In the Tom Cruise movie Collateral, action movie star Jason Statham makes a mysterious appearance in the opening act. Credited only as ‘Airport Man’, Statham passes Cruise’s character, Vincent, a briefcase.
For a long time, fans speculated that ‘Airport Man’ was, in fact, Frank Martin from the Transporter movies. In the the thriller movie series, Statham plays Frank Martin: a freelance driver whose main jobs come from completing less-than-savoury deliveries for less-than-savoury people. Although Tom Cruise’s Collateral character, Vincent, doesn’t appear in any of the Transporter movies, the film’s director, Louis Leterrier, seemed to hint that Statham was reprising his role as Frank Martin in an IGN interview back in 2005.
Discussing the future of the Transporter franchise, Leterrier said, “If it’s not successful, or fairly successful, maybe we’ll do a TV show. It would be a good idea for a TV show. The transporter, every week, he gets a new package or something. If it’s a failure, then bye, bye. Bye, bye Transporter. He’ll just be a cameo in other people’s movies; in Michael Mann’s movies.”
With Collateral being directed by Michael Mann, many fans took that as confirmation that Statham’s role in the ‘2000s movie wasn’t actually ‘Airport Man,’ but Frank Martin. Now, over 15 years later, Stuart Beattie, the screenwriter of Collateral, appears to have doubled down on this theory during an interview on the Collateral Confessions podcast.
“[Airport Man is] absolutely Frank Martin of Transporter,” Beattie said. “I asked Jason about that […] Yeah, absolutely. Yes, it’s canon. Same world…. the studio will never admit to that, but in my head, absolutely it’s him.”
If you can’t stay away from the criminal underworld and thrilling car chases, catch Jason Statham in action in the Fast and Furious movies.