Sep 1, 2011

Tradecraft: Transporter Touble

Tradecraft: Transporter Trouble

Luc Besson's action-packed neo-Eurospy Transporter movies aren't particularly noted for their drama, but so far the new cable TV series based on the films is proving far more dramatic—behind the scenes, anyway. According to Deadline, "the action drama’s executive producers/showrunners Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie have left over creative differences. Veteran TV director-producer Steven Shill, who was recently brought in to work alongside Mallozzi and Mullie, is now expected to take over showrunner duties, at least for the time being." Hm, that doesn't sound so good. How many creative differences can you have over a show whose premise is that a man uses his car to transport things? The trade blog reveals that the series is currently in production on episodes four and five in Toronto (that's disappointing; I'd thought they were shooting in Europe, as originally planned.) and that "shooting is scheduled to continue through November for a 2012 premiere." (That's a surprise too; I was expecting this show on the air later this year.) As previously reported, the Cinemax series stars Chris Vance (Burn Notice) as Frank Martin, the role played by Jason Statham in the movies, as well as Andrea Osvárt, Delphine Chanéac, Rachel Skarsten and François Berléand reprising his role from the films as Martin's police inspector friend and fishing partner. Besson is executive producing alongside Fred Fuchs and Robert Cooper. The Transporter will be Cinemax’s second major action series following Strike Back, which debuted a few weeks ago. (Review here.)

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