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there have been some personnel changes for the film; the previous director for the last two films, Louis Leterrier, has been replaced by Hitman's 2nd Unit director, Olivier Megaton -- which might not exactly be a step up if you consider the reviews for that particular cinematic gem.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?

It still doesn't have a title, and it still doesn't officially have a Bond girl, but according to Empire magazine, Bond 22 has found its villain. Of course, we don't know the character's name nor anything about him, except that he will be played by French actor Mathieu Amalric (Munich). The casting of Amalric was actually announced a few weeks ago by Fox News, but it couldn't be confirmed until Empire today got it out of the actor himself. He did hint at one loose detail about the movie, that it would be about childhood. Now, in the context of the quote, it actually appears that Amalric is saying that the desire to play a Bond villain stems from his childhood, but Empire understood his words differently, or at least spun them so that it seems like he said Bond 22 will focus on 007's childhood (as if James Bond Jr. and Agent Cody Banks weren't bad enough, now we may get a precocious young Bond). Empire also points out that Eva Green has dropped hints that Bond 22's villain will be her Casino Royale character's boyfriend, which would make sense now that we've heard Green will not appear in the next film, though photos of her character will.

This news would indicate that the Denver Post was wrong in claiming Robert Knepper would be playing the next Bond villain. Unless, of course, there's multiple bad guys -- a trend Hollywood has been a fan of lately. Either way, Amalric is an excellent choice to play the (or a) Bond baddie, and not just because he has that same foreign creepy look that Casino's Mads Mikkelsen has. The actor is receiving rave reviews for his starring role as a paralyzed sufferer of locked-in syndrome in Julian Schnabel's critically acclaimed new film, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Fans of Amalric's need not worry that because of Bond 22 he will be more sought after for big Hollywood movies (as if any Bond villain actor ever was). The actor told Empire that taking the role is simply funny to him, it's not necessarily what he wants to do with his career and he will continue doing "very small French film[s] for free with [his] friends."

Spock, Riddick and T-Bag walked into a bar ...

According to TrekMovie, as well an official listing on the man's site, 59-year-old British actor Ben Cross has landed the part of Sarek (aka Spock's pop) in the new J.J. Abrams-directed Star Trek XI. Heroes star Zachary Quinto will play Spock and Winona Ryder is playing Spock's mom, Amanda Grayson. Hmmm ... Yeah, I assume they've worked it all out, so I won't ask any questions. Cross has appeared in dozens of films over the years, most recently in War, Inc., and is likely best known for his starring role in Chariots of Fire. The character of Sarek was originally played by Mark Lenard.

Over on his website, director David Twohy tells fans he's down for making another Riddick flick, though he left out the part about the first (or should I say second) film not living up to the hype ... at all. Here's what he has to say: "All I can say now is "We're talking about it." The DVD numbers were really good - we know that, and some potential financiers know that. But if another movie surfaces, it probably won't be a Universal movie and probably will be an independent movie. Which means we'll have to make it for substantially less than the last installment." I'll throw out a number for ya: How about zero? [via Dark Horizons]

Those of you Prison Break fans out there should be very aware of the villain T-Bag (as played by Robert Knepper). Ya know, he's the slimy a**hole you just wish would go away. Die T-Bag! Die already! Anyway, according to a story in the Denver Post, Knepper has made a whole lot of fans as of late; so much so that the dude is lining up gigs in some of the most talked-about projects around. Not only do they claim he's up for the part of villain in Bond 22, but they're also saying he'll co-star alongside Hugh Jackman in the solo Wolverine flick as well as star in the remake of Alfred Hitchock's The Birds (currently titled: These F**king Pigeons Are Driving Me Crazy!) alongside Naomi Watts. Note to actors: Take that homicidal pedophile role; it'll lead to much better things down the line ... [via Moviehole]

UPDATE: I forgot to add that Fox News claims Mathieu Amalric (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) has landed the role of Bond villain in Bond 22. Whether Knepper was up for the part, of if he'll be playing another villain, we're not sure. More as it develops ...

Just a few weeks after the launch of a teaser trailer for the video game flick Hitman, Twitch has a look at a new French poster for the film (there are also a few stills, but it doesn't look like anything we haven't seen already). The film version of the best-selling Eidos Interactive game is the first English-language feature for director Xavier Gens, and the script was written by Swordfish scribe Skip Woods -- but I will try not to hold that against the movie. Back in January, when Deadwood's Timothy Olyphant was confirmed as Agent 47, I wasn't sure he was the right choice for the part. But, after catching the trailer, I will admit he's a pretty good match -- and the Ava Maria was a nice touch. Olyphant stars as the precise and genetically engineered assassin, Agent 47, who is caught up in political intrigue in a chase across Europe -- with plenty of killing along the way. Rounding out the cast is Dougray Scott, Robert Knepper, and Olga Kurylenko.

Now, I never quite managed to get though the 2nd game back in 2002; since it turns out I am not as adept at systematic murder as I thought. But, I definitely gave it points for the "creative' violence and cinematic visuals of exotic locations; both of which are a pretty solid foundation for any good action movie. The production took its time to get rolling, and fans probably remember the seemingly endless stream of conflicting casting reports before Olyphant finally scored the part. Despite Hitman's slow start, the film hasn't wasted any time since; the production began shooting last March, and is already slated for release on October 17.