First announced at Cannes last year, Luc Besson and his EuropaCorp accomplices are returning to the Transporter franchise with a new trilogy, sadly not this time to feature Jason Statham. Ed Skrein will instead be taking the driving seat in the first of the new movies, directed by Camille Delamarre (Brick Mansions). And with shooting underway as of last month, we now have a title and - for the US at least - a release date. The Transporter Legacy** will be out in the States in March next year, via the newly minted EuropaCorp USA.
That moniker seems to be a deliberate and mischievous nod to the Bourne franchise, but also makes no sense: it suggests an inheritor of the Statham mantle, when the film is actually a prequel with Skrein playing the same character, a young Frank Martin. Martin is, you'll recall, the driver who never changes the deal and never opens the package (except when he does). Statham played the role in three films: four, if you include his cameo in Michael Mann's Collateral.
The Transporter has already been a short-lived TV series sans-Stath, starring Chris Vance. Why Vance wasn't chosen for the step back up to the big screen is not a matter of public record. You may recognise Skrein from Ill Manors, or from Game Of Thrones, where he played Daario Naharis in Season 3 (replaced by Michiel Huisman in year 4).
A recast prequel series to a Stath vehicle? We've seen this before with the Death Race films, for which Luke Goss stepped into the DTV instalments. Whether, outside France and the States, The Transporter Legacy and its follow-ups will fare better, remains to be seen. There's no UK release date for Legacy so far.