Collateral is not only one of Michael Mann’s best movies, it’s also Tom Cruise’s best movie. Or at least from the facet of actor in the role of an atypical villain that we are not used to. The film, which was nominated for two Oscars, and which was released in 2004, remained top 1 for several weeks, despite being a neo-noir genre film far removed from what usually works for the general public.
It was one of Cruise’s most acclaimed roles, taking away his big franchises. But he is not the only known face of the film. Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinkett Smith, Mark Ruffalo, Peter Berg, Javier Bardem and Bruce McGill were also visible faces of Collateral, although none of them is the one that gave rise to a theory that has traveled the network since its premiere.
In Collateral, there is also a cameo, somewhat absurd, that at the time gave a lot to talk about. At the beginning of the film, a character hands Tom Cruise a briefcase and no longer appears, something that in most films is usually handled by an unknown and random character. In Collateral, the actor who does that scene is Jason Statham.
Its writer confirms the craziest theory of Collateral
Something that should have gone completely unnoticed, a cameo by one more famous person in a movie, naturally gave rise to a theory. Next up: Tom Cruise’s character, Vincent, shares a universe with Jason Statham’s most famous character, Frank Martin, from The Transporter. And in the movie he plays him delivering an order, like in his famous movies.
There are some differences with the character of Transporter, which, initially, debunked this theory: First of all, Frank Martin moves to Miami after the beginning of Transporter 2, which came out a year after Collateral, which takes place in Los Angeles. Also, Frank only transports his shipments by vehicle and avoids making any contact with them (except if said package is a damsel in distress).
But, with everything against it, effectively, and as confirmed by Stuart Beattie, the screenwriter of Collateral and The TransporterCollateral’s Jason Statham is Frank Martin, and both he and Vincent share the same universe.
In a new interview with the podcast Collateral ConfessionsBeattie confirms that Jason Statham is playing Frank Martin from The Transporter in his brief scenes in Collateral, which means that the two films take place in the same universe, although it is something that the studio would never admit:
“Absolutely, it’s Frank Martin from Transporter. I asked Jason about it… Yes, absolutely. Yes, it is canon. The same world… the studio will never admit that, but in my head, it absolutely is him.”