11:26 AM

Despite Natalie Portman’s interest as well as a completed script, The Professional sequel, Mathilda, is unlikely to ever see a green light.

Rumors have circulated for years about a possible sequel to Luc Besson’s fantastic 1994 film, The Professional (a.k.a. Leon). The proposed director of the sequel, Olivier Megaton, has told Screen Rant the film will more than likely never happen. But there’s room to be hopeful – because everybody involved still wants to make it.

Mathilda, the title of the sequel, already has a script, written by Besson, with Transporter 3 director Olivier Megaton in line to helm the project. Megaton is in Chicago to shoot the Zoe Saldana assassin movie Colombiana and discussed the rough development process.

Apparently, when The Professional was first completed, there were immediate plans to film a sequel following the main character, Mathilda (Natalie Portman). However, everybody wanted to wait for Portman to get a bit older – so that she could reprise the character at a more mature age.

While the filmmakers were waiting on Portman to age, Besson moved on from the production company that helped distribute The Professional, creating his own company, EuropaCorp. None too happy about the loss, the original studio has held The Professional rights close to the vest – and will not budge. Therefore, Besson cannot continue with his creative process[…]

The development standstill is even more unfortunate because, as Megaton explained, Natalie Portman still wants to make the movie. Everybody involved is in for a sequel, everyone except the studio that controls the rights to the story.

from here