John Travolta, seen here in February, stars as a U.S. spy in From Paris With Love. (Kevork Djansezian/Associated Press)

A John Travolta movie, titled From Paris With Love, has suspended filming in a Paris suburb after a dozen cars to be used in the film were burned and the crew threatened.

The Europacorp production company said it is putting its shoot on hold this week because a dozen cars were burned over the weekend in the Montfermeil area.

Cars are regularly torched in French housing projects. The situation was especially intense back in 2005 when youths went on a rampage for three weeks in poor neighbourhoods across the country.

The production had hired about 100 local residents as extras, security staff and in catering, but Europacorp said it now has to review its project.

"It's a catastrophe, we're very sad," Timm Rigal of the Montfermeil mayor's office told Bloomberg news.

Police are also investigating rumours of attempts to blackmail Europacorp, which is majority-owned by French director Luc Besson.

Montfermeil Mayor Xavier Lemoine, who said he was told the shoot, scheduled for 12 weeks in the Paris area, was cancelled for security reasons, expressed his "deep disappointment."

Europacorp officials said they haven't given up filming in Montfermeil.

Montfermeil was hit by riots in November 2005 and again in March 2006. The unemployment rate in the area is 40 per cent, according to Rigal.

The action film, directed by Pierre Morel, centres on Travolta as a U.S. spy in Paris on a high-risk assignment.