Federation Entertainment is set to co-develop and co-produce an adventure comedy TV series adapted from the bestselling Lucky Luke comics franchise with popular French actor Michael Youn attached.
The company has teamed with French banner Un pour Tous Productions to acquire the audiovisual adaptation rights from Luke Comics, which revolves around a gunslinger in the American Wild West.
Created by the Belgian cartoonist Morris in 1946, the Lucky Luke collection comprises 46 graphic novels which sold 300 millions units around the world. Morris collaborated for two decades with French writer René Goscinny (“Asterix & Obelix”) on Lucky Luke.
The untitled series, which is being co-developed by Federation and Un pour Tous Productions, will feature all the colorful characters of Lucky Luke, including Les Dalton, Calamity Jane, Pat Poker and Rantanplan. Youn is on board as co-creator, artistic producer and director of the series.
“As a big fan of the comics, I’m very excited to be part of this adventure, and I can’t wait to share with audiences,” said Youn, one of France’s most popular actors and directors of comedies. His most recent movie, “The Divorce Club,” was a commercial success in France where it was released in 2020.
The series also fits Federation Entertainment’s ambition to get more involved in production, having recently announced the development of “Carlos Ghosn, The Fugitive,” a thriller mini-series starring Francois Cluzet. The company’s founder, Pascal Breton, said “producing is fulfilling childhood dreams.”
“The opportunity we have today to translate in a fictional world the mythical universe of Lucky Luke and the Daltons with the talented Michael Youn is a marvellous thing, and we’ll look forward to share with the world,” added Breton, who started his career producing “Babar” and “Tintin.”
Un pour Tous Productions’ Rémi Préchac and Julien Vallespi said “adapting a patrimonial franchise like Lucky Luke in a series is a challenge” that they’re “proud to raise alongside Federation and Youn.” They said the series will aim to reach a large audience from different ages, like the comics did.