Are moviegoers getting tired of a new Jason Statham movie every six to eight months where he plays a guy who has a job that requires him to beat people up? Granted, his resumé isn’t the most varied but the actor has his niche and it seems to be serving both him and the studios well enough. In January, his latest “The Mechanic” opened up to Jason Statham Numbers which means $29 million domestic — pretty much falling in line with the figures for “The Transporter,” “Crank,” “Cellular,” “Death Race,” and “The Bank Job.” In an era of uncertainty at the box office he’s about as close as it comes to a guarantee, though those numbers aren’t going to get anyone at a studio promoted or anything.
Anyway, over at Amazon a DVD cover and release date — August 23rd — has quietly popped up for Statham’s latest “Blitz.” Relatively new upstarts Millenium Entertainment, who handled David Schwimmer‘s “Trust” earlier this year and the upcoming Cuba Gooding Jr. and Christian Slater straight-to-DVD effort “Sacrifice” are distributing the movie.
At any rate, trailers for the film didn’t seem any better or any worse than any other Statham outing. In “Blitz” Statham plays a (gasp) undercover cop who teams up with his gay partner to track down a crazy cop killer. Believe it or not, the film is based on a novel by Ken Bruen and more surprisingly was written by “Moon” scribe Nathan Parker. The film co-stars Paddy Considine, Luke Evans and David Morrissey. Elliot Lester is directing.
Anyway, if you must see Statham cracking skulls on the big screen the film hits U.K. cinemas on May 20th followed by a few more international territories. No word yet on a U.S. theatrical release, but if there is one, we imagine it will be a tiny, probably contractual limited bow before it hits DVD and then you can add it to your Netflix queue. Synopsis below:
Tough, uncompromising and totally un-PC London cop Brant (Jason Statham) joins forces with openly gay policeman DC Porter Nash (Paddy Considine) to hunt down an at large serial cop killer (Aiden Gillen). A fast-paced thriller set in contemporary London, BLITZ reflects the challenges faced by a group of police officers working in a modern, multi-cultural society. A raw, gritty tale of moral ambiguity, outsiders and the sacrifices the police make to keep crime off British streets.
