Jason Statham’s Highest-Rated Movie Also Holds Another Impressive Record In His $6.3 Billion Leading Man Career

Since the late 1990s, Jason Statham has built an impressive career filled with action thrillers and unforgettable franchises, so it is surprising that his highest-rated movie of all time also holds this notable record. Although Statham is likely a household name by now, the English actor worked hard to become such a staple of Hollywood. After Statham collaborated with people like Guy Ritchie and took on role after role in early 2000s action movies, he became a must-have actor in any action project. When considering his career, Statham has seen some tried and true success.

Of Statham’s many films, his highest-rated project is a movie called Spy. Released in 2015, the movie follows Statham as Rick Ford, an arrogant CIA spy who protests when a chronically desk-bound agent, decides to take on a dangerous and important mission. The film was a major success with critics, earning a Certified Fresh 95% on Rotten Tomatoes. Reviewers called the film hilarious and praised it for spoofing the James Bond genre without coming across as cliché. Ultimately, Spy ranks as one of Statham’s best movies of all time – but there’s more than one reason for that.

Spy Is Jason Statham’s Highest-Grossing Non-Franchise Movie

What Made Spy So Successful

As it turns out, Spy is not only Jason Statham’s best-rated movie – it is also his highest-grossing non-franchise film. In other words, of all the standalone action films that the actor has been a part of, Spy is the one that brought in the most money at the box office. On a budget of $65 million, the movie earned over $235 million. In this way, it stands within Statham’s top 10 highest-grossing movies of all time. Plus, the next highest-grossing standalone film, Collateral, earned almost $20 million less than Spy. Its success has clearly been hard to beat.

So, the question remains: what made Spy so successful? One of the biggest reasons is likely the cast. Alongside Statham, Spy boasts A-list actors like Melissa McCarthy, Jude Law, Rose Byrne, and Allison Janney. Furthermore, Spy’s genre may have had something to do with it. Despite being action-packed, Spy is a comedy at heart. This may have made it appeal to a vaster audience than a regular action movie would. It also helps that the film was directed by Paul Feig of Bridesmaids fame. Spy had many strengths, and seemingly, they mixed into an ideal movie.

Jason Statham Has An Impressive Franchise Box Office Track Record

Statham’s Future In Franchise’s Explained

While Spy’s box office gains are definitely impressive, Statham’s franchise box office numbers are even better. Statham’s highest-grossing movie of all time is currently 2015’s Furious 7, which earned $1.5 million at the box office. The Fast & Furious franchise takes up four spots in Statham’s top 10 highest-grossing movies. Under that, The Meg franchise and The Expendables franchise hold two spots each. These statistics prove that Statham’s greatest successes have been those that are part of a larger action movie franchise. Spy is a great Statham movie, but financially, it simply doesn’t compare to his franchise hits.

It’s undeniable that much of Statham’s success can be attributed to his action franchises, but this trend does have the potential to change. Although the last few years of Statham’s career have been dedicated to movies such as Fast X and The Expend4bles, his most recent successes have actually been standalone films. The most notable of them is 2024’s The Beekeeper, which was a surprising financial and critical success. It seems that Statham’s next projects will also be non-franchise films, at least for the time being. Thus, Statham may be setting out on a brand-new era of his career.

Why Spy Never Got A Sequel (Despite Strong Reviews & Box Office)

Why Spy 2 Should Happen

Spy was clearly a financial and critical hit, but it never received a sequel. It seems that the reason for this lies with the movie executives. In 2015, Paul Feig told The Guardian that he was writing a Spy sequel. Four years later, Feig explained that no studios were interested in the film, which is why nothing had ever moved forward. Most recently, in 2023, Melissa McCarthy revealed that she and many other members of the cast were happy to do a sequel if it ever got greenlit. In this way, Spy 2 could easily happen with Hollywood’s support.

Spy 2 would be a very exciting project if it were to happen. Considering the success of Spy, the sequel could bring in even bigger box office numbers for Statham. Then, Spy could rank among Statham’s other outstanding franchise successes. More importantly though, Spy 2 should happen because it would have the potential to be a really fun and hilarious movie. Of the many movies receiving sequels these days, Spy definitely deserves it. Plus, it is never a bad thing to get more screentime with Jason Statham.