‘Legionnaire’ Hits Tube First
The Jean-Claude Van Damme action pic Legionnaire is now looking to get its debut on television before starting a theatrical run according to today’s Variety. Producer Ed Pressman is close to a deal with USA Network to show the flick first at a fee of $3 million before possibly shuffling the period pic into movie houses courtesy of Lions Gate Films. If the deal with Lions Gate gets done Legionnaire, which Variety estimates cost somewhere between $25 and $35 million, may actually first appear on home video as part of the deal, then go to USA then into theaters.

Given the problems that the movie appears to be having in finding a feature distribution home it is, to say the least, a bit interesting that Pressman’s overall objective is to franchise Legionnaire into a weekly action series which Van Damme would co-executive produce. Evidently Saudi prince Al Waleed Ben Talal was taken by the concept and has agreed to finance the series according to the Variety report, although the concept seems suspiciously different from the movie which is set in 1920s Paris (the television series would take place during the present day).