There’s a lot of news to squeeze in here, so let’s get started. Firstly, Liam Neeson is to begin filming Taken 2 in the spring of 2011, though no director is attached yet. The sequel is being produced by the EuropaCorp studio, as was the case with the first film. EuropaCorp are also looking at spinning off a TV show from Taken (along the lines of The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Blade) but will wait to make a final decision until the sequel has begun shooting.
Nikita, also based on a EuropaCorp property, now has a full season booked for TV and they are developing a series from the Transporter franchise as well. You will recall that Jason Statham starred in all three entries as the no-nonsense, ass-kicking driver, though it seems highly unlikely that he will make the move to the TV series. Shooting on a 12 episode season is scheduled for the new year, with a budget for the season of $48m. EuropaCorp say they have a US distributor on board (though decline to say which one) and are aiming for the season to start screening in November 2011.
Luc Besson, who was involved with Taken and The Transporter series in an exec-producer and writer capacity and who also directed Nikita, is keeping himself busy as well. His latest sci-fi directorial effort, Lock Out, about an astronaut (played by Guy Pearce) who must rescue Lost’s Maggie Grace from a riot on board an orbiting space station, is shooting in Poland and should wrap by the end of the year. Colombiana, which Besson wrote, is due for release September 2011. The film, directed by Oliver Megaton of Transporter 3 “fame”, stars Zoe Saldana (Avatar, Star Trek) as a woman who grows up to be a stone cold assassin, having watched her parents be murdered when she was a child.
We think that’s it for the time being! Check out Deadline for more detail on these various intriguing projects.
