Jan Kounen Moving To Television With Double Length Thriller FLIGHT OF THE STORKS

It is our very sincere opinion here at ScreenAnarchy that French director Jan Kounen (Dobermann, 99 Francs) has never really received the international recognition that he deserves. Perhaps the failure of his English language western Blueberry (aka Renegade) turned the international market against him or perhaps people are simply confused by his long standing fixation with shamanism but for whatever reason Kounen's potent blend of visual skill, flair for action and sheer audaciousness has never really made the impact that many though it would.

But regardless of what the world at large may think, we love the guy and anxiously await whatever he may choose to do next. And, at the moment, that appears to be a television adaptation of Jean-Christophe Grange's novel Flight Of the Storks (Le Vol des Cigognes).

Published in fifteen languages the novel is a hugely popular crime thriller from an author whose work also provided the basis for Mathieu Kassovitz's Crimson Rivers and in Kounen's hands it looks to become a two part television event made up of a pair of ninety minute installments. Here's the official synopsis:

Jonathan Anselme, a young English academic, teams up with Max Böhm, an amateur ornithologist, to follow storks on their migration from Switzerland to Africa. Max wants to find out why some birds never return from this journey. However, after Max is found dead in mysterious circumstances, Louis decides to make the trip alone, never suspecting that he will find himself caught up in an international web of intrigue. While the Swiss detective Dumaz investigates Max Böhm's murky past, Jonathan is forced to confront his own troubled history. He uncovers a trail of grisly murders travelling through Bulgaria, Turkey, the Middle East, Congo along the pathway of the migrating storks and their deadly secret.

Currently in pre-production, Flight Of The Storks should begin filming soon.