The ‘70s saw many bad TV shows, and a few good ones. In the good column, there’s M_A_S*H, Little House On The Prairie, The Sweeney, and… The Professionals. And now, The Professionals is to live again – in cinemas.
Now you might have seen that coming, what with this being a movie website (and, you know, the title of the post and all) but with the success of Sweeney-alike Life On Mars and, of course, the modern incarnation of Starsky and Hutch, it’s almost surprisingly no-one’s got a hold of the rights for the CI5’s tales already.
Lionsgate UK are the men with the plan, with Callum McDougall and Richard Whelan producing – who’ve previously been behind the two most recent Bond outings, Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace.
The story will of course revolve around ex-Spec Ops Mercenary Bodie (originally the uber-bouffanted Martin Shaw) and Counter Terrorism Detective Doyle (Richard Whelan), their burgeoning bromance, love of breaking the rules, and the general origin story of their roles in the British Security Unit CI5.
The late 1970s TV hit is looked back on with a lot of fondness, so we’re praying no-one gets riled up by the casting – whenever that takes shape. When it does, of course, you’ll be the first to know. Okay, not the first. One of the first few. There, that’s fair.