Transporter Set for TV Adaptation

PARIS: The Transporter film franchise will serve as the basis for a new TV series from France’s Lagardère Entertainment and Luc Besson’s EuropaCorp, with a budget set at $4 million per episode.

EuropaCorp created the original franchise, which, starring Jason Statham, delivered a total box office of $238 million over three films. Transporter—The Series will be filmed in English and budgeted at $4 million per episode, the co-producers have announced. Atlantique Productions, a subsidiary of Lagardère Entertainment, will be responsible for financing and line producing the 12×1-hour first season. Talks with international partners are under way for the show, which begins production in Europe and Canada in 2011.

“For EuropaCorp, the launch of this series forms part of the strategy of enhancing the value of the group’s brands, as well as the desire to strengthen the level of recurring revenues with international expansion plans,” stated Besson, chairman of the EuropaCorp’s board.

Takis Candilis, the senior VP of audiovisual production at Lagardère Entertainment and chairman of Atlantique Production, added: “Transporter—The Series fits in fully with the focus on international productions developed by Atlantique as part of Lagardère Entertainment. This proves that France, and by extension Europe, can be the driving force behind international productions when they are based on such strong concepts as Luc Besson’s Transporter.”