Original series 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.
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.
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.
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.
Taxi 5 (2018) Taxi 5 premiered in theaters 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. The movie earned $42 million at the box office with a budget of €20.39 million.
Remake 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 but received negative reviews on Rotten Tomatoes with a rating of 10%.
Future In an interview with “50 Minutes Inside,”
Franck Gastambide 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 Naceri said that he was ready to star in
Taxi 6 if Luc Besson “assembled the old team”, he refused to only appear as a cameo. At the Dinar Film Festival of 2018, Sabrina Ouazani confirmed that the sixth film is still in planning stage, further details are currently unknown. ==Television==