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Connoisseurs of classic detectives took notice when Netflix debuted the first five episodes of its new French series “Lupin” last month. And those familiar with the dynamic, charismatic actor Omar Sy — best known as the lead in the international smash-hit film “Intouchables” — imagined exciting possibilities.

The French actor has crossed over into studio films like “X-Men: Days of Future Past” and “Jurassic World.” He is a leading man, and his role as the title character in this contemporary, Paris-set series promised not only to spotlight that, but to serve as another successful instance of colorblind casting. Previous adaptations involving Sy’s character were typically written or cast with a white man in the main role.

But casting aside, viewers familiar with Arsene Lupin, an early 20th century master of disguise created by Maurice Leblanc, found to their surprise that the updated character bears, at best, a tangential relationship to the gentleman thief of lore.

The France produced action, adventure TV series "Lupin", directed by Louis Leterrier ("The Transporter") follows master of disguise 'Assane Diop' (Omar Sy), returning to Netflix for its second part of Season One Summer 2021:

"...inspired by the adventures of 'Arsène Lupin', 'Assane Diop' sets out to avenge his father for an injustice inflicted by a wealthy family..."

Click the images to enlarge...

Netflix’s Lupin is primed to set a global benchmark for a French series on the service with 70M households projected to watch the five-parter through its first 28 days. That’s bigger than other recent English-language hit series Bridgerton (projected at 63M) and The Queen’s Gambit (62M actuals). The Omar Sy-starrer made its Netflix debut on January 8, and quickly became the first French series to land on the streamer’s U.S. Top 10 list.

It easily launched to No. 1 across in France and remains in that position today. Netflix reports it has also ranked No. 1 in Brazil, Vietnam, Argentina, Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Sweden and many other countries. Lupin is 93% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

The Intouchables’ Sy stars as Assane Diop who uses the world famous gentleman thief and master of disguise, Arsène Lupin, as his inspiration. The French original from Gaumont Télévision is created by George Kay in collaboration with François Uzan (Family Business) and is a contemporary adaptation of the novels penned by French writer Maurice LeBlanc, who created the character in 1905. The books have been adapted into dozens of TV series and movies over the years.

Since the release of the series, the original Leblanc book has regained interest internationally with it now trending on many marketplaces in France, Italy, Spain, the U.S., UK, Korea and others. Just yesterday, French national news radio, FranceInfo, featured the show as part of its daily kids program, FranceInfo Junior, bringing in an Arsène Lupin scholar to educate the youngsters on the character’s origins.

Set in Paris — and making slick use of the city’s locations — Lupin’s first five-part series, Dans L’Ombre D’Arsène (In The Shadow Of Arsène), introduces Sy’s Diop who, as a teenager, saw his life upended when his father died after being accused of a crime he didn’t commit. Now, Diop is out to avenge his father, and outwit pretty much everyone along the way.

Louis Leterrier directs episodes 1-3 with Marcela Said (Narcos) on 4-5. Also starring are Hervé Pierre, Nicole Garcia, Clotilde Hesme, Ludivine Sagnier, Antoine Gouy, Shirine Boutella and Soufiane Guerrab. Isabelle Degeorges and Nathan Franck are producers.

Here’s Sy celebrating the news:

70 millions, that's insane!!

Netflix’s Lupin made its debut on the service Friday January 8, and quickly became the first French series to land on the streamer’s U.S. Top 10 list. It entered the overall list at No. 8 and was No. 6 on the U.S. series list on Saturday, before jumping up to No. 3 on both rosters Sunday (it’s No. 1 in France and elsewhere). Netflix began sharing Daily Top 10 lists last February.

The Intouchables’ Omar Sy stars as Assane Diop who uses the world famous gentleman thief and master of disguise, Arsène Lupin, as his inspiration. The French original from Gaumont Télévision is created by George Kay in collaboration with François Uzan (Family Business) and is a contemporary adaptation of the novels penned by French writer Maurice LeBlanc, who created the character in 1905. The books have been adapted into dozens of TV series and movies over the years.

There’s no denying that Jason Statham has found a very comfortable niche for himself in Hollywood, and the mere presence of his name in any movie is often enough to let audiences know exactly what they’re going to get. That’s hardly a bad thing, though, because he’s been established as one of cinema’s premiere action heroes for close to 20 years now, even if there is a sense of over-familiarity running through his work.

If you can’t remember the monikers of his specific projects, then it becomes increasingly difficult to pick them out of a lineup. Ask someone to guess the Jason Statham action thriller you’re thinking of with either a one-word title, or two words but one of them has to be ‘the’, where he plays a no-nonsense badass with either a military or law enforcement background who gets pulled back into the

Parks and Recreation star and cooky comedienne Aubrey Plaza is joining action star Jason Statham in director Guy Ritchie's next picture. Produced and financed by Miramax with STX handling distribution, the movie was previously titled Five Eyes but is currently untitled.

The thriller finds Jason Statham in typical gruff-talking, action hero territory as the superbly named Orson Fortune, an MI6 guns-and-steel agent who is "recruited by a global intelligence alliance to track down and stop the sale of a deadly new weapons technology that threatens to disrupt the world order. Reluctantly paired with a CIA high-tech expert, Fortune sets off on a globe-trotting mission where he will have to use all of his charm, ingenuity, and stealth to track down and infiltrate billionaire arms broker." Whether the character names have been ditched along with the title is unknown, but if Statham's character is not named either Orson Fortune or

Exclusive: Small Dark Look, the crime drama project formerly known as Body Cross, is becoming a real thing at Focus Features, I hear. Jason Statham is in talks to board the project which recently got a new director, Dane filmmaker Martin Zandvliet. He’s the director of the 2017 Oscar nominated foreign film Land of Mine. Statham’s deal is not locked in just yet.

Zandvliet replaces filmmaker William Oldroyd who was previously on the project, first announced two years ago. Written by Dirty Pretty Things Oscar nominated scribe Steven Knight, Small Dark Look centers around the Russian Mafia in London. The project is being produced by Paul Webster.

Focus is developing the project with the filmmakers who brought on Zandvliet.

Statham counts well over $7.8 billion at the global box office fueled by the Fast and Furious franchise, The Meg, The Expendables series, Spy, and the Transporter movies among several other action titles.

Search ‘Martial Arts Movies’ on Amazon Prime and you’ll get over a thousand results ranging from the classics to the campy, to the critically acclaimed. It’s an overwhelming library for the uninitiated and the mother lode for stalwart fans of the genre. There are so many gems buried in Amazon Prime that digging out the favorites is dirty challenging work but extremely rewarding.

When it comes to martial arts, Amazon Prime has a killer Kung Fu collection. The ‘80s were the ‘Golden Era’ of Kung Fu films when Hong Kong film studios cranked out films faster than any grindhouse ever. Many Hong Kong filmmakers put out up to half a dozen films a year, and most have hundreds of credits on IMDb. This glut of Kung Fu films spread to every Chinatown ghetto theater on the planet. And like with horror, American networks broadcasted late night Kung Fu

If you’ve seen even just one mid-budget and completely forgettable action movie in the last fifteen years, then there’s a distinct possibility that Luc Besson may have been involved.

The writer, director and producer has delivered some solid genre work behind the camera with the likes of La Femme Nikita, Leon: The Professional, The Fifth Element and Lucy, but his EuropaCorp production company made their name churning out a series of generic shoot em’ ups that convinced a roster of A-list talents to try their luck at becoming action stars.

The most successful experiment by far was Taken, which launched Liam Neeson towards an unlikely late-career resurgence as an action hero, but for the most part, EuropaCorp’s output has been characterized by tepid reviews and lukewarm box office numbers. The Transporter was the only other movie lucky enough to spawn a franchise, but Jet Li’s Unleashed,

Between the tail end of the 1990s and the beginning of the 2000s, moviegoers had a high tolerance for pairs of male friends with more breezy optimism than brains. These dopey man-children included Wayne and Garth in “Wayne’s World”, Lloyd and Harry in “Dumb and Dumber”, and two happy-go-lucky doofuses called Bill and Ted, Jules and Vincent in “Pulp Fiction” (a more dangerous species of this genus), and “Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion” as the female alternative. The idiots played by Ashton Kutcher and Seann William Scott in “Dude, Where’s My Car?” killed off the trend in 2000 — temporarily, at least.

Now two such dumb chums return in a meandering and often hilarious lowlife comedy written, directed, shot, and edited by Quentin Dupieux, who made last year’s “Deerskin” with Jean Dujardin. . It lasts just 77 minutes, as “Deerskin” did, and one of its central characters is a horsefly the size of a Yorkshire Terrier.

Having launched their careers together with the crime comedy caper Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels way back in 1998, director Guy Ritchie and action superstar Jason Statham are teaming up again for the spy thriller, Five Eyes. The project is being developed under Miramax, with principal photography set to commence in Europe in October.

Five Eyes finds Jason Statham in typical gruff-talking, action hero territory as the character Orson Fortune, an MI6 guns-and-steel agent who is "recruited by global intelligence alliance Five Eyes to track down and stop the sale of a deadly new weapons technology that threatens to disrupt the world order.

Reluctantly paired with CIA high-tech expert Sarah Fidel, Fortune sets off on a globe-trotting mission where he will have to use all of his charm, ingenuity and stealth to track down and infiltrate billionaire arms broker Greg Simmonds." The movie sounds like the perfect combination of odd-couple banter and explosive,

Few things are as scary as real life these days, but for those seeking more refined thrills and chills, this year’s Fantasia International Film Festival continues to provide the best in “genre” entertainment. While the “genre” moniker is wide-ranging enough to stir up images of everything from slasher films to kung fu epics, the annual Canadian festival has consistently stretched the concept to embrace all sorts of off-beat features that go somehow beyond the norm of mainstream cinema.

This year’s lineup is no different, encompassing not just terrifying horror movies and wild martial arts action, but true stories about unique people, unexpected romantic dramas, even a careful examination of how a cute cartoon frog became a symbol of hate. If it’s weird or wacky, it just might land at Fantasia.

This year’s festival runs August 20 through September 2, though it is only available online to Canadian audiences.

Veteran English actor Ben Cross, whose many roles include playing Sarek in J. J. Abrams' 2009 Star Trek reboot, has sadly passed away. Reportedly, the performer died after a short illness on Tuesday in Vienna, and there are little other details about his passing. According to the German publication Kurier, he had been in town for treatment after being diagnosed with cancer. He was 72 years old.

Born Harry Bernard Cross, the veteran performer came into this world in 1947. From an early age, he began performing in grammar school plays, catching the acting bug at the start of his life. At the age of 22, he was accepted into London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts to further hone his craft. Based on his great work, Cross was awarded the academy's Vanbrugh prize for performance of the year. This led to significant stage roles, making it just a matter of time before Cross would appear in movies and television.

"What now? Shall we shoot each other?" Shout Studios has released an official Us trailer for a Polish WWII action thriller titled The Resistance Fighter, commemorating the anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising, the largest resistance operation in WWII Europe. The original Polish title is Kurier, which translates to The Messenger, but it has a whole new name for the Us release. Based on a true story, the film is about the Polish resistance fighter / war hero Jan Nowak-Jeziorański. He works as the courier between the Poland's resistance movement and the Polish government in exile in London, and is pursued ceaselessly by the Nazis. "The stakes could not be higher in this riveting wartime thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat!" Philippe Tlokinski stars, with Julie Engelbrecht, Bradley James, Martin Butzke, Nico Rogner, Patricia Volny, Jan Frycz, Tomasz Schuchardt, Grzegorz Malecki, & Miroslaw Baka. Take a look. Here's

In the not-so-distant future, the U.S, government has developed the “American Peace Initiative,” commonly known as A.P.I. It’s essentially a piercing signal that, when deployed, prohibits a person’s thoughts regarding the practice of criminal behaviors — unleashing “the cop within,” according to its slogan. Announcers and electronic billboards count down the number of days until free will becomes a thing of the past. Until then, however, lawlessness rules the street, in the form of violence, looting [cue Gif of man pulling shirt collar away from neck and making Garrggh face], and topless ladies dancing on the roofs of cars.

It

Bright, the 2017 fantasy thriller headlined by superstar Will Smith, had a distribution strategy that now—about three short years later in the midst of a pandemic—proved bellwether in hindsight. That’s because the project that was tailor-made to be a big screen blockbuster bypassed a theatrical release to premiere as an exclusive streaming offering on Netflix. While the film had its obstacles with critics (our own review was no exception), the streaming giant quickly greenlit a sequel, which is now moving forward with a director.

Louis Leterrier is in talks to occupy the director’s chair for the untitled Bright sequel, according to THR. Should the deal be finalized, the French helmer would step in for David Ayer, who directed the first film coming off two high-profile (theatrically-released) efforts, Suicide Squad (2016) and Fury (2015). While ceding the director’s chair for the sequel, Ayer will return as a producer and

Louis Leterrier, the director of “The Transporter” and 2008’s “The Incredible Hulk,” is in negotiations to direct “Bright 2” at Netflix, the sequel to the action and fantasy film that stars Will Smith and Joel Edgerton, an individual with knowledge of the project told TheWrap.

Leterrier will take over from David Ayer, who directed the first film from 2017 and was previously attached for the sequel but has been tied up with other projects, including a remake of “The Dirty Dozen” at Warner Bros.

Smith and Edgerton will return for the sequel and reprise their roles as a human detective who has to work with an orc police officer in a modern-day Los Angeles populated by humans and mystical creatures.

Also Read: Joe Russo to Write 'Extraction 2' for Netflix

“Bright 2” will aim to begin production as soon as it is deemed safe to do so amid the pandemic.

Ayer

Bright 2 is finally moving forward at Netflix. The sequel has been in development for more than two years now with few updates provided in the meantime. Now we have word that the streaming service is narrowing in on a director as Louis Leterrier is in talks to helm the sequel. Should this come to pass, it would put a major piece of the puzzle in place and bring us one step closer to Will Smith and Joel Edgerton reuniting for another round of fantasy-based cop adventures.

According to a new report, Louis Leterrier is in negotiations with Netflix for Bright 2. David Ayer (Suicide Squad) directed the first movie but will not be returning to helm the sequel. Ayer did, however, co-write the screenplay alongside Evan Spiliotopoulos (Beauty and the Beast), with T.S. Nowlin (Maze Runner: The Death Cure) providing a rewrite.

There is on word on how soon production could begin,

Netflix is in talks with French director Louis Leterrier for the fantasy actioner “Bright 2,” with Will Smith and Joel Edgerton reprising their roles.

Leterrier’s credits include the two “Transporter” titles, “Now You See Me,” “Clash of the Titans” and “Unleashed.” He executive produced and directed the Netflix series “The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.”

Netflix is planning to begin shooting the sequel once it’s able to start production when the impact of the coronavirus pandemic eases.

The script for “Bright 2” is written by David Ayer and Evan Spiliotopoulos, with a rewrite by T.S. Nowlin. Producers are Ayer, Eric Newman and Bryan Unkeless.

Ayer directed the original 2017 film, set in an alternative universe in Los Angeles, where humans and creatures called orcs co-exist. Smith portrayed an Lapd officer and Edgerton played his orc partner. The duo confronted racism and corruption in a world where a few individuals

Exclusive: Netflix is negotiating with Louis Leterrier to direct Bright 2, the sequel to the 2017 film that kicked off the streamer’s feature film franchise launch aspirations.

David Ayer directed the first film and was attached to the sequel, but he has been focused on rewriting to direct Dirty Dozen for Warner Bros, and he has other projects at Netflix.

The film will reteam Will Smith and Joel Edgerton in the tale of mismatched crime fighting partners, one of whom is an orc. The script is by Ayer and Evan Spiliotopoulos with a rewrite by T.S. Nowlin. The pic is produced by Ayer, Eric Newman and Bryan Unkeless.

Netflix set sights on a sequel in early 2018 after the original was released and watched by a record estimated 60 million, with far and away the most views for a Netflix film in its first week. Those numbers have been eclipsed by a