Luc Besson is Bringing THE TRANSPORTER to TV

In not-really-that-surprising news, French mega-producer Luc Besson (Taken, District B:13, Leon: The Professional) is adapting his own Transporter film series into a television spinoff.

This sounded potentially excellent, but fans of the films shouldn't get excited just yet - I'm afraid there is some bad news to report here. Jason Statham, the best part of the franchise, is not connected with the TV series in any fashion. If you've seen the Transporter films (well, the first two anyway - the third one was an abomination), you'll know what a crippling blow this is to the TV series' chances of survival.

I'm on the fence about this. One one hand, I'm truly disappointed that we won't be able to see Frank Martin (come on, we all know there's only one REAL Frank Martin) tear around kicking ass and delivering things on a weekly basis on the small screen. I could really use another action-oriented show to fill the gap that 24 will be leaving in my TV-watching rotation upon its cancellation after this season. But at the same time, I'm happy that Statham will continue his career in film. The guy is just so much fun to watch on the big screen - even in small performances, like as Handsome Rob in The Italian Job remake, his charisma and attitude make him one of those dudes that "girls want and guys want to be."

Besson's EuropaCorp is teaming with Atlantique Productions to adapt the property, and shooting is scheduled to begin in Canada this coming February. Each episode will receive a $4 million budget and is slated to be an hour long. The first season (and presumably the last, considering the lack of Statham) will run for 12 episodes.

What do you think about a Transporter TV show? Does it have any chance to succeed if Statham doesn't reprise his role as Frank Martin?