The Descent and Doomsday director Neil Marshall has lined up another project. With Centurion hitting theaters in the UK today, he told Empire details on an update to The Professionals.
Originally a British TV show, The Professionals will be “a hard-hitting action movie.” Marshall says he “always loved the show. It has one of the greatest theme tunes ever and a really great central premise. I just thought: this is going to make a great movie.”
The original 1970’s series “saw professional (natch) tough guys Bodie (Lewis Collins) and Doyle (Martin Shaw) busting crime and terror at home and abroad for law enforcement outfit CI5.” Marshall says he will update it to fit contemporary times, but wants to “keep everything that made the original great.” It will be a “real wham-bam rip-roaring adventure movie…and a really great buddy film.” He explains a little bit more below.
“They deal with anti-terrorism, assassinations, political intrigue. The slogan, or kind of the tagline for the film, is ‘Fight fire with fire’ and that was their whole thing… Primarily it’s going to be an exciting movie, but there’s an inherent political angle on the story.”
Marshall is also attached to the 3D horror film Burst, produced by Sam Raimi.
Centurion hits theaters late August in the US.
What do you think about Marshall directing The Professionals?