Taxi (1998 film)

Infobox Film
name = Taxi


caption =
director = Gérard Pirès
writer = Luc Besson
starring = Samy Naceri
Frédéric Diefenthal
Marion Cotillard
Manuela Gourary
Emma Sjoberg
Bernard Farcy
producer = Michele Petin
Laurent Petin
cinematography = Jean-Pierre Sauvaire
distributor = Lions Gate Films
music = IAM
budget = FRF 53,000,000
released = 8 April 1998 (France)
runtime = 86 min.
language = French
imdb_id = 0152930
followed_by = Taxi 2

"Taxi" is a 1998 French film starring Samy Naceri, written by Luc Besson, and directed by Gérard Pirès. It has 3 sequels: "Taxi 2" in 2000, "Taxi 3" in 2003 and "Taxi 4" in 2007.

The film takes place in Marseille, France, and involves an aspiring racecar driver named Daniel (Naceri), who initially works as a pizza delivery boy, but changes jobs to become a taxi driver. With a supercharged engine he eludes the police while quickly transporting his fares to their destinations. Finally caught by the police for a huge speed infraction, he is forced to help Emilien (Frédéric Diefenthal), a down-on-his-luck police inspector, on the trail of German bank robbers. Trying to juggle a budding relationship with his beautiful girlfriend Lilly (Marion Cotillard) and a need for high-speed chases, Daniel helps Emilien so that he does not lose his license and quite possibly his job.

An American remake loosely based on the French version was released in 2004 starring Jimmy Fallon, Queen Latifah and Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bündchen. The 2004 Bollywood film "Dhoom" also draws heavily on the plot of "Taxi".

Luc Besson wrote the script in 30 days.

In terms of box office admissions, the "Taxi" series is one of the most successful French franchises ever, grossing a reported total of $200 million worldwide and 23 million admissions in France ( [http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117943112?categoryid=1019&cs=1&query=taxi&display=taxi] )

External links

*imdb title|id=0152930|title=Taxi