PARIS -- Lagardere Entertainment and EuropaCorp will be shipping out a small-screen version of film franchise "Transporter" overseas, both companies confirmed on Monday.

The co-production about a former special-forces officer hired to transport things across borders for a price is based on EuropaCorp's films, which have made a collective $238 million for its first three titles.

"Transporter -- the Series" will be filmed in English with a budget of $4 million per episode. Lagardere Entertainment subsidiary Atlantic Productions will ensure financing and executive production for the 12 one-hour episodes of the first season.

Discussions are already in the works with major networks for broadcast, though no deals have been signed to date.

"Transporter -- the Series" will start shooting in February 2011 in Europe and Canada with a delivery date set for sometime later in 2011.

The project has yet to sign a director, but the film's writer and show runner is German Alexander Rumelin.

"We wanted to create a series of reference with a budget that rivals current American shows out there," Lagardere's Managing Director of Production and Atlantique Production President Takis Candilis said in an interview.

"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," EuropaCorp chairman Luc Besson said.

"This is proof that France and, by extension Europe, can drive international production when they're based on concepts as strong as Luc Besson's 'Transporter,' " Candilis said.

He added: "To create a TV series based on an international franchise is evidently a particularly positive thing. The three 'Transporter' films were a huge success in Europe and Asia, so to construct a TV series based on this success is extraordinary."

The production team is currently casting a potpourri of international talent out of London, and will soon be scouting in Toronto and Los Angeles.

Atlantic Productions already has several big-budget projects in the works, including "The Borgias" with Canal Plus, set to start shooting in September, plus Peace Arch Entertainment-France Television's co-production "Child of the Morning," based on Pauline Guedge's best-seller.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/news/e3i59a7f646190f49f29a0a5a2e5cfc498d

This will make an interesting series.

Back when MyNetworkTV was still in the original series business, they skedded THE TRANSPORTER and THE TRANSPORTER 2 on their Thursday movie series. At the time, I thought that the network might have been testing out the back-to-back airings as pseudo-pilots for a possible series, but neither movie rated particularly well.

If the movies had rated well (over 1.0 in A18-49s), I think MyNetworkTV might have paired 'The Transporter' series up with 'Dead Man Running', a pilot they commissioned starring Mr. Michael Madsen from the producers of 'The Shield' as a dark, action adventure combo.

Perhaps the new MyNetworkTV programming service might eventually pick up encores of the 'The Transporter' series at some point down the road.

:so

That would be interesting to see a Transporter tv show. I wonder who would play Jason Statham's character.

I don,t think so that the TV serial work as the film was so popular & interesting.

Cinemax is teaming with Luc Besson for a TV series based on his popular Transporter film franchise. After lengthy negotiations, HBO's sibling pay-cable channel has committed to 12 episodes of the action drama, produced by French company Atlantique and executive produced by Besson. This is the second series order under Cinemax's current push in original scripted fare. Last month, the network partnered with British satcaster Sky for another action series, the 10-part Strike Back.

Transporter, the series, will center on professional transporter Frank Martin, played in the movies by Jason Statham. Operating in a seedy underworld of dangerous criminals and desperate players, Martin can always be counted on to get the job done — discreetly. He has three rules: Never change the deal, no names and never open the package.

Transporter, which has also secured broadcasters in France (M6) and Germany (RTL) will begin production this summer in Europe and Canada and will be presented at the upcoming MIPTV market. According to Luc Besson’s EuropaCorp., the budget for the series is $48 million. Atlantique's parent company Lagardere Entertainment is fully-financing the show, having licensed The Transporter from EuropaCorp. In addition to Besson, the series is being executive produced by Klaus Zimmermann and Fred Fuchs.

http://www.deadline.com/hollywood/