The Mechanic is a decent-sized hit, having grossed $32 million worldwide after about a week and a half in release, but even if it were a flop, its star Jason Statham would probably still be the most bankable action star working today. The star of Crank and the Transporter series is probably the only bankable action star, period, or at least the only one whose glory days didn't come in the 80s. With Statham you know exactly what you're getting and that it will be awesome, which means the bald Englishman will be ripping throats and taking names for a long, long time.

Next up on his ass-kicking mission may be Echelon, a spy thriller that at one point had Eric Bana attached but, according to Deadline, Statham is now circling. It will be the directorial debut of Simon Crane, a stunt coordinator who has worked closely with Angelina Jolie for years, including on last summer's hit Salt. Statham's character is a soldier from the British Special Air Service who gets caught up in a plot by the Russian Mafia to steal a top-secret computer program. The film is based on the novel Firewall, part of a series by former soldier Andy McNab.

Really, you know everything you need to about the movie right now-- Statham, Russian Mafia, military secrets, blammo. You know you will see this movie, and that you and I will keep Statham buying vacation houses for the rest of time. It's an arrangement that benefits us all, so why complain?