In just a matter of years, Jason Statham has managed to establish himself as a leading Hollywood action star. One of the things that people never realized about Statham is that he truly worked his way up, starting out as a male model who even starred in a commercial for Kit Kat at one point.
Throughout his career, Statham has portrayed some of the most badass characters anyone has ever come to know. Despite this, however, his films were met with mixed results at the box office. Just check out his five highest-grossing films and his five biggest box office flops:
Highest-Grossing: The Expendables 2, $314,975,955
The follow-up to The Expendables sees Statham reunite with an all-star cast that includes Sylvester Stallone, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Chuck Norris, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Terry Crew, Liam Hemsworth, and Scott Adkins. Of the group, Statham has told Collider that “there’s no one out there that hasn’t done great action along the course of their career.” Statham also remarked that he’s “very happy” to work with Stallone again. Meanwhile, The Expendables 2 has also gone to become one of Adkin’s best films, based on rankings on IMDb.
Flop: Wild Card, $6,738,764
In this 2015 action thriller, Statham plays the role of a bodyguard who decides to go after a thug who had beat up his best friend. According to the film’s director, Simon West, Wild Card is quite a departure from Statham’s typical action films since it has a lot more dialogue than we’re used to hearing in a Statham movie. While speaking with Den of Geek, West also admitted, “Even I was a bit skeptical about how it was going to work.” However, Statham always arrived to the set with his lines “memorized perfectly.”
Highest-Grossing: The Meg, $530,243,742
In this 2018 sci-fi movie, Statham plays a rescue driver who gets recruited to rescue a crew from a prehistoric shark they have to know as the Megalodon. Aside from Statham, the film’s cast also includes Orange Is the New Black actress Ruby Rose and Li Bingbing. Unfortunately, this film, which is recognized as one of the recent Jaws movie knock offs to come out of Hollywood in recent years, didn’t please the critics. Interestingly, Statham also told Business Insider that “a lot” had changed in the script since it was first pitched to him.
Flop: 13, $3,701,600
13 tells the story of a young man who gets caught up in an underworld of gambling and violence. A remake of the French film 13 Tzameti, the cast also includes Iron Man star Mickey Rourke and Entourage alum, Emmanuelle Chriqui. They are also joined by Sam Riley and 50 Cent.
Unfortunately, the critics were left unimpressed. Some even questioned why director Géla Babluani would decide to do an English remake of his foreign film. A review from the New York Times even noted that the film was reduced to a “blustering, bad cartoon,” according to Rotten Tomatoes.
Highest-Grossing: Fast And Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, $1,104,826,325
In this Fast and Furious spinoff, Dwayne Johnson’s Hobbs and Statham’s Shaw take on a cybernetically enhanced villain portrayed by Idris Elba. Although there are other films in the Fast and Furious franchise that earned more than this movie, it’s still easy to argue that there are some things that Hobbs and Shaw had done better than the mainline movies.
For starters, it can be argued that this film offers better action and better diversity. Meanwhile, it’s also considered one of the best movies that Johnson has starred in, according to Metacritic.
Flop: Turn It Up, $1,244,676
This 2000 film is headlined by a rapper played by Pras Michael and his manager played by Ja Rule. Meanwhile, Statham plays Mr. B is a drug dealer that the two men unknowingly double-crossed. According to Ja Rule, he never seriously thought about doing acting until he had done this movie, even telling Interview, “Ever since then I’ve been in love with doing films.” That said, it is unclear if Statham and the rapper had ever crossed paths again. In recent years, Statham had been busy making films while Ja Rule got caught in a Fyre festival controversy.
Highest-Grossing: The Fate of the Furious, $1,236,005,118
In The Fate of the Furious, Vin Diesel’s Dominic Toretto and the rest of his high-octane crew go up against Charlize Theron’s Cipher after she kidnaps Dom’s baby and executes Elena, played by Elsa Pataky. Meanwhile, one of the highlights of this film is the scene where Statham’s Shaw rescues Dom’s baby from a private jet. One of the hidden details surrounding the film that you may have missed is that baby Carlos, who starred opposite Statham, “delivered on every level.” The film’s director, F. Gary Gray, also told Entertainment Weekly, “I just love the chemistry between him and Jason.”
Flop: Mean Machine, $7,310,206
A remake of a 1974 classic, this film centers on a jailed football star, Danny Meehan, who leads other inmates in a match against the prison guards. Among Danny’s teammates is a dangerous maximum inmate named Monk, who is portrayed by Statham. Admittedly, this is not one of Statham’s best films. In fact, it received some rather savage reviews from critics. Nonetheless, you can see the British actor show off his athletic prowess here. According to reports, Statham excelled in various types of sports when he was young. This included football.
Highest-Grossing: Furious 7, $1,515,047,671
In Furious 7, Statham’s character portrays the film’s main villain after he goes after the gang to seek revenge for his brother, Owen. From the beginning, Statham has always been impressed by the scale of the Fast and Furious franchise. While speaking with Collider, the British actor even remarked, “I was thinking probably half of my career could be jammed into the budget of this Fast and Furious 7.” Sadly, Walker tragically passed away while the cast was taking a break from making the film. His character gets a sendoff in the movie.
Flop: London, $20,361
This 2005 movie centers on a man trying to win his ex-girlfriend back. Before he tries to reunite with her though, he opens up to a drug dealer played by Statham. The premise of the film may be interesting, but it fell flat to critics, nonetheless. Aside from Statham, the film’s cast also include Jessica Biel, Chris Evans, and Isla Fisher. Despite all this star power, however, the film had gone to become Statham’s lowest-grossing film ever. That said, we’re hoping these actors would reunite for another film in the future.