Trade confirmation has come through that Jason Statham will star in Crank 2: High Voltage, which will be pre-strike for Lakeshore Entertainment and Lionsgate.
Statham will of course be reprising his hitman role of Chev Chelios from the original movie last year which grossed $44 million worldwide, and made a cool $30 million profit. The sequel will follow a Chinese mobster who has stolen Chev’s nearly indestructible heart and replaced it with a battery-powered ticker that requires regular jolts of electricity to keep working.
No word yet if Amy Smart will be returning for the movie.
The movie will begin filming once directing duo Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor have completed Game, the high-concept futuristic thriller (it’s about an online multiplayer game come to life, or something) starring Gerard Butler in the lead role opposite villain Michael C. Hall. Other actors in the movie are Amber Valletta, Logan Lerman, Alison Lohman, John Leguizamo, Johnny Whitworth, Zoe Bell and Kyra Sedgwick.
Game begins in a few weeks time in Albuquerque.
I hated Crank but I thought these guys did a decent job direction wise and they are on my radar because they have the rights to the classic DC comics Western hero Jonah Hex. Crank was their first movie, so let’s hope Game and Crank 2 will be a nice build up to Hex.
Though I do like the sound of Game. Ya see, ya don’t need to remake Kurt Russell, to have a Kurt Russell role Mr. Butler!
One Comment
I liked Crank, and appreciated it for what it was. I know most people didn’t like it, but I got it. It was no where near as smart as Tarantino, but they wanted to be –they just weren’t smart enough to pull it off. That said, I’m not looking forward to another installment in this franchise. One was more than enough.
Then again it only cost a few mil to make, and made a big profit. And with Hollywood addicted to milking any old property for every buck possible that makes it irresistable. When it’s over look for Crank 3: The Return. And a year later, the Crank DVD Trilogy: The Legend of Chev Chelios.
Good lord, I hate Tinseltown…