Taxi 5: the return of the saga without its heroes
The saga Taxi, started by Luc Besson in 1998, has become one of the most iconic French film franchises. A mix of action and comedy, each film in the series has enthralled a large audiencemaking the saga one of the most profitable in French cinema.
In the first film, we met Daniel (Samy Naceri), a Marseille taxi driver and exceptional racing driver, who had transformed his white Peugeot 406 in a real racing car. It was during one of his risky trips to the city of Marseille that he met Émilien (Frédéric Diefenthal), a clumsy police officer, unable to obtain a driving license.
The latter then offered Daniel a deal: he would not withdraw his license in exchange for his help in the capture a gang of very skilled German bank robbers. Daniel reluctantly agreed before getting involved in the game. Their duo ended up becoming a real force in fighting crime.
The other three films in the Taxi saga, released in 2000, 2003 and 2007, involved Daniel and Émilien in other criminal cases, always at the wheel of the famous Peugeot 406.
After an absence of more than ten years, the saga returned in 2018under the aegis of Franck Gastambide, but without the return of its two stars, Samy Naceri and Frédéric Diefenthal, to make way for a new duo composed of Gastambide and Malik Bentalha.
Why aren’t Daniel and Emilien in the film?
Still produced by Luc Besson, Taxis 5 it is a reboot but also a continuation of the saga. Indeed, this fifth work presents the character of Malik Bentalha as the nephew of Daniel Moralès, the character played by Samy Naceri. Although he is briefly mentioned, the latter does not appear in the film, just like his sidekick Frédéric Diefenthal.
In the first versions of the script, however, there was talk of Samy Naceri’s participation in the film, as Franck Gastambide revealed to his colleagues at Première. So it had to happen at the end of the movieand helps the two solve the case. An idea that evidently didn’t please Luc Besson, who told Franck Gastambide not to rely on the old glories of the saga, but to trust his new duo.
“In my first treatment, Samy had a real role: he came at the end of the film to help us resolve the story. Luc told me that the character couldn’t have such an important place because we needed a new pair of heroes and it was their film. We couldn’t rely on the elders.“
said Franck Gastambide.
Samy Naceri was then approached for a cameo, which he turned down. In fact, as he explained on his social networks, he did not appreciate the delay in this request (filming had already started), which he considered disrespectful. In this message, he states that this cameo request came after the protest from fans of the saga, who did not accept that a film about Taxi could be made without Samy Naceri.
For his part, Frédéric Diefenthal believes that a Taxi film with Emilien and without Daniel makes no sense. However, we don’t know if he was offered a cameo by the team Taxis 5. Bernard Farcy, who appears in the film, did not enjoy the experience.
Upon its release, the film attracted more than three and a half million spectators. An honorable score, which is also very far from the figures of the previous films in the saga. Faced with this contrasting soundtrack, the idea of a Taxi 6 was abandoned by Franck Gastambide (even though the film has been a great success since its arrival on Netflix).
Source: Cine Serie

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