Principal photography for The Professionals started in South Africa and Ireland earlier this week. This new high-end TV series was created by American film producer-screenwriter Jeff Most, best known for the The Crow film saga. The ten-part series was commissioned by Viaplay, with German broadcaster RTL II pre-buying the free-TV rights. The first three episodes will be directed by Bharat Nalluri, a BAFTA-nominated filmmaker and the helmer of popular shows such as the BBC's Spooks, Hustle and Life on Mars.

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The story, a loose remake of Most's self-produced feature Soldiers of Fortune (2012), is being shot fully in the English language and is set against a backdrop of international espionage, corporate sabotage and a privately funded space race in the near future. More specifically, we will follow the vicissitudes of captain Vincent Corbo (Tom Welling), a hardened former counterintelligence officer. 

After an experimental medical satellite explodes, billionaire Peter Swann (The Mummy trilogy star Brendan Fraser) and his fiancée, Dr Graciela “Grace” Davila (Spanish actress Elena Anaya), turn to Corbo. The captain decides to assemble a team of professionals to investigate the mysterious explosion. He will soon come to realise that Swann's business rivals, corrupt government officials and a crime syndicate could be behind the incident and represent a continued threat. Ken Duken (A Rose in Winter, Berlin Falling) plays Kurt Neumann, a Europol agent seeking to thwart the security team's efforts. Other members of the international cast include Lisa Loven Kongsli (Ashes in the Snow, Force Majeure [+lire aussi :
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Viaplay programming director Fredrik Ljungberg strongly believes in the project's potential: “Given where we are with the privatisation of corporate space exploration, and with the world-class production companies and top-drawer cast involved in The Professionals, this series had all the outstanding elements that made this an excellent programming choice for the team at Viaplay.” 

“This is the kind of television that could not be more timely or topical, as it imagines billionaires using their wealth to deploy private military units to achieve their political and business goals,” added show creator Jeff Most.

The Professionals is being produced by Most Media (USA), Subotica (Ireland), Spier Films Production (South Africa) and Roadside Attractions (USA), in association with Jeff Most Productions (USA), Highbridge Production (USA), Tele München Group (Germany) and Viaplay (Sweden). Tele München International is handling worldwide sales and will launch the series at Mipcom. An official release date is yet to be disclosed.