Here's something random: has anyone ever seen the movie Deadlock (a.k.a. Wedlock), with Rutger Hauer and Mimi Rogers? It was about a futuristic prison where the inmates don electronic collars that are wired to explode when they cross the prison's boundary. Eventually it turns out that, for some reason, a prisoner can escape without being decapitated if he escapes together with a certain other inmate to whom he's electronically connected. I first saw this when I was 9 or 10 and thought it was the neatest thing ever, but something tells me it wouldn't hold up if I watched it again.

Anyway, the point is, I thought of Deadlock when I saw this French teaser for Transporter 3, where Jason Statham's Frank Martin is outfitted with a bracelet that's wired to explode if... well, it's not clear what will make it explode, but something sure will. The movie looks as completely nuts as its predecessors; I was sold on the franchise when, in Transporter 2, Frank Martin drove a car off a roof, flipped it in the air to scrape an explosive device off the bottom, and landed on a middle floor of a parking garage. Not quite as cool as my memory of Deadlock, but pretty darn cool. Transporter 3, directed by a guy named (I kid you not) Olivier Megaton and written by franchise stalwarts Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen, will be released here in November by Lionsgate.

Well, for those of you out there who are fans of Jason Statham's Transporter franchise, I've got some good news for you: Variety reports that Statham has signed to star in a third installment! He will reprise his role as the butt-whooping mercenary driver/delivery man Frank. The film will be produced by EuropaCorp, who were behind the first two flicks. However, there have been some personnel changes for the film; the previous director for the last two films, Louis Leterrier, has been replaced by Hitman's 2nd Unit director, Olivier Megaton -- which might not exactly be a step up if you consider the reviews for that particular cinematic gem. Joining Statham in the cast is Prison Break's Robert Knepper, who judging by some of his creepy performances will probably star as the bad guy in this scenario.

The first two films in the franchise were written by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen, but the two have not been confirmed to pen the new script. Just like for the first two films, Besson will not be pulling any directing duties, but will be involved as a 'hands-on' producer. There is no word yet on the story, but I'm sure that Besson is keeping in mind that the franchise has a running box-office total of $130 million, so it shouldn't take long to put one together. Transporter 3 will shoot for 16 weeks on location in Russia and France starting sometime in March or April. There is no release date so far, but let's be honest, we aren't dealing with Citizen Kane here so it shouldn't take long before Transporter 3 hits theaters.

Question: Do we really need a third one?