Butler's Script Sale of the Week...
August 6th, 2001
As the summer winds down, the sales seem to be picking up. Sales of note this week include Pandemonium's remake of the '64 Jerry Lewis comedy, THE PATSY, Universal's tragic , but I'm sure, heartwarming THE ERNIE DAVIS STORY, and the remake of the George Romero horror classic, DAWN OF THE DEAD.
My pick this week is French writer/director Luc Besson's action script, THE TRANSPORTER .
Besson was happily and very successfully making action flicks in his native France when his feminist shoot 'em up NIKITA (1990) snagged an American release (as LA FEMME NIKITA, 1991) as well as the eye of many Hollywood action producers.
NIKITA was remade into the lukewarm Bridget Fonda actioner POINT OF NO RETURN (1993) for which Besson was granted a screenwriting credit. But it wasn't until 1994's LEON (that's THE PROFESSIONAL for all you non-film geeks out there) that Besson really captured the hearts, minds, and adrenaline glands of film fans.
With LEON, Besson showed that he was that rare action writer/director who could also be considered an artist (paying attention Bay and West? It can be done.) He followed LEON, with his self indulgent sci-fi pic, THE FIFTH ELEMENT (1997), which, like it or not, must be complemented for injecting a bit of color and flair into a genre usually bogged down by apocalyptic grays.
Besson hasn't directed anything since 1999's THE MESSENGER: THE STORY OF JOAN OF ARC (didn't see, can't comment), but he's been writing and producing all along. Most notable would be the two awesome French action flicks TAXI (1998) and TAXI 2 (2000).
Which brings us to THE TRANSPORTER. Besson won't be directing, but he has written the script and he will be producing. As a writer, just as a director, Besson knows how to pace an action scene and inject it with original cinematic flair and style. Most importantly, however, Besson knows how to craft a story around these action scenes.
He's enlisted Chinese director Corey Yuen (LEGEND OF TEKKEN, 2001) to helm THE TRANSPORTER, a story of a delivery guy who gets way in over his head. I've never seen any of Yuen's flicks, but the fact that he's done a few Jet Li starrers must be a good sign.
Let's hope Besson's writing and guiding hand deliver us another substantial action flick that we film geeks can happily celebrate.
--Edward Butler
My pick this week is French writer/director Luc Besson's action script, THE TRANSPORTER .
Besson was happily and very successfully making action flicks in his native France when his feminist shoot 'em up NIKITA (1990) snagged an American release (as LA FEMME NIKITA, 1991) as well as the eye of many Hollywood action producers.
NIKITA was remade into the lukewarm Bridget Fonda actioner POINT OF NO RETURN (1993) for which Besson was granted a screenwriting credit. But it wasn't until 1994's LEON (that's THE PROFESSIONAL for all you non-film geeks out there) that Besson really captured the hearts, minds, and adrenaline glands of film fans.
With LEON, Besson showed that he was that rare action writer/director who could also be considered an artist (paying attention Bay and West? It can be done.) He followed LEON, with his self indulgent sci-fi pic, THE FIFTH ELEMENT (1997), which, like it or not, must be complemented for injecting a bit of color and flair into a genre usually bogged down by apocalyptic grays.
Besson hasn't directed anything since 1999's THE MESSENGER: THE STORY OF JOAN OF ARC (didn't see, can't comment), but he's been writing and producing all along. Most notable would be the two awesome French action flicks TAXI (1998) and TAXI 2 (2000).
Which brings us to THE TRANSPORTER. Besson won't be directing, but he has written the script and he will be producing. As a writer, just as a director, Besson knows how to pace an action scene and inject it with original cinematic flair and style. Most importantly, however, Besson knows how to craft a story around these action scenes.
He's enlisted Chinese director Corey Yuen (LEGEND OF TEKKEN, 2001) to helm THE TRANSPORTER, a story of a delivery guy who gets way in over his head. I've never seen any of Yuen's flicks, but the fact that he's done a few Jet Li starrers must be a good sign.
Let's hope Besson's writing and guiding hand deliver us another substantial action flick that we film geeks can happily celebrate.
--Edward Butler
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