Natalya Rudakova

Biography

Transporter 3 (French: Le Transporteur 3) is a 2008 English-language French action film directed by Olivier Megaton. A sequel to Transporter 2 (2005), it is the third installment in the Transporter film series and the final installment of the original trilogy, but not the last movie, since it was succeeded by The Transporter Refueled. Jason Statham and François Berléand reprise their roles as Frank Martin and Inspector Tarconi. Frank Martin returns to France in order to continue his low-key business of delivering packages without question. Transporter 3 grossed $112.9 million, making it the highest-grossing film in the trilogy.

== Plot == On a cargo ship, two workers open a container with toxic waste and die from fumes. The captain, knowing the cargo, disposes of their bodies. Meanwhile, Frank Martin, returning from Miami to the French Riviera, unsuccessfully fishes with Tarconi, who gets a call about a black Audi A8 that bypassed customs and police. In Odesa, Ukrainian Environmental Agency Minister Leonid Tomilenko receives a threat from corrupt Ecocorp official Jonas Johnson to resume negotiations. That night, the Audi crashes into Frank's home, driven by Malcolm Manville, from a job Frank had previously declined. Paramedics take Malcolm away, revealing a passenger who warns Frank not to take her. He realizes the metal bracelets on her and Malcolm will detonate if they stray from the car, but the ambulance explodes, killing Malcolm. Frank is knocked unconscious by Johnson's henchman, wakes up with an explosive bracelet, and is forced to drive Malcolm's passenger, Valentina, and a package to Budapest. Ecocorp, after secretly dealing with Tomilenko to bring a ship full of toxic waste into the country, tells him to expect seven more ships. Tomilenko has one day to sign Ecocorp's agreement, so he sends agents to find Frank's destination via Malcolm's GPS. While Tarconi looks into Johnson's motives, Frank visits Otto. Johnson's men arrive, order them back, and Frank fights them off, but Otto can't disarm the explosive transmitter in the car. Frank reaches Budapest, but one of Johnson's men steals the Audi with Valentina inside. Chasing them down by bicycle, Frank recovers the car, and Johnson redirects him to Bucharest. Pursued by Tomilenko's agents in a black Mercedes-Benz E-Class, Frank maneuvers them off a cliff and realizes Valentina is the real package. Valentina is revealed to be Tomilenko's daughter, who was drugged in Eivissa and transported by Malcolm for Johnson to blackmail her father. Johnson ambushes Frank and Valentina on a bridge in Odesa, with Valentina captured and her bracelet removed. Frank drives into a lake, and Johnson leaves him to die. Underwater, Frank inflates a plastic bag with air from the car's tires, surfacing where Tarconi and Ukrainian police rescue him. On a train with Valentina, Johnson gives Tomilenko fifteen minutes to sign the contract. Frank jumps the Audi onto the train, killing Johnson's men, but Johnson is too far to reach. He uncouples the train cabs, leaving himself and Valentina on one train and Frank on another. Frank reaches the Audi, jumping into the next cab with Johnson and Valentina. They fight; Frank subdues Johnson, takes his key, attaches the bracelet instead, and reverses the Audi. The bracelet detonates, killing Johnson. Frank reunites with Valentina. Tomilenko learns Valentina is safe with Tarconi and tears up Ecocorp contracts as police raid the cargo ship. Frank and Tarconi go back to fishing in Marseilles with Valentina.

== Cast ==

== Production == Natalya Rudakova was spotted by Luc Besson on the street as she hurried to her job at a New York City hair salon. He paid for 25 acting lessons over a six-month period, and brought her to audition in Paris, before she received the role. Roger Ebert noted the rarity of leading ladies who are heavily freckled. Shooting was initially expected to last for 16 weeks, in France. It was also filmed in Odesa, Ukraine.

== Release ==

=== Home media === Transporter 3 was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on March 10, 2009 in the United States. 1,108,030 units were sold, bringing in $19.7 million in revenue. Icon Films picked up the rights to distribute the film in the UK and Australia.

== Reception ==

=== Box office === Unlike its predecessors, Transporter 3 was released by Lionsgate Films instead of 20th Century Fox in the United States. On its opening weekend, the film opened at number 7 with $12 million. The film grossed $31.7 million in the United States and in Canada and $77.3 million in other countries, for a total gross of $109 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing film in the Transporter trilogy. '