18/06/2002 - Michel Vaillant, based on the world-famous French comic book character has gone into production, courtesy of Luc Besson´s new company, Europa Corp

Louis-Pascal Couvelaire gave a dramatic start to filming Michel Vaillant, a live action feature based on the famous French comic-book character created in 1957 by Jean Graton. The film stars Sagamore Stévenin as the hero, with Matt Schultz as Steve Warson.
The film is the first to be produced by Luc Besson´s new company, Europa and is set against the dramatic backdrop of one of the world´s most famous car races, Le Mans. The producers had to obtain permission from the Automobile Club de l´Ouest to put three cars into the race, the Vaillante aka a Lola B98/10 and the «lead» car, a Panoz LMP1 Roadster S belonging to DAMS. The public and mechanics at Le Mans were all eager extras in this action-packed film and we are pleased to report that despite standing still for much of the race (otherwise filming would not have been possible), the Lola «Vaillante» came 27th while the Leader, withdrawn before the end, came 43rd.

(Translated from Italian)