Feb 24, 2011

Transporter TV Series Comes to Cinemax

We've been following EuropaCorp's development of a TV series based on their successful Transporter series of neo-Eurospy films for a while now, and last we heard (in December), the company had scored an American network but not yet announced which one.  Today, The New York Post reports that it's cable channel Cinemax.  A few weeks ago we heard that Cinemax was venturing into the world of scripted series that has proved so lucrative for other cable outlets, including their sibling company HBO, with an American version of the UK spy/action series Strike Back.  Apparently that's part of an aggressive strategy on the part of HBO to reshape Cinemax from the soft-core skin flick venue unofficially known (as far back as my childhood) as "Skinemax" into what the newspaper calls "a channel for tire-squealing shoot-'em-ups -- with a good measure of sex thrown in, of course."  The network still hasn't made any official announcements about the series or its creative talent, but the Stargate fan website GateWorld speculates that longtime Stargate writer-producers Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie are in talks to be involved in some capacity on the Trasnporter show.  It seems highly unlikely that Jason Statham will be involved at all with the series, and as of now it's unknown whether another actor will play his signature role of Frank Martin or if the TV version will focus on a different transporter altogether.  (The third film revealed that the profession is not quite as unique as one would think.)  I love the Transporter films, and while I think that Statham is the best part of them, I do think that the franchise has potential without him as a TV show--especially with European filming locations, which have been part of the package all along thanks to Luc Besson's Paris-base EuropaCorp. I've had Cinemax as part of my cable package for a long time because it was bundled with channels I actually watch, but I don't think I've ever tuned in.  Looks like that's about to change!

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