# Transporter (franchise)
[The Transporter](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-transporter) is a French-produced action franchise centered on [Frank Martin](https://www.edgepedia.org/frank-martin), a professional driver-for-hire who moves any package, human or otherwise, for a fee and without questions. It began with *The Transporter* (2002), written and produced by [Luc Besson](https://www.edgepedia.org/luc-besson), starring Jason Statham, and grew into two Statham sequels, a 2015 reboot with a new lead, and a television series.[1](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-transporter-2002) • [2](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-transporter/) • [24](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_transporter_refueled)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Films | *The Transporter* (2002), *Transporter 2* (2005), *Transporter 3* (2008), *The Transporter Refueled* (2015)[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movies/franchise/Transporter) |
| Worldwide gross | $43.9M (2002), $89.0M (2005), $112.9M (2008), $69.7M (2015); combined about $315.5M against roughly $115M in production budgets[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movies/franchise/Transporter) • [4](https://screenprofits.com/franchises/transporter/) |
| Frank Martin's rules | Never change the deal, no names, never look in the package[1](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-transporter-2002) |
| First film reception | 53% Tomatometer and 73% Popcornmeter on Rotten Tomatoes; Metascore 51 (mixed or average) from 27 critics[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/transporter) • [2](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-transporter/) |
| Key creators | Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen (writers), Corey Yuen (director and fight choreographer of the first film), EuropaCorp (production company)[2](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-transporter/) • [6](https://www.lagardere.com/communique-presse/le-transporteur-une-production-atlantique-productions-lagardere-entertainment-a-partir-du-6-decembre-sur-m6/) |
| Television | *Transporter: The Series* (2013–2014) with Chris Vance; season 1 averaged 1.05 million US viewers on TNT, season 2 dipped to 910,000[7](https://www.fastcompany.com/3051119/tv-report-card-how-the-new-class-of-movie-based-shows-measures-up) |
| Shared universe | Screenwriter Stuart Beattie confirmed Statham's uncredited "Airport Man" in *Collateral* (2004) is Frank Martin[8](https://as.com/meristation/cine/era-un-secreto-a-voces-jason-statham-en-collateral-con-tom-cruise-era-frank-martin-de-transporter-n/) |
## The first film
*The Transporter* opened in the United States on October 11, 2002. [Jason Statham](https://www.edgepedia.org/jason-statham), previously known from [Guy Ritchie](https://www.edgepedia.org/guy-ritchie)'s British crime films, plays Frank Martin, an ex-Special Forces operative living on the French Mediterranean who hires himself out as a mercenary transporter.[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movies/franchise/Transporter) • [5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/transporter) • [9](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/article/2024/jul/17/the-transporter-jason-stathams-first-star-vehicle-with-the-oiliest-fight-sequence-set-to-screen) Roger Ebert, the longtime [Chicago Sun-Times](https://www.edgepedia.org/chicago-sun-times) critic, described the film as a marriage of James Bond and Hong Kong cinema, combining luxurious European locations with martial-arts technique, and noted Martin's three unbreakable rules: never change the deal, no names, and never look in the package.[1](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-transporter-2002)
The plot turns when Martin opens a duffle bag in the trunk of his black BMW 735 and finds a bound young woman, Lai ([Shu Qi](https://www.edgepedia.org/shu-qi)), the daughter of a Chinese crime lord smuggling people into France; breaking his own rule draws him into a human-trafficking conspiracy.[10](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2002/10/11/you-may-be-carried-away-transporter/2487a006-f0fd-4c98-b554-5ee4b9271040/) • [5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/transporter) The film was directed by Hong Kong choreographer Corey Yuen, with [Louis Leterrier](https://www.edgepedia.org/louis-leterrier) also credited, from a script by Luc Besson and [Robert Mark Kamen](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-mark-kamen).[2](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-transporter/) Yuen, a martial-arts choreographer on *Lethal Weapon 4* and *Romeo Must Die*, staged the fight sequences, including the scene in which Statham douses himself in motor oil to fight off attackers.[10](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2002/10/11/you-may-be-carried-away-transporter/2487a006-f0fd-4c98-b554-5ee4b9271040/) • [11](https://thegoodsreviews.com/the-transporter/)
**Reception.** Critics praised the action and faulted the story. Rotten Tomatoes' critics consensus reads "The Transporter delivers the action at the expense of coherent storytelling," and the film holds 53% among 125 reviews, with a 73% audience score.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/transporter) Metacritic recorded a Metascore of 51 from 27 reviews, with 41% positive, 44% mixed, and 15% negative.[2](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-transporter/) Ebert gave it three stars, writing that "Statham has a face that suggests he's thinking; in an action movie this is a rare and valuable thing," while still objecting that wall-to-wall action made the film less like drama and more like a repetitive video game.[1](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-transporter-2002) • [12](https://saturation.io/budgets/the-transporter-2002) The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw was harsher, giving one star and calling the writing and plotting terrible.[13](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2003/jan/17/artsfeatures9)
Commercially the film grossed $25,296,447 domestically and $43,928,932 worldwide on a $21,000,000 production budget.[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movies/franchise/Transporter) A retrospective account notes that the film's French performance "exploded all the French records," and that the franchise became one of Luc Besson's most popular creations.[14](https://img.sauf.ca/pictures/2017-11-15/692151e6e58a5e5d5d4104a32d281b8f.pdf) • [6](https://www.lagardere.com/communique-presse/le-transporteur-une-production-atlantique-productions-lagardere-entertainment-a-partir-du-6-decembre-sur-m6/)
## The Statham sequels
*Transporter 2* (2005), directed by Louis Leterrier, moved the action in a new direction: Frank is no longer transporting goods but is bound to a six-year-old child in his care.[15](https://www.filmattic.com/franchises/transporter/) Ebert found the sequel better than the original, with a plot that kept revealing surprises into the third act, though its stunts were even more physically impossible, such as a car flipped through the air so a crane hook strips a bomb from its underside.[16](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/transporter-2-2005) It earned $88,978,458 worldwide on a $32,000,000 budget, the franchise's strongest domestic result at $43,095,856.[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movies/franchise/Transporter)
*Transporter 3* (2008), directed by Olivier Megaton and co-starring Natalya Rudakova, François Berléand, and [Robert Knepper](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-knepper), returned Frank to forced transport work under threat, moving two heavy bags and a young Ukrainian woman.[17](https://medias.unifrance.org/medias/231/138/35559/presse/le-transporteur-3-dossier-de-presse-francais.pdf) It became the series' highest-grossing entry at $112,930,957 worldwide, on a $40,000,000 budget.[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movies/franchise/Transporter)
## The reboot and the television series
*The Transporter Refueled* (2015) recast Frank Martin with [Ed Skrein](https://www.edgepedia.org/ed-skrein), based on characters created by Besson and Kamen and produced by EuropaCorp with TF1 Films Production, Fundamental Films, and Belga Films.[18](https://www.freecarmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/free-car-mag-issue-16.pdf) The Guardian's Mark Kermode asked what the point of a Transporter movie without Jason Statham was, and found the fight scenes lacking personality.[19](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/sep/06/the-transporter-refuelled-review-statham-less-action-runs-out-of-gas) Forbes framed the recasting as continuing the franchise without its key component, comparable to a Rambo film without [Sylvester Stallone](https://www.edgepedia.org/sylvester-stallone).[20](https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2015/09/04/is-transporter-franchise-worth-salvaging-without-jason-statham/) The film grossed $69,698,495 worldwide on a $22,000,000 budget, the lowest worldwide total of the four.[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movies/franchise/Transporter)
*Transporter: The Series*, starring Chris Vance, was produced by Atlantique Productions (Lagardère [Entertainment](https://www.edgepedia.org/entertainment)) under license from EuropaCorp and premiered in France on M6 in December 2012.[6](https://www.lagardere.com/communique-presse/le-transporteur-une-production-atlantique-productions-lagardere-entertainment-a-partir-du-6-decembre-sur-m6/) By the time it reached TNT in the United States in late 2014, it had already aired in 185 countries; the first season averaged 1.05 million US viewers and the second 910,000, and no third season was announced.[7](https://www.fastcompany.com/3051119/tv-report-card-how-the-new-class-of-movie-based-shows-measures-up) The series was positioned as a continuation of the film series, not including the 2015 reboot.[7](https://www.fastcompany.com/3051119/tv-report-card-how-the-new-class-of-movie-based-shows-measures-up)
## The franchise in context
The Transporter films were a pillar of EuropaCorp, the studio Besson founded in 2000; after 2011 the company relied increasingly on its successful franchises, especially Transporter and Taken, deploying global distribution strategies.[21](https://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2025/04/18/luc-besson-s-offre-une-cure-de-jouvence-avec-june-and-john_6597209_3246.html) • [22](https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-39195-8_6) The character also crossed into other properties: Statham's uncredited cameo in [Michael Mann](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-mann)'s *Collateral* (2004) was confirmed by that film's screenwriter Stuart Beattie as Frank Martin, though the studio has never officially acknowledged it and the credits list the character only as "Airport Man."[8](https://as.com/meristation/cine/era-un-secreto-a-voces-jason-statham-en-collateral-con-tom-cruise-era-frank-martin-de-transporter-n/) Statham later joined the [Fast & Furious](https://www.edgepedia.org/fast-and-furious) films, where his character Deckard Shaw was introduced in connection with a villain named after the Transporter archetype.[23](https://time.com/3770961/fast-and-the-furious-greatest-action-movie-franchise/)
By the numbers, the franchise followed a rise-and-fall arc: worldwide grosses climbed from $43.9 million to $89.0 million to $112.9 million across the Statham trilogy, then fell to $69.7 million when the lead was replaced.[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movies/franchise/Transporter) One profit-tracking estimate puts the four films' combined worldwide gross at $315,536,842 against $115,000,000 in total budgets, with estimated losses on three of the four entries once distribution and marketing costs are modeled.[4](https://screenprofits.com/franchises/transporter/)
## References
1. [The Transporter movie review & film summary, RogerEbert.com (2002)](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-transporter-2002)
2. [The Transporter Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-transporter/)
3. [Transporter Franchise Box Office History, The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movies/franchise/Transporter)
4. [Transporter Film Franchise Box Office & Profit, ScreenProfits](https://screenprofits.com/franchises/transporter/)
5. [The Transporter, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/transporter)
6. [Le Transporteur, une production Atlantique Productions, Lagardère press release (2012)](https://www.lagardere.com/communique-presse/le-transporteur-une-production-atlantique-productions-lagardere-entertainment-a-partir-du-6-decembre-sur-m6/)
7. [TV Report Card: How The New Class Of Movie-Based Shows Measures Up, Fast Company](https://www.fastcompany.com/3051119/tv-report-card-how-the-new-class-of-movie-based-shows-measures-up)
8. [Era un secreto a voces: Jason Statham en 'Collateral' era Frank Martin de 'Transporter', AS](https://as.com/meristation/cine/era-un-secreto-a-voces-jason-statham-en-collateral-con-tom-cruise-era-frank-martin-de-transporter-n/)
9. [The Transporter: Jason Statham's first star vehicle, The Guardian (2024)](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/article/2024/jul/17/the-transporter-jason-stathams-first-star-vehicle-with-the-oiliest-fight-sequence-set-to-screen)
10. [You May Be Carried Away 'Transporter', The Washington Post (2002)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2002/10/11/you-may-be-carried-away-transporter/2487a006-f0fd-4c98-b554-5ee4b9271040/)
11. [The Transporter (2002), The Goods: Film Reviews](https://thegoodsreviews.com/the-transporter/)
12. [The Transporter (2002) Budget, Saturation.io](https://saturation.io/budgets/the-transporter-2002)
13. [The Transporter review, The Guardian (2003)](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2003/jan/17/artsfeatures9)
14. [Cinéma d'auteur enquête (French-language journalism on Luc Besson and Transporter)](https://img.sauf.ca/pictures/2017-11-15/692151e6e58a5e5d5d4104a32d281b8f.pdf)
15. [Transporter Series & Movie Guide, FilmAttic](https://www.filmattic.com/franchises/transporter/)
16. [Silly sequel is quite transporting, RogerEbert.com (2005)](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/transporter-2-2005)
17. [Le Transporteur 3 dossier de presse, UniFrance](https://medias.unifrance.org/medias/231/138/35559/presse/le-transporteur-3-dossier-de-presse-francais.pdf)
18. [Free Car Mag issue 16, Transporter Refueled coverage](https://www.freecarmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/free-car-mag-issue-16.pdf)
19. [The Transporter Refuelled review, The Guardian (2015)](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/sep/06/the-transporter-refuelled-review-statham-less-action-runs-out-of-gas)
20. [Is 'Transporter' Franchise Worth Salvaging Without Jason Statham?, Forbes (2015)](https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2015/09/04/is-transporter-franchise-worth-salvaging-without-jason-statham/)
21. [Luc Besson s'offre une cure de jouvence avec « June and John », Le Monde (2025)](https://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2025/04/18/luc-besson-s-offre-une-cure-de-jouvence-avec-june-and-john_6597209_3246.html)
22. [The Limits of Luc Besson's 'Made-in-France' Blockbusters, Springer (2023)](https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-39195-8_6)
23. [Vroom to Grow: How The Fast and the Furious Became Hollywood's Greatest Action-Movie Franchise, Time (2015)](https://time.com/3770961/fast-and-the-furious-greatest-action-movie-franchise/)
24. [The Transporter Refueled, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_transporter_refueled)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Film characters and fictional worlds › Action and thriller film characters*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license