Jason Statham will star in the $40 million action thriller The Killer Elite, says Variety.


The movie will be directed by commercial's helmer Gary McEndry and is based on Ranulph Fiennes' best seller, "The Feathermen."

Based on real events, the story follows a group of former British special forces members who are being hunted by assassins. Statham will play a former Navy Seal who is forced out of retirement to save his closest friend.

Filming will begin in the fall in London, Paris and Australia...

Susan B. Anna

It's true, we don't necessarily want range from Jason Statham-- he's good at running around and scowling and getting the hell beaten out of him, and that's probably never going to change. But it gets a little tiring to read a Statham casting announcement and always think "Yeah, of course. That's the obvious choice." For example, in today's Variety they write that Statham will star in a remake of The Mechanic, a 1972 Charles Bronson movie about a hitman who has to train the son of one of his victims. You think, sure, Jason Statham hitman! Kinda like the Transporter! Or Chev Chelios, or whoever his character was in Death Race. A bad dude on a mission-- no one does it better than Statham. But might it be time to try someone else anyway? The remake will be directed by Simon West, who previously remade When a Stranger Calls. Will he find some way to play off Statham's image in an interesting way? Probably not. But at least it'll be another chance to see Statham do what he does best.
- Cinema Blend

Catherine

GUY RITCHIE is set to branch out from the world of gangster cinema - the filmmaker is reportedly in Hollywood to begin writing a script for a remake of GUYS AND DOLLS. The director, best known for his London-based crime films, is said to have roped in movie hardman Jason Statham to show off his vocal talents in a reworking of the classic musical, which originally starred Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra. A source tells British newspaper The Sun, "Guy has been on the case with the idea of making a musical recently. He had been throwing ideas around with Jason Statham about writing their own musical. "Guy has had a lot of meetings with top studio bosses about other projects but the Guys And Dolls idea really tickled him." But Ritchie could be sticking to a familiar formula when shooting begins - he is apparently considering basing the song-and-dance classic in his native Britain. The insider adds: "He is torn between keeping the script true to the original in New York and taking it to familiar surroundings in London."
- Contact Music

We're huge fans of Jason Statham around here, so I'm not asking this question lightly. It's just that, as Jason Statham makes more movies and becomes more and more deservedly well-known, after a while he's not exclusively ours anymore. Which is awesome, because The Statham should be the biggest action star on the planet, and I can't wait for that. But everyone seems to be in on the Jason Statham joke now (including him by the way, because he's amazing), so, like I did when Old School propelled Will Ferrell from the Palomino-loving lunatic doctor only a few people I knew quoted outside of his W. sketches to the giant comedy star everyone on the planet loved, I think it's time to let The Statham go off to college to discover himself while I take a new under-appreciated star under my bloggy wing. I've been thinking hard on this, and I've decided my new favorite might just be this John Cena character. Let's discuss this important matter after the jump.
- iVillage