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Jason Statham to Star in Remake of The Mechanic?

by Alex Billington
April 21, 2009
Source: Production Weekly

Jason Statham is a badass, we all know that, but when he stars in movies like Crank: High Voltage, you start wondering what's next. How can this guy ever top anything he did in that movie? Sure, he's got Sylvester Stallone's The Expendables coming up, which will probably be the only movie that will ever match the level of badassery found within Crank, but what else? Production Weekly is reporting (via twitter) that Statham may star in a "reinvention" of the 1972 Charles Bronson action classic The Mechanic. Apparently Simon West of Con Air, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, and When a Stranger Calls, is in talks to direct.

The Mechanic, directed by Michael Winner, stars Charles Bronson as an aging hitman who normally works alone but in his old age befriends a young man who becomes his apprentice. Together they become an unmatchable team of globetrotting killers until the pupil's ruthlessness puts him on a collision course with his teacher. It's a great movie and all, but as always, do we need to see another action classic reinvented like this? I mean, just look at two other action classics that have been remade recently - Assault on Precinct 13 and Death Wish. Neither of those remakes turned out that great, so why would this be any different?

Of course I'm forgetting that if Jason Statham is involved, this may be pretty badass in the end. But I also fear it may become the next Bangkok Dangerous, since that's how most cheesy hitmen movies turn out these days. We'll let you know how it develops and when or if they cast anyone else in this. Stay tuned!

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Al

sounds good, i hope the execute it nicely.
Caleb

He'll never be as badass as Charles Bronson thats for sure
Mathieu

The Stath is on Twitter - maybe someone should ask him about this. But in any case 'aging hitman'? Statham is only in his thirties for crying out loud. Too young for that part, unless they rework it a lot. My gut feeling is, anything originally directed by Michael Winner - the Uwe Boll of his day - should be avoided.
Christopher M

Wasn't Stallone developing this for himself a while back? Ryan Gosling, Cillian Murphy, Ben Foster and Elijah Wood were also rumored to be inline as the hitman's pupil....
Fisherr

@#2 Agrees,but i think he can pull it off.
Hey Ya

Assault on Precinct 13...recent? Get a calendar there Alex. IT has potential but is Statham old enough to train an apprentice?
Angelo

The Mechanic is the kind of classic that in terms of script, plot and maybe even as a whole is pretty mediocre, or "just ok". The fact its considered a classic of sorts (in its genre, at least) is probably because of the way it was filmed (the first ten minutes are completely dialogue free) and of course the lead role of Bronson, whom is always charming yet a complete badass. Remaking a film like this is a bad idea because it will lose all of the aforementioned charms and it will end up being forgettable at best.
Xerxex

Statham is a very good actor but my only problem with Crank is that that's all he'll be known for, not for his roles in Snatch, Lock Stock, The Bank Job, The Italian Job, etc so hopefully this remake will be a success and he'll be know for his upcoming roles!
SS

Statham against a "re-imagined" Elijah Wood assassin would be interesting.
d1rEct

BOO!!
smacky

I like Statham. But what a POOR decision.
http://www.firstshowing.net Alex Billington

#6 - That was just the first classic action movie that turned out terrible in a remake that I could think of... I know it was about 3 years ago, but still, that's fairly recent, no? Oh well...
sea

hopefully they keep it b movie style!