Luc Besson’s ‘Transporter’ Coming to the Small Screen

No, this isn’t a plug for the world premiere of one of the Transporter films to hit basic cable. Creator Luc Besson’s production company, EuropaCorp, has gotten the greenlight to go ahead with a full season of a Transporter TV series to be produced in Europe.

Though Jason Statham may be too big an actor to reprise his role as the car-speeding, bad guy-kicking lead Frank Martin, the show’s budget may just be enough for him to reconsider. From Variety:

Luc Besson’s powerhouse EuropaCorp has greenlit a 12 episode one-hour series, produced with Takis Candilis’ Atlantique Prods.

Move marks the first series, and a big one at that, for EuropaCorp as it diversifies into TV, producing spin-offs from its hit movies.

Series will be shot in English, and will start lensing in early 2011 in Canada and France. The producers are in talks with major international television channels.

At $4 million per episode, it’s a pricey project for Europe, but by U.S. broadcast network standards, it’s still being made on a low budget.

This could mean a lot for foreign-produced series to make their way to the US, giving one more avenue for networks to use when buying up new projects. EuropaCorp is not worried about the money being a loss, as the Transporter films each cost roughly $30 million to make, and brought in a total of $238 million worldwide.

No word on a cast yet, but expect to hear new soon, with the large budget behind the series, and production to begin in less than a year.