If you’re as big a Crank fan as I am, you don’t let a chance to ask Jason Statham about Crank 3 pass you by. Being the lucky son-of-a-bitch that I am, I had such an opportunity this past weekend while attending the South By Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, where the action star was promoting Paul Feig’s new espionage comedy, Spy.
We’re not here to talk about that film though, because all my thoughts about Feig’s (very funny) movie can be found in my upcoming review. No, we’re here to talk about Crank 3, a film that Mark Neveldine said “is going to happen,” and that “the studios are really excited about – it’s just just all about timing.” But that was in 2011. And it’s now some four years later, with no signs of a Crank 3 in sight. As an anxious, frustrated fan, I took it upon myself to ask Statham if Crank 3 was still on the table.
Here’s what he revealed:
If Paul says make one, then I think we should! [Referring to Paul Feig’s excitement over the topic.] When you do something, have a bit of fun with it, and have relative success, why wouldn’t you do it again? It’s not like digging a road, is it. It’s trying to get the right – the pages have to be decent. It has to work on the page before you start throwing yourself around for no reason, otherwise it’d just get repetitive. But I’d love to do it! [Neveldine and Taylor] have to get their heads together, and if they want to do it, then there’s a conversation. I had a great time playing that part – I’d be silly to say no.
Sadly, this isn’t the news that Crank fans want to hear. Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor have since been exploring separate projects on their own, and there are no signs of the two reuniting any time soon for another joint feature (even though Chev Chelios is dying to be brought back to life, uh, again). It sounds like even though Neveldine was steadfast in his confirmation, those teases of Crank: Hungry Heart (a joked about sequel with an alien influence) are still lightyears away from happening.
With a heavy heart, I’ll admit I don’t think we’ll be riding with Chev again any time soon.
Tell us, would you still be excited if Crank 3 was announced in the upcoming years, or has too much time passed to revisit the character?