associates questioned Karasov about his history with Frank Jr. and the girls from his group, so Karasov kidnaps Frank Sr. and calls Frank Jr., demanding he bring the girls to his yacht, or he will kill his father. Frank Jr. returns to the girls, but Gina seemingly leaves the group. Frank Jr. takes the women to Karasov's yacht. Yuri and Imasov came to the yacht, accusing Karasov of stealing their money, and Anna indicted that Karasov ordered the girls to steal their money for him.
Karasov shows his account to his associates, but Gina manages to sneak aboard the yacht and transfer all the stolen money to his account. Double-crossed, a shootout occurs, in which Qiao and Maria are killed in the crossfire. Gina steals back the money before Maïssa shoots Gina. Before Maïssa can retrieve the money, Gina strangles Maïssa before succumbing to her wound. Frank Jr. confronts Karasov on a cliffside. Anna intervenes, shoots Karasov, and sends his body plummeting into the ocean. Frank Jr. convinces Anna to leave her life of revenge behind, and Anna drives away. One month later, Anna distributes the stolen money to the families of her friends and to Frank Jr. and Sr.
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 [sr] 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.
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.
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 CN¥69.8 million.[16]
Critical response
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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] Audiences polled by CinemaScore, 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]
