Jason Statham Played A Small Part In One Of The World's Biggest Video Game Franchises
No, the headline of this article is not a reference to Jason Statham's leading role in Uwe Boll's roundly mocked film "In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale," one of the most derided of all video game adaptations. Instead, this refers to some voice work that he did early in his career. It seems that Statham played a minor voice role in the very first "Call of Duty" video game in 2003. "Call of Duty" was a military-based shooter game set during World War II, released on the PC, and eventually for the XBox 360, and the PlayStation 3. It was a big hit in the early 2000s, and spawned a massive franchise that is still going strong to this day. There are five games in the original World War II continuity, eight games in the "Modern Warfare" spinoff series (set in the present), seven games in the "Black Ops" spinoff, and three stand-alone spinoff games. And that's just the "main" series. There are also many online versions of the game, some console-only titles, and multiple autonomous "Call of Duty" games for handheld devices. Heck, some of them even have zombies.
Statham wasn't a major part of the "Call of Duty" mythology, nor did he play a notable real-life character (how keen would it have been to learn he played Winston Churchill?). Instead, Statham played a British officer named Sergeant Waters who joined the player-character, Jack Evans, during the game's British Campaign segment ("Call of Duty" also boasted an American Campaign and a Russian Campaign).
Statham's involvement with "Call of Duty" means that he is now associated with two of the biggest money-making entertainment franchises of all time. He also famously played the murderer-turned-good-guy Deckard Shaw in six of the "Fast & Furious" movies. This is in addition to playing the tough-as-nails Lee Christmas in the four "Expendables" movies.
Jason Statham was already a known quantity when he was in Call of Duty
When Statham appeared in "Call of Duty," he was already a recognizable star. The actor got his start in professional acting with director Guy Ritchie, appearing in his 1998 breakout hit "Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels." He returned for Richie's 2000 follow-up "Snatch," before being recognized by John Carpenter and included in the sci-fi Western "Ghosts of Mars." In 2002, he landed his first leading role in "The Transporter," Luc Besson-scripted mid-budget actioner co-directed by Louis Leterrier and Corey Yuen. "The Transporter" was only a modest hit in theaters, making about $44 million, but it became heavily watched on home video, eventually spawning two Statham-starring sequels in 2005 and 2008 (the 2015 film "The Transporter Refueled" was a reboot made without Statham's involvement).
The actor's gravely voice and tough-guy line delivery would have been recognizable to video game enthusiasts playing "Call of Duty" in 2003. It was just another gig for Statham, who also provided his voice for the video game "Red Faction II," playing a character named, uh, Mandril Shrike. By 2015, Statham would be a household name enough to be the selling point for video games. That year, he voiced a digital version of himself for a mobile game called "Sniper X Featuring Jason Statham." Of course, by 2015, he would have already exploded in popularity with "Expendables" and "Fast & Furious" movies, not to mention the two "Crank" films.
At last measure, the "Call of Duty" game series has raked in $11 billion (with a "B") in revenue. The "Fast & Furious" movies, meanwhile, have collectively earned $7 billion, and the "Expendables" movies have made about $840 million. This Statham guy might have a good eye for successful projects.