The never-once-inaccurate IMDb informs us that French filmmaker Olivier Megaton “takes his name from his birthday: the 6th of August 1965 is the 20th anniversary of the dropping of the Hiroshima A-bomb.” I guess that’s a little more tasteful than Olivier Radiation Sickness, but such restraint doesn’t make him any less of an asshole. I mean, I share a birthday with Chuck Berry, but never once in my life did I consider changing my name to Jeremy Women’s Bathroom Camera. Until now.
What Monsieur Megaton lacks in class, I’m sure he more than makes up for in visual audaciousness, which means he’s an ideal hire for the third installment of the utterly nonsensical Transporter franchise. Megaton will replace Luc Besson-protege Louis Leterrier, whose slightly above-average action chops somehow qualified him for that sophisticated bedroom farce called The Incredible Hulk (if we’re lucky, Megaton will be directing Captain America in a couple of years). Jason Statham will, of course, reprise his role as the buff expediter of sensitive items, while Prison Break‘s Robert Knepper has been tapped to play Fiorello Laguardia.
At the press day for The Bank Job, Statham mentioned that Besson was working up a story for the third film, but he stopped short of confirming that Robert Mark Kamen would be scripting. To be honest, he seemed more enthusiastic about Crank 2. And that’s why we love him.
The Transporter 3 is scheduled for a sixteen-week shoot in Russia and France.