Gunslinger Lucky Luke will be the latest comic book hero to get the TV treatment.
According to Variety, Federation Entertainment is set to produce and develop an action-adventure comedy TV series based on the iconic Lucky Luke comic franchise with popular French actor Michaël Youn — who previously starred in the 2009 film adaptation of Lucky Luke as Billy the Kid — attached as an artistic producer and director.
Federation Entertainment is collaborating with French production company Un pour Tous Productions on the project. The series revolves around a gunslinger in the American Wild West, and is both a tribute and parody of classic Western tropes. While other cowboys and Western heroes have appeared in comics, Luke is one of the earliest and most enduring.
The series was created by Belgian cartoonist Maurice De Bevere (better known by his pen name Morris) in 1946. The canon of Lucky Luke consists of over 40 graphic novels, with 300 million units sold worldwide. Morris collaborated on the project for twenty years alongside French writer René Goscinny, author for the Astérix franchise.
The series is currently untitled, but the joint venture will feature multiple characters alongside Lucky Luke, the man who shoots faster than his shadow. The show will reportedly include recurring antagonists the Dalton cousins (les cousins Dalton), outlaw Calamity Jane, gambling cheat Pat Poker and "the stupidest dog in the universe" Rantanplan the hound.
As one of France's most popular comedy directors, Youn expressed his enthusiasm for the project. "As a big fan of the comics, I'm very excited to be part of this adventure, and I can't wait to share with audiences," he said.
"The opportunity we have today to translate in a fictional world the mythical universe of Lucky Luke and the Daltons with the talented Michaël Youn is a marvelous thing, and we'll look forward to sharing with the world," said Pascal Breton, Federation Entertainment's founder.
Rémi Préchac and Julien Vallespi, representatives for Un pour Tous Productions, said, "adapting a patrimonial franchise like Lucky Luke in a series is a challenge," but one they are glad to be tackling. They explained that the series will aim to be accessible to both young and old audiences alike, just like the original comics. No release date was announced.
Source: Variety