Jason Statham led the UK premiere of Shelter, Ric Roman Waugh’s thriller of a former assassin on a Hebridean island, in Leicester Square.
Jason Statham led the UK premiere of Shelter, Ric Roman Waugh’s action thriller, at Cineworld Leicester Square in the West End on Tuesday 20 January 2026.
Statham was born in Shirebrook in 1967 and grew up practising martial arts while working on market stalls. He dived for Great Britain and competed for England at the 1990 Commonwealth Games, then modelled for French Connection.
His years on the stalls led Guy Ritchie to cast him in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels in 1998 and then in Snatch. The films he has appeared in since have grossed more than $6 billion.
Waugh, a former stuntman who went on to direct Angel Has Fallen and Greenland, made the film from a script by Ward Parry. Statham plays Michael Mason, a former MI6 assassin on an island in the Outer Hebrides.
When a storm throws a teenage girl into the sea, he rescues her. Protecting her draws him back into conflict with the agency. Bill Nighy, Naomi Ackie and Daniel Mays complete the cast.
Bodhi Rae Breathnach, who plays the girl, Jessie, joined Statham and Waugh on the carpet. The film opened in British and American cinemas ten days later.