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Rapper and singer René Pérez Jogger, also known as Residente, leads the cast of In the Summers, top prize winner at the Deauville American Film Festival Photo: Deauville American Film Festival The Jury of the 50th edition of the Deauville American film festival, presided over by Benoît Magimel, with Ludivine Sagnier, Emilie Dequenne, Agathe Riedinger, Damien Bonnard, Lou Lampros and Martin Bourboulon have awarded the Festival’s top prize to In The Summers, by Colombian American writer-director Alessandra Lacorazza for her debut feature.

Already noted at the Sundance Film Festival earlier in the year, the film relates the story a broken family dynamic through the eyes of two young girls during their formative years. René Pérez Joglar (also known by his rapper/singer stage name Residente) leads the cast.

The honours were bestowed at the Festival’s closing ceremony last night.

Full list of awards:

Grand Prix: In The Summers...

While Hollywood has been exploiting comic books and YA novels as intellectual property for a long time, French cinema has only recently begun to feed its wealth of 19th century novels into the content machine, churning big-budget epics out of classic books in the public domain.

Last year, a two-part version of Alexandre Dumas’ The Three Musketeers hit local screens, raking in $45 million off a combined $80 million budget for both films. Directed by Martin Bourboulon and featuring a who’s who of Gallic stars, including Vincent Cassel, Eva Green, Romain Duris and Louis Garrel, the Musketeers movies were marked by nonstop action and relentless storytelling tailor-made for the streaming age.

Both films were written by the duo of Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de la Patellière, who previously helmed a series of hit comedies (Daddy or Mommy, Divorce French Style, What’s in a Name?) with a fast-paced Hollywood edge to them.

French producer Dimitri Rassam is enjoying a high-profile Cannes Film Festival as producer of Competition title Limonov: The Ballad and The Count Of Monte Cristo, which scored a rousing 12-minute ovation at its Out of Competition debut.

“It’s my first film in Competition, it has been a tremendous ride,” says Rassam, who is a producer on Limonov under his Paris-based Chapter 2 banner, alongside Italy’s Lorenzo Gangarossa and Mario Gianani as well as director Kirill Serebrennikov’s long-time collaborator Ilya Stewart.

Rassam is no stranger to the Cannes red carpet having regularly accompanied his actress mother Carole Bouquet in his early 20s, before mounting the festival’s famed steps in his own right as the producer of The Little Prince and co-producer of L’Immensità.

Cinema is also in his blood on his paternal side through late producer father Jean-Pierre Rassam, and uncle Paul Rassam, the long-time friend and collaborator...

Exclusive: Pathé and Chapter 2 have announced the start of shoot in Morocco today for Martin Bourboulon’s Afghanistan evacuation drama In The Hell Of Kabul: 13 Days, 13 Nights and unveiled new cast additions.

Rising French actress Lyna Khoudri (French Dispatch) and Danish Bafta-winning Borgen star Sidse Babett Knudsen have joined the cast, which is led by Roschdy Zem, and also features respected theatre actor Christophe Montenez of The Comédie Française.

Set against the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan of U.S. troops in August, 2021 as the Taliban march on Kabul, the film recounts the true story of French Commander Mohamed Bida, who oversaw security at the French embassy, the last Western mission to remain open.

Trapped, Commander Bida decides to negotiate with the Taliban to organise a last-chance convoy with the help of Eva, a young French-Afghan translator. There is a race against time to lead the evacuees to...

Last summer, Paul Schrader was about to start shooting “Oh, Canada,” his adaptation of Russell Banks’ novel about a troubled artist taking stock of his life, when the major actors union went on strike. For a second, it looked like all that hard work, passion and planning might be for nothing — with performers on the picket lines and major studios holding out on their contract demands, it was hard to see how cameras would ever roll on the low-budget indie.

“Everything shut down,” said Brian Beckmann, the CFO and COO of Arclight Films, which is selling international rights to the film. “We were in this position where we had spent all this money and secured all this talent and we weren’t sure we could move forward until the strikes were over.”

Because it was made outside the studio system, “Oh, Canada” was able to get a union waiver and...

With Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan, the first part of Martin Bourboulon’s adaptation of Alexander Dumas’ classic novel, hitting all the right notes, it was expected that the second half of the epic saga was going to be as exciting as the first one. And Bourboulon’s film turns out to be exactly how you thought it would be—chaotic, exhilarating, and entertaining. Like the first part, this one also keeps the main essence of the novel intact while making some significant changes. I assume you must be surprised to see how certain things have turned out here. In this article, we’re going to dissect Three Musketeers: Milady and will also address the possibility of this turning into a trilogy.

Spoilers Ahead

What Happens in the Movie?

Picking up exactly where the first part ended, Three Musketeers: Milady kicks off with D’Artagnan’s search for his lady love, Constance,...

For readers of Alexandre Dumas’ novel, extravagant French adaptation “The Three Musketeers – Part II: Milady” packs its share of surprises: killing off important characters, sparing others and reimagining allegiances that have stood for nearly two centuries. For viewers of “Part I: D’Artagnan,” however, this swashbuckling sequel feels totally in keeping with what came before. Even the twists track, paying off what amounts to a nearly four-hour investment (not counting however many months audiences may have waited to see how the story ends).

Loyalty — to the crown, to one another, but not necessarily to the source material — remains the driving theme of director Martin Bourboulon’s blockbuster treatment, which tapped French megastars Vincent Cassel, Pio Marmaï and Romain Duris as titular trio Athos, Porthos and Aramis. The second film opens with fourth musketeer D’Artagnan (François Civil) in a coffin, though he’s not dead, merely captured by traitors who...

Adapting a widely popular classic like The Three Musketeers in cinema is never an easy thing. With as many as seven film adaptations of Alexander Dumas’ iconic novel before, director Martin Bourboulon had to do something extraordinary to make the latest two-part French adaptation work. And to think he has actually achieved that! Of course, we haven’t seen the second half of the epic saga yet, but if we go by the glorious first part, titled The Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan, it can fairly be said that Bourboulon’s adaptation is not only on the right track; it might just end up being the greatest. In this article, we’re going to shed some light on the cliffhanger ending of The Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan. But a quick summary of the events before does seem like a necessity.

Spoilers Ahead

What Happens In The Film?

I think the best thing about...

Vincent Cassel plays an aging Edm DJ in the upcoming comedy thriller from French music video director So Me, aka Bertrand de Langeron. Artistic director of the Ed Banger label and known for his music videos for Justice, Kanye West, Mgmt, and Kid Cudi, So Me is making his feature film debut with the still-untilted French feature for Netflix.

Black Swan and Ocean’s Thirteen star Cassel plays Scorpex, a once-famous DJ now on the downside who gets a chance to return to the top when an agent from French intelligence agency Dgsi (played by Golden Mustache actress Laura Felpin) recruits him to take down Vestax (French YouTuber Mister V), his young and fast-rising rival on the Edm scene. Co-stars include Alexis Manenti, Déborah Lukumuena, Nina Zem, Nicolas Maury, Philippe Katerine, Kavinsky, Paul Mirabel, Panayotis Pascot, Manu Payet and Alice Moitié.

Netflix released the first image from the film (above), showing Cassel,...

France closed out the cinema year on a high note, recording 181 million theater admissions for 2023, a 18.9 percent jump compared with 2022.

The official box office figures, released Tuesday by state cinema body Cnc, are still down double digits — 13.1 percent — from average admissions in the pre-covid years between 2017 and 2019. But France’s bounceback has been faster and more robust than that in quite a few other territories.

Estimates from box office analysis firm Comscore show that 2023 U.S. revenue to the end of November was still 21 percent off pre-covid averages in the 2017-2019 period. The U.K. showed a 13 percent lag behind its pre-pandemic period. Germany recorded 83 million admissions through November 2023, down 14 percent from the 2017-2019 average. Italy was off 22 percent, Spain 24 percent, and South Korea 47 percent.

U.S. films topped the French admissions charts in 2023, led by Universal Pictures’ The Super Mario Brothers, which racked up 7.15 million admissions, followed by Warner Bros....

Stars: François Civil, Vincent Cassel, Romain Duris, Pio Marmai, Eva Green, Louis Garrel, Vicky Krieps, Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, Lyna Khoudri, Eric Ruf, Marc Barbé | Written by Matthieu Delaporte, Alexandre de La Patellière | Directed by Martin Bourboulon

The eagerly awaited second part of French director Martin Bourboulon’s rollicking Three Musketeers adaptation, following on from Part One (D’Artagnan), released earlier this year. Packed with exciting swashbuckling action and terrific performances, it’s a highly entertaining adventure that brings the story to a thoroughly satisfying conclusion.

The Three Musketeers: Milady picks up immediately where Part One’s nail-biting cliffhanger left off, with King’s Musketeer D’Artagnan (Francois Civil) frantically searching for his kidnapped girlfriend, Queen’s maid Constance Bonacieux (Lyna Khoudri). In the process he uncovers a sinister plot to overthrow King Louis Xiii (Louis Garrel) and discovers that Constance’s life is in danger because she witnessed the secret identity of the mastermind behind the scheme.

We present interviews for The Three Musketeers: Milady, directed by Martin Bourboulon based on Alexandre Dumas’s 1844 novel The Three Musketeers.

It is the second film of a two-part epic saga and was preceded by The Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan. The film stars François Civil, Vincent Cassel, Pio Marmaï, Romain Duris, and Eva Green. It also stars Lyna Khoudri as Constance Bonacieux, Louis Garrel as King Louis Xiii, Vicky Krieps as Anne of Austria, Jacob Fortune-Lloyd as Duke of Buckingham, Alexis Michalik as Villeneuve de Radis, Patrick Mille as Henri de Talleyrand-Périgord, and Ivan Franek as Ardanza.

The film will be released on the 15th of December, 2023, here are the interviews.

Plot:

Constance Bonacieux is kidnapped before D’Artagnan’s very eyes. In a frantic quest to save her, the young musketeer, aided by Athos, Porthos and Aramis, is forced to join forces with the mysterious Milady de Winter.

The post The Three Musketeers...

Our heroes are out to foil a complex plot involving smirking hitwoman Milady de Winter, tearing through gonzo fight scenes and excellent stunts at a teeth-rattling pace

At a teeth-rattling gallop, this second Three Musketeers film follows immediately on from the first – being the two halves of the Alexandre Dumas original from screenwriters Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patellière, directed by Martin Bourboulon. This second film effectively stars Eva Green as Milady de Winter, the slinky, sexy, smirking and sulphurous hitwoman working for Cardinal Richelieu. In the first film, Milady made a pretty fatal-looking clifftop jump, like Moriarty going over the Reichenbach Falls, but now she is back, and more ambiguous and seductive than ever.

Milady is involved in a fantastically complex plot to bring France into a war with perfidious Albion, in so doing exploiting a treacherous insurgency by the Huguenots; it’s all in the cause of...

"My life was theirs. My death shall be my own." Samuel Goldwyn Films has unveiled a short teaser trailer for The Three Musketeers - Part II: Milady, arriving in theaters in the US in 2024. This is the sequel to the new French version of The Three Musketeers story by Alexandre Dumas, adapted for the big screen by filmmaker Martin Bourboulon. It already debuted in France this month (here's the full trailer) though the US just opened Part 1, titled D'Artagnan, in US theaters this month as well. Milady is the second film of a two-part epic saga, wrapping up this emotional story. D'Artagnan is forced to join forces with Milady to save Constance, who was kidnapped before his eyes. But as war is declared and Athos, Porthos and Aramis have already joined the front, a secret from the past shatters old alliances. The cast once again feature François Civil as D'Artagnan,...

All for one and … two for all?

In a bold move, French film studio Pathé bet nearly $80 million on an all-star, double-barreled adaptation of “The Three Musketeers,” gambling that interest would be high enough that director Martin Bourboulon could split Alexandre Dumas’ swashbuckling epic over two films, spaced half a year apart, and audiences would show up for both halves. The gamble paid off, as the first part — “The Three Musketeers – Part One: D’Artagnan,” released last April — was a huge hit, and appetites remain strong for the sequel, which opens in France on Dec. 13.

In the States, however, where “Kill Bill,” “The Avengers” and “Mission: Impossible: Dead Reckoning” have paved the way for two-part blockbusters, that strategy seems less certain. A series of disappointing screen versions has tarnished the legend. It would be easy to eventize a double bill, marketed to fanboys and action-movie enthusiasts, in which all four...

Less than three months after being tapped CEO of Banijay France, Alexia Laroche-Joubert, a well-known industry figure, has enlisted Authentic Media, a leading French premium scripted banner that will join the “Peaky Blinders” production-distribution powerhouse.

The acquisition of Authentic Media, who produced hit French adaptations of series such as “Rita” and “This is Us,” took a couple of years to materialize and will further bolster Banijay France’s portfolio of scripted labels. These include the in-house outfits Banijay Studio France and Shine Fiction; as well as Fiction’Air (“Les Disparus de la Forêt Noire”); Terence Films (“Rivière-Perdue”); Montmartre; Screen Line (“Trash”); and Marathon, which has three series in development.

Founded in 2011 by Aline Panel, Authentic Media’s production output spans drama, film, and documentary. With 15 projects in development, the company has developed seven seasons of “Sam,” based on the Nordic series hit “Rita” which was created by Christian Torpe for...

Exclusive: Shooting has wrapped on Went Up the Hill, the psychological ghost story starring Cannes award winner Vicky Krieps and Stranger Things actor Dacre Montgomery.

Above is a first look at the Samuel Van Grinsven flick, which is headed for next week’s AFM via Bankside Films. Buyers in LA will be presented with a promo reel, with Bankside repping international sales and co-repping North American rights with CAA Media Finance.

The film was shot on location in New Zealand and was the latest collaboration between London-based Bankside and Causeway Films following their partnership on Danny & Michael Philippou’s Talk to Me, which is nearing $100M at the global box office. We first told you about it last year.

Went Up the Hill stars Montgomery as Jack and Krieps as Jill. Abandoned as a child, Jack ventures to remote New Zealand to attend the funeral of his estranged mother and there meets her grieving widow,...

There have been many attempts to adapt Alexandre Dumas’ beloved swash-buckling story to the big screen. From Disney’s The Three Musketeers to Paul W.S. Anderson’s The Three Musketeers to the D’Artagnan solo story, The Musketeer, Alexandre Dumas’ tale has been told again and again. However, Samuel-Goldwyn Films and Pathé are attempting to tell the story with a faithful adaptation that will take two movies to convey. The new trailer for the French historical epic, The Three Musketeers: Part I – D’Artagnan, has now been unveiled.

The official synopsis from Samuel-Goldwyn Films and Pathé reads,

“In the first entry, D’Artagnan, a spirited young Gascon, is left for dead after trying to save a young woman from being kidnapped. When he arrives in Paris, he tries to find his attackers. He is unaware that his quest will lead him to the heart of a real war where the future of France is at stake.

"We're killers, D'Artagnan, like it or not." Pathe has revealed the first official trailer for the epic sequel The Three Musketeers 2: Milady, arriving in theaters in Europe this December. This is the next follow-up to the new French version of The Three Musketeers story by Alexandre Dumas, adapted for the big screen by filmmaker Martin Bourboulon. The first The Three Musketeers: D'Artagnan movie opened earlier in 2023, and reviews were quite good. Milady is the second film of a two-part epic saga, wrapping up this emotional story with both movies out by the end of the year. D'Artagnan is forced to join forces with Milady to save Constance, who was kidnapped before his eyes. But as war is declared and Athos, Porthos and Aramis have already joined the front, a secret from the past shatters old alliances. The cast once again feature François Civil as D'Artagnan, Vincent Cassel as Athos,...

International sales are handled by Brussels-based Be For Film.

Belgian director and screenwriter Guillaume Senez has started shooting A Missing Part starring Romain Duris in Japan today (October 16).

It will film in locations including Tokyo, Sagami Bay and Yokohama until December 3.

Duris stars as Jay, alongside Judith Chemla and Mei Cirne-Masuki. The film sees Jay driving his cab every day through Tokyo in search of his daughter, Lily. Separated for nine years, he has never been able to get custody of her. Just as he’s given up hope of seeing her again and is about to return to France,...

Stars: François Civil, Vincent Cassel, Romain Duris, Pio Marmai, Eva Green, Louis Garrel, Vicky Krieps, Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, Lyna Khoudri, Eric Ruf, Marc Barbé | Written by Matthieu Delaporte, Alexandre de La Patellière | Directed by Martin Bourboulon

Directed by Martin Bourboulon, this French adaptation of the classic Alexandre Dumas novel is part one of two, with the second (Milady) due to be released in France in December. Positively bursting with French talent, it’s a swashbuckling treat from start to finish, and the best Dumas adaptation in decades.

Set in 1627, the film begins with young Charles D’Artagnan (François Civil) arriving in Paris from Gascony, his heart set on becoming one of the King’s Musketeers. However, things don’t quite go according to plan, and by noon, he’s accidentally offended three of them – nobleman Athos (Vincent Cassel), fun-loving Porthos (Pio Marmai) and elegant Aramis (Romain Duris) – and been challenged to three separate duels.

Key French tax credits aimed at the cinema, audiovisual and video game sectors generated $3.2 billion (€2.9 billion) worth of extra spending in France from 2017 to 2021, according to a study released by Ey Consulting.

The report commissioned by France’s National Cinema Centre (Cnc) focused on four incentives: the cinema tax credit, offering a 30% rebate on eligible spend; the 25% audiovisual tax credit; the 30% Tax Rebate for International Productions (Trip), to which an additional 10% can be added if VFX or animation work is done on the territory, and 30% video game tax credit.

Breaking down the contribution of each the incentives, it said the cinema credit had generated €373 million ($414 million) in extra spending; the audiovisual credit, €1.3 billion ($1.4 billion); the Trip, €1.1 billion ($1.2 billion), and the video games incentive, €116 million ($129 million) from 2017 to 2021.

“Each of these measures has achieved its set objectives… and for a relatively low net cost given the additional revenue, in particular fiscal,...

Founded in 1966, Cgr Cinemas has since grown into France’s second-largest exhibition chain, boasting more than 700 screens across the country and a premium export branch in the guise of Ice Theaters. Since the beginning, the business has both remained in the hands of the Raymond family and stayed anchored in the southwest town of La Rochelle.

After putting the company up for sale in 2022, its owners Jean-Luc and Charles Raymond decided to hold on to it when the B.O. showed clear signs of post-pandemic recovery this past May. Along with abruptly canceling a sales deal, the owners also laid off its leadership, including its managing director Jocelyn Bouyssy, who had been at the company for 37 years and launched the Ice premium format, among other successful diversification initiatives. Bouyssy has been replaced by Laurent Desmoulins as directing manager. Both Desmoulins and Charles Raymond will be on-hand at this year’s CineEurope,...

Samuel Goldwyn Films announced today that the company has acquired U.S. rights to the “The Three Musketeers,” a two-part adaptation of the swashbuckling French adventure story by Alexandre Dumas.

The two films were shot back-to-back, with the first film “The Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan” released in France this past April, earning $35 million at the international box office. The sequel “The Three Musketeers: Milady” will open in the country on Dec. 13.

The period epic boasts a top-shelf ensemble of European stars such as Francois Civil (“Call My Agent!”), Vincent Cassel (“Black Swan”), Romain Duris (“Eiffel”), Pio Marmaï ((“Happening”), Eva Green (“Casino Royale”), Vicky Krieps (“Phantom Thread”) and Louis Garrel (“The Dreamers”). Both films were directed by Martin Bourboulon, with screenplay by Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patellière.

The two films are produced by Dimitri Rassam for Chapter 2, a Mediawan Company, and Pathé with M6 Films, Constantin Film, and DeAPlaneta coproducing.

Apple TV+ will be tapping into France’s lavish culinary heritage with “Carême,” a new original series about the world’s first celebrity chef, Antonin Carême, which will be directed by Martin Bourboulon (“The Three Musketeers: d’Artagnan”).

Set in the 19th century, the eight-episode French drama will chart the sprawling story of Carême, who rose from humble beginnings in Paris to the height of culinary stardom in Napoleon’s Europe. He not only became an iconic chef, he also became a spy for France as his talent and ambitions attracted the attention of powerful politicians, including Napoleon. The series will shed light on the miserable reality of 19th century kitchens, contrasting with the opulence of the mansions and sophisticated of aristocrats.

“Carême” will be led by a starry French cast, including Benjamin Voisin, the Cesar-winning actor of “Lost Illusions” and “Summer of 85″ in the title role. Voisin will star opposite...

Aside from its Palme d’Or for Justine Triet’s “Anatomy of a Fall,” the French cinema world is also celebrating the near-complete recovery of French box office after the pandemic.

Ticket sales are still 11.6 % down on the average levels of 2017 to 2019, but the good news is that the B.O. jumped by 33% with 82.38 million admissions during the first five months of 2023, according to the Cnc (National Film Board).

The upward trend is driven by the spike in anticipated U.S. movies being released — they skyrocketed from 29 in 2022 to 51 in 2023 during the first five months, according to Comscore France. There’s also been a tide of successful French movies, ranging from big-budget, franchise-based movies like Guillaume Canet’s “Asterix and Obelix: The Middle Kingdom,” Philippe Lacheau’s “Alibi.com 2” and Martin Bourboulon’s “The Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan,” to original fare like the Omar Sy starrer “Father and Soldier” and François Ozon...

Stars: François Civil, Vincent Cassel, Romain Duris, Pio Marmai, Eva Green, Louis Garrel, Vicky Krieps, Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, Lyna Khoudri, Eric Ruf, Marc Barbé | Written by Matthieu Delaporte, Alexandre de La Patellière | Directed by Martin Bourboulon

Directed by Martin Bourboulon, this French adaptation of the classic Alexandre Dumas novel is part one of two, with the second (Milady) due to be released in France in December. Positively bursting with French talent, it’s a swashbuckling treat from start to finish, and the best Dumas adaptation in decades.

Set in 1627, the film begins with young Charles D’Artagnan (François Civil) arriving in Paris from Gascony, his heart set on becoming one of the King’s Musketeers. However, things don’t quite go according to plan, and by noon, he’s accidentally offended three of them – nobleman Athos (Vincent Cassel), fun-loving Porthos (Pio Marmai) and elegant Aramis (Romain Duris) – and been challenged to three separate duels.

"The Three Musketeers: D'Artagnan" is the new action adventure feature and the first of a two-part 'epic saga' directed by Martin Bourboulon, based on Alexandre Dumas' 1844 novel, starring François Civil, Vincent Cassel, Pio Marmaï, Romain Duris and Eva Green, opening April 5, 2023 in theaters:

"...the sequel, 'The Three Musketeers: Milady', is set to be released on December 13, 2023. 

"The two-part saga was co-produced by France, Germany and Spain on a $70 million budget and filmed back to back..."

Click the images to enlarge...

"The Three Musketeers: D'Artagnan" is the new action adventure feature and the first of a two-part 'epic saga' directed by Martin Bourboulon, based on Alexandre Dumas' 1844 novel, starring François Civil, Vincent Cassel, Pio Marmaï, Romain Duris and Eva Green, opening April 5, 2023 in theaters:

"...the sequel, 'The Three Musketeers: Milady', is set to be released on December 13, 2023. 

"The two-part saga was co-produced by France, Germany and Spain on a $70 million budget and filmed back to back..."

Click the images to enlarge...

"The Three Musketeers: D'Artagnan" is the new action adventure feature and the first of a two-part 'epic saga' directed by Martin Bourboulon, based on Alexandre Dumas' 1844 novel, starring François Civil, Vincent Cassel, Pio Marmaï, Romain Duris and Eva Green, opening internationally April 2023 in theaters:

"...the sequel, 'The Three Musketeers: Milady', is set to be released on December 13, 2023. 

"The two-part saga was co-produced by France, Germany and Spain on a $70 million budget and filmed back to back..."

Click the images to enlarge...

Vincent Cassel plays Gabriel Delage, a mercenary hired by the French government to extricate two Syrian hackers in “Liaison.” Naturally, the mission goes wrong and he’s got to find the hackers before agents from England get to them and the explosive secrets they’ve uncovered in the globetrotting thriller that premiered its first episode on Apple TV+ on Friday.

In “Liaison,” Cassel’s Gabriel and Eva Green’s character Alison Rowdy, who are on opposite sides of the thorny political situation, work together to stop a series of devastating cyberattacks.

Ahead of the premiere, TheWrap talked to the French actor about the action-packed series. Cassel, who met with real mercenaries to prepare for the role, explained that he didn’t want the fight scenes to be too “flashy.” “I had a particular approach about all these fight scenes in the series, because, [I wanted to make it] realistic. I didn’t want to do anything flashy or long,...

French actor and director Guillaume Canet has revealed he is feeling the pressure ahead of the release next week of his ambitious 70M production Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom.

Canet directs and stars in the film as iconic plucky Gaul Asterix in an all-star ensemble cast also featuring Gilles Lellouche as Obelix, Vincent Cassel as Julius Caesar, Marion Cotillard as Cleopatra and Swedish soccer star Zlatan Ibrahimović as Caesar’s bodyguard Antivirus.

The production is Canet’s eighth feature after 2006 breakout Tell No One, 2010 hit Little White Lies, Brooklyn-set, English-language debut Blood Ties and the smaller more personal pandemic-shot film Lui.

Long-time collaborator Alain Attal at Trésor Films produces with Pathé and Yohan Baiada at Les Enfants Terribles.

Pathé will launch Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom on 1,200 screens on February 1. Local media is hailing the release as the biggest film event of early 2023.

Canet has said he...

Pathé has signed a three-year co-production and co-financing deal with Logical Pictures to strengthen its ambitious film production strategy.

The family-owned company operates France’s leading multiplex chain and runs one of the country’s most successful film studios. 2023 looks to be Pathé’s biggest year in a while with three major French releases: Guillaume Canet’s “Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom” and Martin Bourboulon’s two-part epic saga “The Three Musketeers.” Both based on cult franchises, “Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom” and “The Three Musketeers” are budgeted in the 70 million range (about seven times more than the high bracket of a medium-size film in France). This is just the beginning of a new era for Pathé, which will need financial munitions to limit risks and continue delivering these splashy films on a regular basis for years to come.

Through the partnership, Pathé will be able to tap...

The Three Musketeers Trailer — Martin Bourboulon‘s The Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan / Les trois mousquetaires: D’Artagnan (2023) teaser trailer has been released by Pathe. The Three Musketeers trailer stars Francois Civil, Vincent Cassel, Romain Duris, Pio Marmai, Eva Green, Vicky Krieps, Louis Garrel, Lyna Khoudri, and Ralph Amoussou. Crew Martin Bourboulon and Matthieu Delaporte wrote the [...]

Continue reading: The Three Musketeers (2023) Teaser Trailer: Vincent Cassel & Eva Green star in the French Period-piece Action Film...

There have been dozens of film and TV adaptations of Alexandre Dumas’ “The Three Musketeers” over the years. Hell, for more than 100 years, filmmakers have been trying to come up with the very best adaptation of the classic swashbuckling tale. Well, Martin Bourboulon is the latest director to take a shot.

Read More: ‘Asterix And Obelix: The Middle Kingdom’ Trailer: Marion Cotillard, Vincent Cassel & More Star In Guillaume Canet’s Family Comedy

As seen in the first trailer for Martin Bourboulon’s two-part adaptation of “The Three Musketeers,” the filmmaker has put together an incredible cast and a massive budget to bring Dumas’ tale to life.

Continue reading ‘The Three Musketeers’ Trailer: Eva Green & Vincent Cassel Headline Martin Bourboulon’s Two-Part Film Adaptation at The Playlist.

Pathé and Chapter 2 have unveiled the official poster and international teaser trailer for “The Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan,” the first film of a two-part epic saga starring François Civil, Vincent Cassel, Romain Duris, Pio Marmaï and Eva Green.

The adventure film, which has already been sold by Pathé in most major territories around the world, is directed by Martin Bourboulon (“Eiffel”). Also starring Vicky Krieps, Lyna Khoudri, Louis Garrel, and Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, “The Three Musketeers” was written by Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre De La Patellière, based on Alexandre Dumas’ 1844 masterpiece.

Here is the official poster:

The first trailer is being launched simultaneously across several territories in collaboration with major distribution banners which are also co-producing, notably Constantin Film in Germany, Notorious Pictures in Italy, and DeAPlaneta in Spain, along with local distributors such as CDC United Network in Latin America, Pathé Film Ag in Switzerland and Pathé BC Afrique in French-speaking Africa.

Unifrance, the prolific French and TV promotion org, has launched a bureau in Tokyo to spearhead industry events across Asia, including in Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia and India.

Emmanuel Pisarra, who has been appointed to lead the new office, pointed the creation of this bureau came at the right time. “While we haven’t been on the ground for the last two years due to the pandemic, Japan remains the forth biggest overseas B.O. market for French movies, said Pisarra, who added that Korea and Southeast Asia are also becoming key markets. The org already has an office coordinating events in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan which is headed by Isabelle Glachant.

Unifrance will be hosting the 30th edition of its French film festival in Japan, in the city of Yokohama, on Dec.1-4. The festival will kick off with “Eiffel,” Martin Bourboulon’s period drama starring Romain Duris...

Pathé’s Aude Albano and Dimitri Rassam’s Chapter 2, a Mediawan company, are teaming up with Disney+ on the development of two returning series expanding on their “Three Musketeers” franchise.

The two production banners, together with Alexandre de la Patellière and Matthieu Delaporte’s Fargo Films, are in advanced development of both shows, “Milady Origins” and “Black Musketeer.”

These will be spin offs of Pathé and Chapter 2’s two-part adventure epic saga penned by de la Patellière and Delaporte, based on Alexandre Dumas’s masterpiece. The two films, “The Three Musketeers – D’Artagnan” and “The Three Musketeers – Milady,” shot entirely on location in France with a global budget of 80 million. Both movies were teased by Pathé with an impressive promo at Cannes. They’re slated for a release in theaters next year; the first part in April and the second in December.

“Milady Origins” and “Black Musketeer,” which will shoot in French,...

Exclusive: Corsage and Phantom Thread star Vicky Krieps has been set to lead ghost story Went Up The Hill with Stranger Things actor Dacre Montgomery.

Currently in pre-production, the film will chart how after being abandoned as a child, Jack (Montgomery) ventures to remote New Zealand to attend the funeral of his estranged mother and there meets her grieving widow, Jill (Krieps). His search for answers becomes dangerous when his mother’s ghost returns to inhabit both Jack and Jill, using each of their bodies to speak to the other, and instigating a life-threatening nocturnal dance between the three of them.

Bankside is launching international sales on the project going into next month’s AFM and will co-rep domestic with CAA Media Finance. Samuel Van Grinsven directs from his script co-written with Jory Anast. The official New Zealand-Australia co-production will shoot on location in the former.

Pic is being produced...

Pathé and Chapter 2, a Mediawan company, are set to reteam with “Three Musketeers” director Martin Bourboulon on a riveting thriller set in the backdrop of the fall of Kabul and the takeover by the Taliban.

The film is an adaptation of “13 days, 13 Nights, in the Hell of Kabul,” a sprawling real-life account of the events written by commander Mohamed Bida and published by Denoël last month.

Bourboulon, who recently completed shooting “The Three Musketeers,” a big-budget, two-part saga based on Alexandre Dumas’ masterpiece, will be filming the movie in French and English with an immersive and ultra-realistic style.

Commander Bida oversaw the exfiltration of the French Embassy and the local population fleeing the new extremist regime. In his book, Bida explains how in August 2021, he and 10 elite police officers provided security at the French embassy in Kabul, where 500 people were sheltered and seeking to escape the country. Bida ended up...

Pathé, which operates France’s leading cinema circuit, is planning to enter the Paris stock exchange in 2024, Variety has confirmed. The company’s president, Jérôme Seydoux, revealed the group’s long-gestated listing project in an interview with the French publication Les Echos.

Seydoux said the company suffered a loss of approximately €100 million during the financial years 2020 and 2021, mainly due to the fact that theaters in France were shut down for a total of 300 days during the pandemic. While it ruffled feathers by selling “Coda” to Apple at Sundance in 2021 in a splashy 25 million deal, the company was one of the rare French studios which maintained its release plans for major local productions during the health crisis, for instance Martin Bourboulon’s “Eiffel” with Romain Duris and Emma Mackey, and Jean-Jacques Annaud’s “Notre Dame on Fire.”

Entering the Paris stock exchange should allow Pathé to pursue its ambitious plans to...

Vertigo Releasing has launched a new trailer for Martin Bourboulon’s visually stunning, romantic epic ‘Eiffel.’

Set in 1880s Belle Époque Paris, the film follows Gustave Eiffel (Romain Duris) as he embarks upon the all-consuming task of designing and constructing one of the world’s best-loved land-marks – the Eiffel Tower. It is also undeniably the story of the beguiling and powerful Adrienne Bourgès (Emma Mackey), whose relationship with Gustave Eiffel was instrumental in shaping the skyline of Paris and the future of the city.

Directed by Bourboulon, the film stars Romain Duris, Emma Mackey and Pierre Deladonchamps.

Also in trailers – An all-star cast line up in first look trailer for ‘Amsterdam’

The film will be released in UK and Irish cinemas 12th August 2022. Feast your face on the trailer.

The post Emma Mackey & Romain Duris are the centre of forbidden love in trailer for ‘Eiffel’ appeared first on HeyUGuys.

One year after merging with the promotion org TV France International, Unifrance is preparing a series of strategic events in key markets across Europe, the U.S., China and Japan to fast-track the global distribution of local series and movies.

The French film and TV advocacy banner will host trade shows bringing together French sales outfits and international distributors in Paris in January, Biarritz (Southwestern France) in September, as well as in Roma in April, Madrid in June, Berlin in November, New York in March and Yokohama in December. The 13th edition of MyFrenchFilmFestival, the online fest dedicated to French movies will be held in January and February.

While the French box office has suffered a decline due to the pandemic, Unifrance highlighted the recent critical success of French productions at major festivals, for instance Julia Ducournau’s Palme d’Or winning “Titane,” as well as the series “Call My Agent!” winning an International Emmy,...

Romain Duris (left) as Gustave Eiffel, in a scene from Eiffel. Courtesy of Blue Fox Entertainment.

Architect and structural engineer Gustave Eiffel built not only Paris’ iconic Eiffel Tower, but designed the interior structure that ensured that our iconic Statue of Liberty would stand up and continue to stand for the long term. These are among the historical tidbits you will learn in Eiffel, a lush French historical romance/drama built around real events in Eiffel’s life.

Eiffel is a beautiful period film with polished production values, an attractive cast, and an appealing premise. Since the Eiffel Tower just celebrated its 130 anniversary in December, one might assume Eiffel is a biopic. It is, partly, but mostly it is a romance set against the backdrop of the building of the Eiffel Tower. The film is loosely based on Eiffel’s true story and centers mostly on the period of Eiffel...

Chloe Okuno’s feature debut Watcher recorded the biggest opening weekend grosses ever for IFC Films and its IFC Midnight/Shudder label on 764 U.S. screens — also one of the distributor’s widest ever releases.

The genre thriller that world premiered at Sundance then SXSW reported an estimated weekend gross of 815,000 and a PSA of 1,067.

“Watcher is one of the best feature debuts we have ever screened out of Sundance and with it, Chloe Okuno has proven without a doubt that she is a leading new voice in horror,” said IFC Film president Arianna Bocco. “We are thrilled to have been her partner on the release of Watcher and remain committed to finding the best new voices working in film today.”

Witten by Zack Ford and Okuno, Watcher stars Maika Monroe as Julia, a young American actress who moves with her half-Romanian husband (played by Karl Glusman) from the States...

Eiffel Review — Eiffel (2021) Film Review, a movie directed by Martin Bourboulon, written by Caroline Bongrand, Thomas Bidegain and Natalie Carter and starring Romain Duris, Emma Mackey, Pierre Deladonchamps, Armande Boulanger, Bruno Raffaelli and Philippe Herisson. A love story centered around the construction of the Eiffel Tower, director Martin Bourboulon’s film, Eiffel, is intriguing [...]

Continue reading: Film Review: Eiffel (2021): A Romantic Story About How The Eiffel Tower Came to Be...

Spanish Filmin Buys Lars Von Trier’s ‘The Kingdom’ Trilogy

Spanish SVoD Filmin has acquired the entire Lars Von Trier catalogue including The Kingdom trilogy. The deal was struck with Scandi distributor TrustNordisk and includes never-before-seen restored versions of season one and two of The Kingdom, along with the soon-to-launch third. Several territories, including Germany and Austria (Koch Films), Japan (Synca Creations) and South Korea (AtNine) have already acquired the full trilogy. “We are pleased to experience this high level of interest in the series among buyers, who are evidently intrigued and excited about the series’ epic story, director and cast,” said TrustNordisk MD Susan Wendt.

Rtl Closes Croatia Sale

Rtl Group has closed the sale of Rtl Croatia to Central European Media Enterprises. The major transaction, which was first announced more than three months ago, had to make its way through the Croatian Competition Authority and has just been approved,...

“The Three Musketeers,” Pathé Films’s 75-million two-part adventure epic saga based on Alexandre Dumas’s masterpiece, has been bought in major international territories rolling off a busy Cannes market.

Pathé unveiled a sprawling 15-minute promoreel for both “The Three Musketeers” – D’Artagnan” and “The Three Musketeers – Milady” at Cannes Marché du Film. Both movies are directed by Martin Bourboulon and boast a star-studded cast, including Vincent Cassel, Eva Green, Vicky Krieps, Romain Duris, Pio Marmaï, François Civil, Lyna Khoudri and Louis Garrel.

Produced by Dimitri Rassam for Chapter 2, a Mediawan Company, and Pathé, the two films were picked up for Latin America (CDC United Network /Cine Video y TV (Zima)), Scandinavia (Nordisk Film), South Korea (First Run Inc.), Poland (Monolith Films), Czech Republic and Slovakia (Aqs Inc.), Ex-Yugoslavia (Blitz Films), and Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania Vertical (Entertainment Kft.). Pathé is in advanced talks with distributors for the rest of Asia,...

To the degree that a global sales division can shape its own image, Pathé’s international arm has built and bolstered its current brand around strong IP, recognizable faces and unbelievable but true stories.

To see those elements in play, one need only look to last year, when projects including Paul Verhoeven’s “Benedetta” and Martin Bourboulon’s “Eiffel” lifted from world and film history as they showcased stars such as Virginie Efira, Romain Duris and Emma Mackey, while collectively finding homes in more than a hundred international territories.

To witness those same imperatives, but supercharged, one need only glimpse Pathé’s 2022 slate, which goes long on hometown IP and star power.

“Being exhibitors ourselves, we make films for the big screen,” says Marie-Laure Montironi, exec VP of international sales. “Today, names and universal stories drive audiences to cinemas. To hook people, you need a big spectacle, a big story,...

Pathé may be one of France’s oldest film groups, but it is young at heart. The only French film company that is still fully involved in exhibition, production, distribution and sales, Pathé has been confronting the challenges wrought by the pandemic and the arrival of streamers with bold steps and ambitious new projects. During the Cannes Film Festival, the company will receive Variety’s Intl. Achievement in Film Award.

In the past two years, the family-owned film group, which is led by the visionary businessman Jérôme Seydoux, saw its “Coda” win three Oscars for family drama; greenlit the country’s biggest-budgeted movies in recent history, “Asterix and Obelix: The Middle Kingdom” (75 million) and the two-part adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’ masterpiece, “The Three Musketeers — D’Artagnan” and “The Three Musketeers — Milady” (75 million); it ventured into TV series; and forged bonds with streaming services, including Netflix and Apple TV+.

“When theaters were shut down,...