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The UK arm of Lionsgate will start pre-production on its big-budget remake of cult 1970s British TV series The Professionals this fall. The action series about secret agents was a hit across Europe and in Australia but never made it to the U.S. The series was hatched by The Avengers creator Brian Clemens and made local stars of actors Martin Shaw and Lewis Collins, who played the agents. Gordon Jackson -- best known as the butler in Upstairs Downstairs -- played their dour Scottish boss. Producer Richard Whelan is now in Los Angeles trying to lock down a director. Lionsgate UK will court Tom Hardy, Gerard Butler and Jason Statham to play secret agents Bodie and Doyle, with Liam Neeson and Gary Oldman on their list to play their boss. Lionsgate UK CEO Zygi Kamasa acknowledges The Professionals is an unknown quantity in brand-happy Hollywood. He said the success of The Expendables and Red shows there’s a market for older action fare. This big-screen version will be an origin

Portman Wants To Be A Cleaner Again Just three years after saying she had no interest in doing a sequel to her 1994 debut film The Professional —known internationally as Leon— Natalie Portman has changed her tune. But her willingness to return to the role that made her a young star is dependent on one condition. According to MTV, Portman says she'd come back for a sequel only if original director Luc Besson was behind the camera again. Besson, for his part, has actually written a sequel called Mathilda , which focuses on Portman's character, but has said he has no interest in directing. Portman says she has not even looked at the script for that very reason: "I have never read it because Luc won't direct it himself, and so I'm only interested if he (directs) ... I told him if he would do it himself, I would do it in two seconds. But he won't, so ... " Besson himself, the French filmmaker known for directing La Femme Nikita and The Fifth Element