A quick online search suggests a Hindi remake of The Transporter is in development with producer Vishal Rana (Blurr, Blank) heading it up out of his Echelon Studios banner. All signs currently point to an article at India Today published this week quoting Rana with the following:
“We are in the process of developing a lot of scripts which are different. We are hearing a lot of stories currently from new writers. I love action, big-scale action films. So I’m making The Transporter remake. We have got The Transporter official remake rights. We plan to begin work on it next year.“
Vishal Rana as quoted in India Today (12/26)
Interestingly the news comes following a few articles this year including over at Bollywood Hungama which covered the project over the summer, initially announcing Rana and director Ali Abbas Zafar (Sultan) as the shepherds behind the project. A recent report on the same website, which makes no mention of Zafar, cited Rana suggesting that the film wasn’t going to be a technical remake, but a local production to start a franchise all its own and borrowing “certain quirks and traits” from the original.
The India Today report also cites Hindi leading men like Simmba and Sooryavanshi actor Ranveer Singh and War stars Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff for the title role. Previous reports over the years on other platforms also talked of Hindi actor John Abraham (Rocky Handsome, Attack) being up for the part.
Following Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and after ultimately collaborating with Corey Yuen for James Wong’s Jet Li starrer, The One, Statham’s continued work with Yuen would soon find the two alongside Louis Leterrier for the Luc Besson/Robert Mark Kamen-penned 2002 French production. Starring as driver-for-hire ex-soldier Frank Martin who lives and works by a set of rules he eventually ends up breaking in the process, 20th Century Fox released the film worldwide outside of France, catapulting Statham into the stratosphere of action stardom, showcasing Hong Kong-stylized fight choreography marketed to the West for an action thriller that would be up to par with the likes of hits starring Jackie Chan, Jet Li and Donnie Yen at the time.
Statham continued the role for Leterrier’s 2005 sequel, and a third in 2008 from director Oliver Megaton. He later turned down the role for future installments after talks reportedly fell through when offered to do three films for a pay cut without seeing the scripts, which eventually led to actor Ed Skrein primed for EuropaCorp’s 2015 reboot, Camille Delamarre’s The Transporter Refueled. In the interim, actor Chris Vance took the reins for a two-season series beginning in 2012 before being canceled in 2014.
Statham is currently filming David Ayer’s The Beekeeper, and will next appear in Guy Ritchie’s Operation Fortune in the new year, as well as in Scott Waugh’s The Expendables 4 in September.
Roshan, who starred opposite Shroff in Siddharth Anand’s War, is set to reprise his part in Shah Rukh Khan’s January actioner, Pathaan, which also co-stars Abraham, as well as in the upcoming third installment of the Tiger franchise from director Maneesh Sharma. Shroff, who is still in the running to take on a Hindi Rambo remake according to India Today as of May, recently filmed Ganapaath by director Vikas Bahl for its 2023 release.
I don’t know how else to gauge what the current reports are saying apart from what’s printed regarding the whole “remake” context, so I guess we’re all free to speculate about what’s what. I was keen to talk about this due to the rise in popularity of Indian cinema with the West over the years, with swathes of action fanboys on Twitter wholly immersed in the celebration of some of the most stylish action adventures headlined by today’s biggest standouts like the aforementioned Shroff and Roshan, and others. War is especially a preferred favorite for some among those who’ve kept up with Roshan whose hits also include the Krrish saga and Anand’s Bang Bang, as well as Shroff after making landfall with titles like the Heropanti and Baaghi films. So, considering the caliber of action gauged for Bollywood moviegoers, and the momentum seized by the Hong Kong stunt industry in bolstering Hollywood stardom, you can get the idea of just the kind of craziness a Bollywood take on the Frank Martin role would entail.
Enjoy a classic clip below from the inaugural action adventure with Sta and stay tuned!
