Lionsgate UK To Adapt THE PROFESSIONALS For The Big Screen

Now here’s one your dad or even yourself if your over the age of (cough, cough) 30,  may remember THE PROFESSIONALS. The television series was aired between 1977 and 1981 on the ITV Network spanning nearly 60 episodes and a spin off from the popular The Sweeney starring Gordon Jackson, Martin Shaw and Lewis Collins and at its peak it was essential viewing. The series was Britian’s answer to Starsky & Hutch with the series protaganist part of the fictional CI5 the series  was reran back in the 1990’s and even had a new version of the series which I barely remember with Robert Woodward playing Gordon Jackson’s role.

The thing that will get people remembering the series was the catchy theme tune “da da da ddaaa da!” (sorry that was bad) but now we could be hearing that tune once more thanks to Lionsgate. This morning Lionsgate have informed The Peoples Movies that the Cult British tv show is coming back for a big screen adaptation, but who will play bodie and Doyle?

Here’s the offical press release sent to us by Lionsgate and below that is a little reminder of that funky theme tune/intro

Lionsgate UK  and Eighth Wonder Pictures to produce big screen adaptation of cult British TV crime series “The Professionals”.

Iconic characters Bodie and Doyle to hit the big screen

LONDON, U.K., March 28, 2011 – Lionsgate UK has acquired the rights to produce a feature film version of era-defining British crime action series The Professionals.

The project is expected to start shooting on location in the UK later this year.

Lionsgate UK partnered with Callum McDougall and Richard Whelan to produce the feature film via their production company Eighth Wonder.

McDougall and Whelan have been producers on a number of  films, with McDougall executive producing the last two James Bond films “Casino Royale” and “Quantum of Solace” and currently  the “Clash of the Titans” sequel,  and Whelan having recently completed producing duties on “Captain America” for Marvel.

Reinventing the TV series for the big screen, The Professionals will be an exhilarating, emotionally-charged action-thriller that re-forges the seminal TV series for a new generation.

The Professionals will see ex-Spec Ops Mercenary Bodie and Counter Terrorism Detective Doyle burst back onto screens in this blistering origin story that sees the iconic characters unite in their first mission for covert British Security Unit CI5 (Criminal Intelligence 5).

“The Professionals was such an iconic British crime series that  it’s a fantastic opportunity for Lionsgate to be able to bring it to the big screen for the first time,” said Zygi Kamasa, Chief Executive, Lionsgate UK.  “This production will combine the wit and fast paced action of the original TV series but also completely reinvent it for a new, modern audience and we’re really looking forward to working with talented producers Callum and Richard on the film.”

Said Whelan: “To take this 70’s TV classic and launch it onto the big screen, is a dream come true.”

Added McDougall:   “We are delighted to be partnering with Lionsgate UK  on this exciting project,  and we look forward to working with them closely in the future”.

Originally created by Brian Clemens, the TV series of The Professionals became a cult hit in the UK in the late 1970s and its central characters Bodie and Doyle household names on London Weekend Television when the first series first aired in 1977.