Jason Statham's Success and Future in the Film Industry

Jason Statham: From Action Star to Box Office Success

Jason Statham's $395-million worldwide box office success from 2023 is a hit on Netflix, landing in the streamer's top 10 for the week. Statham built his reputation as an action star first with his roles in Guy Ritchie’s early films, and later with parts in everything from Transporter to The Bank Job to Crank. He crossed over to the ranks of blockbuster stars with his role as Shaw in the Fast & Furious series, and later headlined the surprise summer smash The Meg in 2018.

Jonas stabs a meg in the eye in The Meg

But Statham’s first battle with giant sharks was indeed not his last, as in 2023 he starred in the sequel Meg 2: The Trench, a $395-million worldwide hit that has now become a Netflix smash as well, landing at number 5 on the streamer’s list of top 10 US movies for the week of December 25-31, 2023, according to their own data. This is good timing for Statham, whose newest movie The Beekeeper is set to release in theaters.

The Meg Series: Past, Present, and Future

Meg 2 did healthy business worldwide, but its $395 million gross actually lagged far behind the performance of the original Meg, which took in $530 million. Director Ben Wheatley recently gave a positive update about the status of The Meg 3, saying “There's a lot more to explore in that world,” but the sequel has not yet been greenlit.

The Meg and Meg 2 were adapted from novels by Steve Alten. Meg 2 scoring big with streaming viewers over the holidays doesn’t hurt chances of The Meg 3 happening, but it probably doesn't help those chances much either. There are indeed more novels in the original Meg book series to adapt, but it’s not as though story matters much to the films anyway. Statham’s enduring status as a bankable action star is another positive for a potential ongoing Meg franchise, but his star power alone isn’t enough to get more movies made. It remains to be seen if Meg 2: The Trench will launch the series onward to bigger and better shark action, or will stand as the culmination of a successful, if truncated, saga.

The Beekeeper: A New Chapter for Jason Statham

Statham's Beekeeper releases on January 12.