Taxi (film series)

Taxi is a series of comedy films, created by French screenwriter and producer Luc Besson, consisting of 5 films. In addition to them, an American-French remake of the 1998 original was also made in 2004 (Taxi) and in 2014 an American-French TV series called Taxi Brooklyn aired on television.

Taxi
Directed byGérard Pirès (Taxi)
Gérard Krawczyk (Taxi 24)
Franck Gastambide (Taxi 5)
Written byLuc Besson (creator)
Release date
CountryFrance
LanguageFrench
Box office$302,761,077

Films

Film Release date Director(s) Screenwriter(s) Producer(s)
Taxi April 8, 1998 (1998-04-08) Gérard Pirès Luc Besson Luc Besson, Michèle Pétin & Laurent Pétin
Taxi 2 March 29, 2000 (2000-03-29) Gérard Krawczyk Luc Besson Luc Besson, Michèle Pétin & Laurent Pétin
Taxi 3 January 29, 2003 (2003-01-29) Gérard Krawczyk Luc Besson Luc Besson
Taxi October 6, 2004 (2004-10-06) Tim Story Robert Ben Garant, Thomas Lennon & Jim Kouf Luc Besson
Taxi 4 February 14, 2007 (2007-02-14) Gérard Krawczyk Luc Besson Luc Besson, Laurent Pétin & Michèle Pétin
Taxi 5 April 11, 2018 (2018-04-11) Franck Gastambide Franck Gastambide, Stéphane Kazandjian & Ahmed Hamidi Luc Besson

Taxi (1998)

Taxi was shot in 1998 by Gérard Pirès based on the script by Luc Besson. It tells the story of the young taxi driver Daniel, who loves risk and high speeds, and clumsy policeman Émilien who team up to catch a German gang of bank robbers. In the end, thanks to Daniel's ingenuity, they succeed. The movie earned $44.4 million at the box office with a budget of $8.1 million.[1]

Taxi 2 (2000)

In 2000, director Gérard Krawczyk filmed the sequel. The scriptwriter and producer of the picture was Luc Besson. At the heart of the story lies the confrontation between Daniel and Émilien about the kidnapping of the Japanese minister of defense who arrived in Marseille to get acquainted with France's achievements in the fight against terrorists. The movie earned $64.4 million at the box office with a budget of €10.7 million.[2]

Taxi 3 (2003)

In 2003 Taxi 3 was released. The director was again Gérard Krawczyk, with Luc Besson still being producer and script writer. Daniel and Émilien reunite once again to fight a gang of bank robbers disguised as Santa Claus. The movie earned $64.5 million at the box office with a budget of €14.5 million.[3]

Taxi (2004)

The success of the series of films Taxi attracted the attention of Hollywood. In 2004, Luc Besson's studio EuropaCorp and the American 20th Century Fox jointly shot a remake of the first Taxi, keeping the same title.

Belle Williams is the fastest taxi driver of New York and dreams of competing in NASCAR. But instead of racing, she has to team up with police officer Andy Washburn, a dimwitted detective and an inept driver. Together, they pursue a gang of bank robbers led by Vanessa – a cold and prudent beauty.

The film turned out to be financially profitable, grossing nearly $69 million worldwide with a budget of $25 million[4] but received negative reviews on Rotten Tomatoes with a rating of 10%.[5]

Taxi 4 (2007)

On February 14, 2007, the premiere of the film Taxi 4 was held in France. As in the two previous movies, the director was Gerard Krawczyk, and Luc Besson was scriptwriter and producer. The most dangerous criminal in the world, Albert van den Bosch, escapes from the Marseille police station because of Émilien's incapability. As a result of this, Émilien is dismissed and is now working with Daniel and his wife Petra trying to track down and arrest the escaped criminal. The movie raised more than $65 million at the box office with a budget of €17.3 million.[6]

Taxi 5 (2018)

Taxi 5 premiered in theatres on April 12, 2018. As before, the scriptwriter and producer was Luc Besson, while Gerard Krawczyk was replaced by the young director Franck Gastambide. The characters were also changed, instead of Daniel and Émilien, the heroes of the movie are Daniel's nephew Eddie Makhlouf and the Parisian police officer Silvain Maro, transferred to Marseille. They have to catch a gang of Italian robbers who use Italian supercars as their getaway vehicles.

Future

In an interview with “50 Minutes Inside,” Frank Gastambid announced that if Taxi 5 pays off well at the box office, then Taxi 6 will be his next job. Unfortunately, the film failed at the box office with a budget of €20.39 million, raising only $35 million. Despite this, the director still plans to make the sixth film.

In an interview with the Premiere newspaper, Samy Naseri said that he was ready to star in Taxi 6 if Luc Besson “assembled the old team”, but the actor flatly refuses to work with Gastambid, as he will ruin the sixth film again.

At the Dinar Film Festival of 2018, Sabrina Ouazani confirmed that the sixth film is still in the plans, but the start of filming date and the release one are currently unknown.

Television

Series Season Episodes First released Last released Showrunner(s) Network(s)
Taxi Brooklyn 1 12 April 14, 2014 May 12, 2014 Gary Scott Thompson, Stephen Tolkin & Franck Ollivier TF1, NBC

Taxi Brooklyn (2014)

In 2014, the television series Taxi Brooklyn, filmed jointly by EuropaCorp Television, the French TV channel TF1 and the American NBC, aired on television. The main creator of the series was Gary Scott Thompson. The plot was based on the first "Taxi".

Caitlin "Cat" Sullivan is an NYPD detective working in Brooklyn. After her driving privileges are suspended, she relies on Leo Romba, a Brooklyn cab driver from France. Leo becomes Cat's driver and a de facto consultant on her cases. While solving crimes with Leo, Cat is also running her own unauthorized investigation into the death of her father, an NYPD detective thought to have been executed by the Capella crime family. In doing so, she clashes with her boss, Captain Baker, and her ex-husband Gregg, who has picked up the case for the FBI.

On the site Rotten Tomatoes, the series received a rating of 38%.[7] On March 6, 2015, NBC cancelled the show.[8]

Cast and crew

Principal cast

List indicator(s)
  • This table shows the characters and the actors who have portrayed them throughout the franchise
  • Italics indicate the actor only appears in flashbacks via archive footage from previous films
  • A dark grey cell indicates the character was not in the film
Character Original series Remake
Taxi Taxi 2 Taxi 3 Taxi 4 Taxi 5 Taxi
1998 2000 2003 2007 2018 2004
Daniel Morales Samy Naceri Samy Naceri
(Mentioned)
Émilien Coutant-Kerbalec Frédéric Diefenthal Frédéric Diefenthal
(Mentioned)
Lilly Bertineau Marion Cotillard Marion Cotillard
(Mentioned)
Petra Emma Wiklund
Commissaire Gérard Gibert Bernard Farcy
Alain Trésor Édouard Montoute
General Edmond Bertineau Jean-Christophe Bouvet Jean-Christophe Bouvet
(Mentioned)
Sylvain Marot Franck Gastambide
Eddy Maklouf Malik Bentalha
Samia Sabrina Ouazani
Sandy Sand Van Roy
Isabelle "Belle" Precious Williams Queen Latifah
Detective Andrew Washburn Jimmy Fallon

Additional crew

Title Taxi Taxi 2 Taxi 3 Taxi 4 Taxi 5
Director Gérard Pirès Gérard Krawczyk Franck Gastambide
Screenplay Luc Besson Franck Gastambide
Stéphane Kazandjian
Luc Besson
Editing Véronique Lange Thierry Hosse Yann Herve Kristin Luca Navarro
Friederic Toraval
Julien Rey
Producer Luc Besson
Michèle Pétin
Laurent Pétin
Music Akhenaton Al Kemya Kore & Skalp Tefa, Masta
Weallstar—Da. Octopusss
Kore
Cinematographer Jean-Pierre Sauveur Gerard Sterin Pierre Morel Vincent Richard
Premiere 8 April 1998 29 March 2000 29 January 2003 10 February 2007 (Marseille)
15 February 2007 (rest of France)
7 April 2018 (Marseille)
11 April 2018 (rest of France)
Runtime 90 min. 88 min. 87 min. 97 min. 102 min.
Budget €8.1 mln[9] €10.7 mln[10] €14.49 mln[11] €17.3 mln[12] €20.39 mln[13]
Genre Comedy Action
Country  France
Company
ARP Sélection
TF1 Films Production
StudioCanal Apipoulaï
Leeloo Productions EuropaCorp
Distributor
 France
EuropaCorp Distribution

Reception

Box office performance

Film All films of the Taxi (film series)
Taxi Taxi 2 Taxi 3 Taxi 4 Taxi 5
 France $37,980,000[9] $63,704,000[10] $35,752,480[11] $33,342,703[12] $21,899,085[14] $192,678,268
 United States $268,254[9] $729,844[10] $497,208[11] $1,495,306
Worldwide $44,218,015[9] $64,433,844[10] $64,497,208[11] $65,114,802[12] $64,497,208[14] $302,761,077

Music

Soundtracks

Title U.S. release date Length Composer(s) Label
Taxi: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack 1998 TBA TBA TBA
Taxi 2: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack 2000 TBA TBA TBA
Taxi 3: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack 2003 TBA TBA TBA
Taxi: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack 2004 TBA TBA TBA
Taxi 4: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack 2007 TBA TBA TBA
Taxi 5: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack 2018 TBA TBA TBA

Other media

Video games

Taxi 2 – Based on Taxi 2. Released in 2000

Taxi 3 – Based on Taxi 3. Released in 2003

References

  1. "Taxi (1998) - JPBox-Office". jpbox-office.com. Retrieved December 6, 2018.
  2. "Taxi 2 (2000)". JP's Box-Office (in French). Retrieved May 8, 2018.
  3. "Taxi 3 (2003)". JP's Box-Office (in French). Retrieved May 8, 2018.
  4. "Taxi (2004) – International Box Office Results". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved May 8, 2018.
  5. "Taxi (2004)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved May 8, 2018.
  6. "Taxi 4 (2007)". JP's Box-Office (in French). Retrieved May 8, 2018.
  7. "Taxi Brooklyn: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved May 8, 2018.
  8. Trevor Kimball (March 6, 2015). "'Taxi Brooklyn' Canceled By NBC, No Season Two". TV Series Finale. Retrieved May 8, 2018.
  9. "Box-office Taxi (1998)". JP's box-office (in French). Retrieved May 8, 2018.
  10. "Box-office Taxi 2 (2000)". JP's box-office (in French). Retrieved May 8, 2018.
  11. "Box-office Taxi 3 (2003)". JP's box-office (in French). Retrieved May 8, 2018.
  12. "Box-office Taxi 4 (2007)". JP's box-office (in French). Retrieved May 8, 2018.
  13. Jamal Henni (April 7, 2018). "Pourquoi a-t-il fallu attendre Taxi 5 pendant onze ans?". BFM Business (in French). Retrieved April 10, 2018.
  14. "Box-office Taxi 5 (2018)". JP's box-office (in French). Retrieved May 8, 2018.
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