Originally in French
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French actor Olivier Martinez will join Samuel L. Jackson and Colin Farrell in the cinematic version of the television series �S.W.A.T.�.

Olivier Martinez is determined to pursue an international career. After having been in �Before Night Falls�, �Semana Santa� and �Unfaithful�, the French actor has signed on to a big Hollywood production called S.W.A.T. Clark Johnson, better known for his turn as Inspector Meldrick Lewis in the TV series Homicide, will direct this cinematic adaptation of the American television series from the 70s.

A high-powered crack force faces an underground crime boss�

Olivier Martinez will play a drug lord. The S.W.A.T. team, whose initials stand for Special Weapons and Tactics (the American equivalent of Le Groupe d�Intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale), are called in for a mission regarding his detainment. But the routine mission will take an unexpected turn when the powerful criminal offers a sum of 100 million dollars to anyone who can break him out of prison. The group of devil-may-care cops will include Samuel L. Jackson, Colin Farrell, Michelle Rodriguez, LL Cool J and Jeremy Renner.

With a budget of 70 million dollars (71.5 million euros), this new cinematic version was written by David Ayer, screenwriter for �The Fast and the Furious�. The first shots will take place in October. Produced by Columbia Pictures, Oliver Stone, and Neal H. Moritz, S.W.A.T. should come out in the US in May 2003.