Jason Statham Becomes a One-Man Shield to Save a Young Girl in the New Shelter Trailer

Jason Statham is swapping precision headshots for coastal storm duty. Black Bear just dropped the first trailer for 'Shelter,' an action drama from Ric Roman Waugh that strands Statham on a rocky island with a kid, a secret, and a lot of trouble on the horizon.

What 'Shelter' actually is

Statham plays a loner living off the grid on a remote shoreline. When he pulls a young girl out of a brutal storm, that good deed flips his quiet life inside out. He has to leave isolation behind, square up with a past he has been avoiding, and protect her while the danger keeps closing in. Survival and redemption, with rain pelting down and Statham glowering at anyone who deserves it. You get the idea.

Waugh + Statham is a clean fit

Ric Roman Waugh keeps making sturdy, grown-up action thrillers: 'Snitch' and 'Shot Caller' on the lean-and-mean side, 'Angel Has Fallen' and 'Greenland' on the bigger canvas. Pairing him with Statham feels obvious in a good way. The trailer leans hard into atmosphere over quips, which I am not mad about.

Key players and the pile of credits

• Cast: Jason Statham ('The Beekeeper,' 'A Working Man'), Bodhi Rae Breathnach ('Hamnet'), Naomi Ackie ('Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody'), Bill Nighy (Oscar nominee for 'Living')
• Director: Ric Roman Waugh ('Greenland,' 'Angel Has Fallen,' 'Snitch,' 'Shot Caller')
• Writer: Ward Parry
• Producers: Jason Statham, John Friedberg (Black Bear), Brendon Boyea, Greg Silverman, Jon Berg
• Executive producers: Teddy Schwarzman (Black Bear), Michael Heimler (Black Bear), Andrew Golov (Black Bear), Mike Shanks (Black Bear), Ric Roman Waugh, Rachael Cole, Volodymyr Artemenko, Yevgen Stupka, Macdara Kelleher, Victor Hadida, Gideon Yu, Elizabeth A. Bell
• Companies behind it: Black Bear, Punch Palace Pictures, CineMachine, Stampede Ventures
• Release plan: Black Bear is positioning it for January 30 in the U.S., where it will run headlong into Sam Raimi's 'Send Help' (a Warner Bros. event title) and Gore Verbinski's 'Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die' with Sam Rockwell and Juno Temple

Black Bear is very bullish

"Jason is an icon who continues to be at the top of his game, consistently delivering memorable performances that audiences insist on experiencing in theaters. Bringing him together with Ric, another distinguished force in the action space, along with a gripping story and an exceptional group of fellow cast members, promises to make this a must-see event. We can’t wait to bring it to audiences nationwide."
— Benjamin Kramer, Black Bear's President of U.S. Distribution

Translation: they want this one playing big and loud in theaters, even with heavy competition that weekend.

Meanwhile, Waugh is also steering 'Greenland 2'

While 'Shelter' rolls out, Waugh is finishing the sequel to 'Greenland,' working from a script by Mitchell LaFortune and Chris Sparling (who wrote the first movie). The follow-up is called 'Greenland 2: Migration,' and it picks up after the comet strike that wrecked the planet. The Garrity family has to leave their bunker in Greenland and make a treacherous trek across what is left of the world to find a new home. Expect a lot of broken landscapes and hard choices.

Bottom line

Trailer is out now, and it sells a lean rescue-thriller with Statham in protector mode and Waugh doing what he does best. Also, yes, that is a lot of producers. Not a complaint, just an observation.