Fortnite isn't the only game with celebrity guests: The past couple World of Tanks holiday events have included Arnold Schwarzenegger, Milla Jovovich, and Vinnie Jones, and this year, action star Jason Statham is in command. The actor tells PC Gamer that he's "coming in strong, straightforward, and ready to take the reins." (The reins of a tank, that is.)
Announced today, the World of Tanks Holiday Ops 2025 event starts December 6 and runs through January 13, and will feature an updated "festive hangar where players will be given special assignments and battle missions to earn rewards from Jason Statham himself."
Statham hasn't appeared in many videogames: He had voice roles in Red Faction 2 and the original Call of Duty early in his career, but has otherwise mostly stuck to film. The actor told PC Gamer over email that he's been "fully focused on diving into bigger action roles, faster cars, intense fights" over the past 20 years, and sees his work with Wargaming on the Holiday Ops 2025 trailer (embedded above) as a continuation of that work.
"Cooperation with Wargaming is in a way an extension of my movie career as I worked with them from the ground up on the script, making sure the trailer came together perfectly," wrote Statham. "I sat down with the director to hammer out all the details, tweaking scenes to bring out the grit and punch we wanted. Also, a big reason I jumped in was to join the legendary team with my mate Vinnie Jones and the iconic Arnold Schwarzenegger."
Statham's associated tank is the Centurion Action X, which is getting a new "British Steel" skin. "It's brutal, classy, and built for the toughest battles, just like me," says the actor. More details about this year's Holiday Ops event can be found on the official World of Tanks website.
We put several questions to Statham, mediated by Wargaming, with the understanding that he'd answer some but not all of them. Aside from comments related to his new World of Tanks persona, the actor had a couple things to say about the Crank movies, and also gave much more consideration than I expected to our most frivolous question: Could he beat Santa in a fight?
Statham thinks he could, but says he wouldn't feel good about it.
"Santa's a tough one, no doubt," he wrote. "That jolly front of his? Covers some serious strength. Anyone who can lug a sack like that all night has more than a bit of muscle. Honestly, I'd rather fight alongside him than against him—feuding with Santa's just asking for trouble, and I plan on staying well off the naughty list.
"But if he came at me with a squad of elves? Alright, they might land a few lucky hits, but let's get real. I'm used to taking on tougher types: gangs, prehistoric monsters, international spies, you name it. If it came down to it, I'd handle Santa and his helpers without a hitch. Not that I'd enjoy it, mind you."
