Wait, What? ‘Colombiana’ Started As A Sequel To ‘LÃ©on: The Professional’

The new Zoe Saldana action flick that hit theaters this past weekend, Colombiana, arrived to pretty mediocre box office numbers and overall critical response. But did you know the movie actually started off as a sequel to the 1994 Luc Bessonâ€“directed film, LÃ©on: The Professional.

The Professional starred Jean Reno as a quiet and reclusive mob hitman named LÃ©on who befriends a young girl named Mathilda (Natalie Portman) after her entire family is murdered by a corrupt DEA agent with a drug problem named Stansfield (Gary Oldman). She begs LÃ©on to teach her what he knows so she can get revenge on Stansfield for killing her fourâ€“yearâ€“old brotherâ€”the only member of her dysfunctional family she really cared aboutâ€”while in return she cleans his apartment and teaches him how to read.

At the Los Angeles press day for Colombiana, director Olivier Megaton revealed that it was that old foe time that prevented his movieâ€”which is also written and produced by Bessonâ€”from becoming The Professional 2.

Ten years ago we decided to make â€˜Mathilda,â€™ which was the â€˜Professionalâ€™ sequel, but we couldnâ€™t do it because of the evolution of a lot of things â€“ about Natalie [Portman], about [estranged distributor] Gaumont. Luc tried to do this movie again and againâ€”he proposed it to me 12 years ago. But when we decided to change the script and to make another movie with a revenge story like â€˜Mathilda,â€™ he had to give up everything about Mathilda. When you write a script you always think about what your heart is asking. If Mathilda was there, she should have done this or that. He had to forget everything, because itâ€™s a new story.

Would you have rather the movie stayed a sequel to The Professional, or does this make you any more interested in seeing Colombiana?