At the end of Léon (a.k.a. The Professional), Natalie Portman's character, Mathilda, goes back to school and presumably returns to a normal, civilized childhood. But who knows? A lot of us have imagined that she continues learning the ways of the assassin. I always think her character is like a precursor to the main character in Luc Besson's earlier film Nikita (aka La Femme Nikita). Of course, we will never know what really becomes of Mathilda, because Besson has no intention of making a sequel to Léon. But the last time he addressed the issue, he mentioned that people keep sending him script ideas for a follow-up. One of these ideas may have just been picked up by Focus Features.

According to Variety, Focus has a new film in development that the trade calls "a reverse spin on The Professional." Whether or not this was the studio's description, the film, called Hanna, appears to have a story that would easily work as a continuation of Besson's movie. It centers on a 14-year-old girl (two years older than Portman's character) who has been raised to be a killer (only here it is by her father, not the kindly neighborhood hit-man) and who now has to begin acting like a girl (just as Mathilda must do once back at school). The plot probably consists of the girl -- let's assume her name is Hanna -- getting into some sort of trouble that warrants her need to keep killing -- I'm thinking Grosse Pointe Blank but much, much younger (homecoming dance substituted for reunion, etc.) I'm sure that I'm wrong about the script, which was written by Seth Lochhead, originating as a sequel to Léon, but Besson might want to just take a look at his supposed stack of submissions and make sure.

I don't know what to make of Luc Besson. I first became aware of the director in college after seeing his action-classic La Femme Nikita. In fact, that film was one of the first ones I purchased on DVD when I got a DVD player. Then, he went on to direct the nearly-as-impressive The Professional and The Fifth Element -- featuring the exquisite Milla Jovovich as the perfect woman (inspired casting, IMHO). I liked those films but I didn't love them as much as I loved La Femme Nikita. And please, don't even get me started on The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc. Man, what happened there?

Anyway, Besson continued to direct a few more films after The Messenger -- including Angel-A and the upcoming children's live-action/cgi film Arthur and the Minimoys (which our own Monika wrote about previously). However, for some reason -- declining popularity, critical drubbing, boredom, being French -- Besson announced that he was retiring from directing now that he's basically finished with his latest film. Cut to today because it seems he may have had second thoughts and that the rumors of his retirement may have been "exaggerated."

According to Production Weekly, Besson would consider a return to directing if his film Arthur and the Minimoys does well. Provided that the film is a success, Besson would begin adapting the second book of the series Arthur and the Forbidden City for the screen with an anticipated start of shooting as early as June of next year. I don't know, this sort of smells of desperation, doesn't it? Sure, its up to him if he wants to retire. But either do it or don't do it. And either way, don't hang it on the audience and try to make them feel guilty or something if you stay retired because your film doesn't do well. If you do that, you just end up sounding like a whiner who can't make up his mind. And really, nobody likes a whiner.