Canal Plus commissions US$18 million

French pay TV broadcaster Canal Plus has commissioned a big budget three part crime mini series and subsequent feature film from acclaimed French movie director Olivier Assayas.

The broadcaster has coproduced the US$18 million series – Illich: The Story of Carlos – about Venezuelan terrorist Illich Ramirez Sanchez with sister film company Studio Canal, German producer Egoli Tossell Film and Spanish producer Morena Films.

The projects are also backed by the German Federal Film Fund and Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg. Assayas is known for producing movies including Les Destinees Sentimentales, Paris Je T’aime and Demonlover.

The series will launch in 2010.