The CW's "Nikita" Based on La Femme Nikita and Will Be Watched and Judged by La Femme Nikita Fans

Nikita is the CW re-make of the USA Network hit show La Femme Nikita that enthralled audiences starting in 1997 and has some of the highest ratings for cable TV at that time. Nikita is a bold undertaking for the CW as this is their first non-supernatural action drama. The CW is expanding their lineup of action shows meant to draw the audiences that seek this genre, but these audiences can be demanding.

"Nikita" will follow in the basic footsteps of it's predecessors that it is based on, but there is an interesting twist. The original French film "Nikita" was made by Luc Besson and released in 1990. Then that film was re-made in Hollywood and in 1993 came "Point of No Return" where Nikita was played by Bridget Fonda. The TV series "La Femme Nikita" was launched in 1997 and it was based off both of the films.

The storyline has always followed the very beautiful Nikita who is supposedly a cop-killer and sent to jail, only to awaken to find out the world believes Nikita to be dead and she now belongs to a ruthless top-secret government organization where she is trained to be a top-rate assassin.

In all version's of the Nikita there is a trainer, a very handsome and excelled trainer, that falls for the lovely Nikita and her spirit and ends up helping to protect her through the horrors of her new world. Particularly in the TV series La Femme Nikita the relationship that emerges between Nikita and her trainer Michael became the focus of the final seasons.

It has been announced that Maggie Q. will be brought into Nikita to play the character to replace Nikita who has gone rouge from the organization. It was also recently announced that Shane West will play the Agent in charge of the mission to locate the rogue Nikita.

In the USA network "La Femme Nikita" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Femme_Nikita_(TV_series)
Peta Wilson played the beautiful Nikita and Roy Dupuis played the enigmatic Michael. "La Femme Nikita" had a five season lifespan from 1997 to 2001 and was the highest rated drama on cable TV during the first two seasons, with excellent ratings in the final seasons also. "La Femme Nikita" has been distributed internationally, DVDs have been produced for all five seasons and the authoritative book on the series was written by Chris Heyn in 2006.

"La Femme Nikita" was actually announced for cancellation in 2000, but devoted fans of "La Femme Nikita" created a group called First Team and mounted an incredible campaign to bring "La Femme Nikita" back. The campaign was called Save LFN and is famous for its number of members and their creativity.

Save LFN, lead by First Team, used an online petition, placed a full size ad in The Hollywood Reporter demanding the return of LFN, and sent thousands of letters to the production companies. They also sent sunglasses, a Nikita trademark accessory, old TVs, VCRs, and remote controls. First Team won the battle and in September of 2000 it was announced that a fifth season of "La Femme Nikita" was to be made.

This very devoted cult of LFN fans are international in scope and are still active on the web, although not nearly as cohesive as they were at their peak back in 2000, they are still very obsessive about "La Femme Nikita" and their Nikita and Michael. But the CW should know that these very devoted fans to the La Femme Nikita series will be waiting and some will be watching the new "Nikita". If the CW wins over these loyal LFN followers that will certainly help in building the base for the new "Nikita".

Sources:

http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2010/02/post_14.html#ixzz0ghX8Ftct

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Femme_Nikita_(TV_series)

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i679ae933772b87559ce5e813491a48fe