Tonight on TV: Franck Gastambide Revives One of France’s Most Iconic Film Sagas!

Are you a fan of the high-octane Taxi film series? Great news: the network TMC is airing its fifth episode this Thursday evening, directed by Franck Gastambide with him and Malik Bentalha starring.

Gastambide and Bentalha Take Over from Naceri and Diefenthal

Released in 2018, Taxi 5 features Sylvain Marot (played by Gastambide), an exceptional Parisian cop and driver, who is reluctantly transferred to the Municipal Police of Marseille. His task: to take down the notorious “Italian Gang,” which has been robbing jewelry stores using powerful Ferraris. However, his only option is to team up with the infamous Daniel’s (Samy Naceri) great-nephew, Eddy Maklouf (Malik Bentalha), who is the worst VTC driver in Marseille but also the only one who can retrieve the legendary white TAXI.

Packed with action and humor, the energetic and zany Taxi 5 sees Franck Gastambide and Malik Bentalha stepping into the shoes of the iconic duo Samy Naceri and Frédéric Diefenthal. How did these two men get here? The director of Pattaya was in the midst of writing an action comedy he wanted to shoot with Omar Sy when Bentalha encouraged him to reach out to Luc Besson about Taxi 5.

Gastambide contacted Besson via Instagram… and got a reply! A meeting was set with the filmmaker at the Cité du cinéma. Besson, busy shooting Valerian at the time, met with Gastambide and Bentalha (who had also reached out to Besson, in his underwear at home eating a kebab!). Building on the success of Kaïra and Pattaya, Gastambide pitched his reboot idea for an hour to a receptive Luc Besson. At the end of their discussion, Besson agreed, and Taxi 5 was greenlit!

When Besson Tames Gastambide’s Enthusiasm

Franck Gastambide wrote Taxi 5 in collaboration with Luc Besson and Stéphane Kazandjian, who also co-wrote Pattaya. According to the director, Besson represented traditional France, and he, the new generation, each contributing ideas to complement each other. The more experienced Besson thus tempered the other’s sometimes overly extreme ideas for gags.

“Besson always made sure it stayed a Taxi movie and not Kaïra behind the wheel,” Gastambide noted. “In one of the early scripts, I went a bit too far. I had imagined that Malik Bentalha’s wife was a nympho, and I had a running gag where Malik unknowingly dropped her off at a swingers club or a fire station. Luc told me it was hilarious… but to save that joke for my next movie.”

More than 3.6 million viewers tuned in for Taxi 5. Why not take the wheel this Thursday evening? Make sure your seatbelt is fastened, get comfy on your couch, and start watching this highly entertaining film!

Tonight on TMC at 9:25 PM

Watch the “Taxi 5” trailer: