News

Ginger and Fed has acquired French filmmaker Anissa Bonnefont’s La Scala: The Force Of Destiny, a behind-the-scenes immersive look at the Milan Opera House, and has revealed a first-look here at the EFM.

Produced by Federation Studios’ Myriam Weil and Mde Films’ Francesco Melzi d’Eril, the film follows preparation for the staging of Verdi’s opera as 900 people work to perfect the annual December 7 opening day performance. It is now in post.

“The film is designed for a theatrical cinema experience,” says Sabine Chemaly, head of international film sales at Ginger and Fed, part of Federation Studios. “The ambition is to reach opera lovers,...

Ginger and Fed has acquired French filmmaker Anissa Bonnefont’s La Scala: The Force Of Destiny, a behind-the-scenes immersive look at the Milan Opera House, and has revealed a first-look here at the EFM.

Produced by Federation Studios’ Myriam Weil and Mde Films’ Francesco Melzi d’Eril, the film follows preparation for the staging of Verdi’s opera as 900 people work to perfect the annual December 7 opening day performance. It is now in post.

“The film is designed for a theatrical cinema experience,” says Sabine Chemaly, head of international film sales at Ginger and Fed, part of Federation Studios. “The ambition is to reach opera lovers,...

Bille August-directed TV series “The Count of Monte Cristo,” featuring an international cast led by Sam Claflin (“Peaky Blinders”) is reaping stellar ratings in Italy, scoring on average a whopping 26% primetime share on the country’s state broadcaster Rai.

The first episode of August’s high-end adaptation of the Alexandre Dumas classic, which the two-time Palme d’Or winning director of “Pelle the Conqueror” and “Smilla’s Sense Of Snow” shot in Paris, Torino, Rome and Malta, drew more than 5 million viewers Monday on Rai’s Rai-1 flagship station, reaching peaks of more than 32% of the country’s total TV audience and marking Rai’s best ratings for a TV series in nearly a year.

Claflin stars as young sailor Edmond Dantes who is falsely accused of treason and is imprisoned without trial in the Château d’If, a grim island fortress off Marseille before escaping to seek revenge.

Warner Bros Discovery, Sony Group Corporation, Netflix, and Amazon are donating tens of millions of dollars to LA wildfires recovery and rebuilding efforts.

The donations come as the ravaged Los Angeles region was bracing for the return of high winds early on Tuesday morning that were forecast to blow through Wednesday. The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning and said there was extreme fire danger.

Warner Bros Discovery has donated $15m to ”immediate response and rebuilding efforts”, and has been paying for hotel rooms and temporary housing, rental cars, meals, and counselling for more than 1,000 employees impacted. The...

Warner Bros Discovery, Sony Group Corporation, Netflix, and Amazon are donating tens of millions of dollars to LA wildfires recovery and rebuilding efforts.

The donations come as the ravaged Los Angeles region was bracing for the return of high winds early on Tuesday morning that were forecast to blow through Wednesday. The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning and said there was extreme fire danger.

Warner Bros Discovery has donated $15m to ”immediate response and rebuilding efforts”, and has been paying for hotel rooms and temporary housing, rental cars, meals, and counselling for more than 1,000 employees impacted. The...

Writers Guild of America (WGA) has postponed Monday’s nominations announcement as the Los Angeles region ravaged by wildfires braced for the return of high winds through Wednesday.

The Guild, which had previously rescheduled the announcement for Monday amid the wildfire crisis, said in a statement: “Due to ongoing wildfires in the Los Angeles area, we will be delaying the announcement of Writers Guild Award nominees until further notice.” The ceremony is scheduled for February 15 in New York and Los Angeles.

Sony Group Corporation said it will donate $5m to relief organisations supporting first responders, community relief and rebuilding efforts,...

Filming has begun on Anthony Dechaux’s thriller The Price To Pay (La Guerre Des Prix) for France tv Distribution which has snapped up international rights and will launch sales at Unifrance’s Rendez-Vous in Paris this week.

Ana Girardot and Olivier Gourmet star in the film about a woman who works for a large retail chain whose brother runs the local family farm in Normandy. An advocate for organic, local farming practices, she heads to Paris to attempt to drive change from within the large corporation and defend local producers’ interests but gets embroiled in a system that challenges her values.

Filming has begun on Anthony Dechaux’s thriller The Price To Pay (La Guerre Des Prix) for France tv Distribution which has snapped up international rights and will launch sales at Unifrance’s Rendez-Vous in Paris this week.

Ana Girardot and Olivier Gourmet star in the film about a woman who works for a large retail chain whose brother runs the local family farm in Normandy. An advocate for organic, local farming practices, she heads to Paris to attempt to drive change from within the large corporation and defend local producers’ interests but gets embroiled in a system that challenges her values.

France TV Distribution has closed several territory deals for Sylvain Desclous’ “The Victoria System,” starring Damien Bonnard and Jeanne Balibar.

The film has been acquired by Spentzos in Greece, Divisa Red in Spain, Arna Media in the Cis, Nk Content in South Korea, Avjet in Taïwan and Mars in Turkey.

The film centers on David Kolski, who is overseeing the construction of the highest tower ever built in France. The developer’s constant pressure, crushing delivery delays, overworked employees… David lives in a hurry.

One night, while returning home for dinner, he meets a woman of astonishing beauty who captivates him. He is mesmerized. This woman is Victoria. Ambitious and intelligent, beautiful and independent, the human resources director for a multinational company, she runs her life as the ones of her employees, with an iron hand. Immediately, David also finds himself trapped in this fascinating system.

The film is written by Sylvain Desclous,...

Producer Patrick Sobelman and Ariane Toscan du Plantier, director of Cinema Distribution France and International at film and TV company Gaumont, have been voted in as president and vice-president of France’s César Academy.

Their mandate begins on July 16 for two years. Sobelman was previously vice-president of the César Academy alongside outgoing president Véronique Cayla.

The president and vice-president, the members of the executive Academy Office, who assist them in their work, as well as the heads of the 22 professionals chapters were voted on by the 176 members of the general assembly of the Association for the Promotion of Cinema, the umbrella body overseeing Cesar Academy. The general assembly members are in turn voted in by the some 4,700 members of the academy.

Since 2020, the Apc has stipulated gender parity across the César Academy’s Presidency, Academy Office and different chapter representatives, following accusations of lack of gender equality within its ranks...

Edge-of-your-seat action & drama in "The Wages of Fear" - refugees grappling with perilous missions and intense betrayals. Explosive sequences and complex character dynamics keep viewers guessing until the very end - a thrilling ride. A tense, suspenseful story full of twists and turns - a modern day remake that lives up to the hype.

Having directed other French Netflix exclusives like 2021’s Ganglands and 2020’s Earth and Blood, director Julien Leclercq has once again arrived on the streaming platform with a feature that is sure to satisfy those in the action genre. Titled The Wages of Fear (or Le salaire de la peur), this is actually a modern-day remake of a 1953 thriller of the same name which sold over six million tickets in France. The original also won numerous awards, like the Best Film at the 8th British Academy Film Awards and the Golden Bear (an accolade of the highest...

French actor Guillaume Canet is starring, writing and producing the new Netflix thriller Ad Vitam.

Rodolphe Lauga (It’s Complicated) is directing the action film, which has begun shooting in Paris. Netflix will release the movie worldwide next year.

Canet plays Franck Lazareff who, after surviving an attempt on his life, finds his wife has been kidnapped by a mysterious group of armed men. Trying to rescue her, Frank finds his past catching up with him. Stéphane Caillard, Nassim Lyes, Zita Hanrot and Alexis Manenti co-star.

Canet and Lauga co-wrote the script to Ad Vitam in association with David Corona and Canet is producing, together with Jean Cottin for the Cabanes shingle.

Canet recently directed himself as Gallic comic book hero Asterix in the live-action feature Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom and appeared in the French thriller Breaking Point. from director Yvan Attal. The multi-hyphenate has directed several films, including...

Warning: Major spoilers for Netflix's The Wages of Fear (2024) below!

The Wages of Fear ends with main character Fred sacrificing himself to save his brother and a village from an oil fire. The oil company double-crosses the drivers of the explosive truck convoy, leading to a tense showdown in the finale. Gauthier's greed and betrayal add unexpected twists to the story.

Netflix's remake of The Wages of Fear ends on a fittingly explosive note, but which characters survive to the closing credits? This 2024 Netflix movie involves a Parisian crew of mercenaries hired by an oil company to drive trucks filled with explosives across an unnamed, war-torn desert country. Adding to the crew's stressful task is that they have less than 24 hours to deliver the trucks to stop a blazing oil fire, while the nitroglycerin they are hauling is so unstable it could explode if the trucks get rocked too hard.

In a desert filled with lethal threats, a crew of Parisians must secure two truckloads of explosives to save hundreds of lives — in just 24 hours. Based on Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Palme d’Or–winning thriller of the same name, The Wages of Fear is directed by Julien Leclercq and co-written by Leclercq and Hamid Hlioua (Ganglands). The high-intensity remake stars Franck Gastambide, Alban Lenoir, and Ana Girardot.

Stream it now.

Check it out at the top of this page.

Mercenary Fred (Gastambide) is desperate to get out of the war-torn country he lives in and back home to Paris. But he needs money. So when oil company security director Anne (Whettnall) offers Fred $1 million to take on a risky mission, he’s quick to agree.

Except… the gig she’s offering him is a bit complicated. Fred is tasked with putting out the constantly burning fire at the oil well...

“The Wages of Fear”, a remake of the original 1950’s thriller, is directed by Julien Leclercq, starring Franck Gastambide, Sofiane Zermani, Alban Lenoir, Ana Girardot and Joseph Beddelem, now streaming on Netflix:

“…a powerhouse team has less than 24 hours to transport…

“… two trucks full of explosives across a hostile region and prevent a terrible catastrophe…”

Click the images to enlarge…...

The Wages of Fear is a French film directed by Julien Leclercq starring Franck Gastambide and Ana Girardot.

“The Wages of Fear” is a film based on Georges Arnaud’s novel, which, as you may already know, had a previous adaptation in 1953, directed by H.G. Clouzot. This has become a classic of French cinema and one of the best thrillers in film history.

In these current times, Julien Leclercq dares to create a new version of this story, modernizing it entirely and trying to maintain the character tension in this updated plot, although we’re not fully sure if it’s for the better.

It’s always a risk to compare yourself to a classic, but Julien Leclercq has the courage to try it.

Plot

To save a village during an oil extraction, four people must escort a convoy loaded with nitroglycerin in a desolate place, surrounded by armed gangs.

France TV Distribution has acquired “Furcy,” an epic film inspired by the true story of a slave in a French colony who was able to achieve legal emancipation prior to the definitive abolition of slavery.

“Furcy” is directed by Abd Al Malik, whose debut feature “May Allah Bless France!” won the Discovery prize at Toronto Film Festival and was nominated for a Cesar Award.

The part of Furcy is played by Makita Samba, who had a lead role in Jacques Audiard’s “Paris 13th District,” which competed at Cannes. The rest of the cast comprises Romain Duris (“The Animal Kingdom”), Ana Girardot (“The House”) and Vincent Macaigne (“Bonnard: Pierre & Marthe”). The script was written by Etienne Comar (“Django”), based on the book by Mohammed Aissaoui.

Set in 1817 on the Bourbon Island, the epic film tells the story of an enslaved man, Furcy, who stumbles upon a letter of emancipation...

Another remake of classic – make that two classics – is headed to Netflix, as the streaming giant has just released the teaser for The Wages of Fear, first made in 1953 and later most notably remade by William Friedkin with 1977’s Sorcerer.

In the trailer, we see an explosion and the chaos of the aftermath, with a voice saying, “There is a gas pocket feeding the flames. To put it out, we need to blow it up.” This sets up the plot of The Wages of Fear, which finds a team driving to the location in trucks filled with nitro…and they’re on a timeline of just 24 hours.

Helmed by action director Julien Leclercq, The Wages of Fear looks to bring a lot more of his trademark action to the screen than its predecessors. Henri-Georges Clouzot’s original The Wages of Fear (Le Salaire de la peur) is, as far as I’m concerned,...

Netflix fights fire with fire in its upcoming remake of a suspense classic. Here’s a trailer for The Wages Of Fear.

The Wages Of Fear, the 1953 classic suspense thriller directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot, has already had one remake: William Friedkin’s Sorcerer, released in 1977. Both are intense, immersive films with grime on their skin and dirt under their fingernails, which makes it all the more odd that Netflix’s upcoming remake – also called The Wages Of Fear – has that pristine, flatly-lit look of an Expendables sequel.

The plot remains the same; it’s about a quartet of misfits who – in exchange for a big chunk of cash – agree to ferry trucks of high explosives across a rugged landscape. Their mission: to set off a huge detonation in the hopes of extinguishing an oil well fire.

This latest version is directed by Julien Leclercq, whose previous work includes the action thrillers Braquers,...

"To put it out, we need to blow it up." Roll on! Netflix has unveiled the first look teaser trailer for a French action thriller titled The Wages of Fear, the latest from filmmaker Julien Leclercq. This is set to launch streaming only on Netflix at the end of March. "They have 24 hours to drive two trucks full of nitroglycerin and prevent a terrible catastrophe." Similar to William Friedkin's Sorcerer, but in the desert! That film was based on the same French novel that was also made into the original 1953 film. In order to prevent a deadly explosion, an illicit crack team has 24 hours to drive two truckloads of nitroglycerine across a desert laden with danger. This is a remake of the classic 1950s French thriller of the same name - Le Salaire de la Peur or The Wages of Fear. Thankfully they're not turning it into a series,...

Orange Studio has boarded true-crime-tinged psychological thriller “An Ordinary Case” and will launch sales at this week’s Unifrance Rendez-Vous in Paris. Top-lined, co-written and directed by French cinema stalwart Daniel Auteuil, this pulled-from-the-headlines drama also boasts “Borgen” and “Westworld” star Sidse Babett Knudsen alongside acclaimed actor Grégory Gadebois (“An Officer and a Spy”).

Auteuil adapted the feature from the work of Jean-Yves Moyart – a jurist-turned-blogger-turned-bestselling author who wrote of his experiences in the French legal system – and will star as Jean Monier, a disillusioned lawyer defending a man accused of murdering his wife. While all signs point to the accused’s guilt, Monier remains steadfast in his presumption of innocence. What begins as an ordinary case turns out to be anything but.

Following in the footsteps of Alice Diop’s Venice and César winner “Saint Omer,” of Cédric Kahn’s Cannes-acclaimed “The Goldman Case,” and of Justine Triet’s...

The new year is nearly upon us and it’s shaping up to be a hot one in TV land as more and more countries get in on the premium drama series act. Here, we round up 15 of the buzziest titles you’re set to hear much more about over the coming year, from Doctor Who to The Count of Monte Cristo to Netflix Italy’s pornography drama Supersex.

‘Doctor Who’ (BBC)

It’s back like you’ve never seen it before. The 40th season of Doctor Who, the outsized British sci-fi series that has been on and off screens for 60 years, will kick off next year with its first ever Black lead alongside a healthy budget boost coupled with several spin-offs. Anticipation surrounding the Doctor’s latest adventures rarely ramps down but there is extra bite with this one. Following his star breakout turn as Eric Effiong in Netflix’s Sex Education,...

Oscar winner Jeremy Irons has joined the cast of Palme d’Or-winning director Bille August’s prestige limited series “The Count of Monte Cristo,” which also stars Sam Claflin.

A sprawling adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’ classic novel, the English-language series is produced by Mediawan’s banner Palomar, the leading Italian company behind “That Dirty Black Bag” and “The Name of the Rose,” in collaboration with another Mediawan label, France’s Demd Productions. The series’ five-month shoot will wrap in Malta in December, after having lensed in France and Italy.

The show underscores Mediawan’s strategy to pursue prestige scripted projects with strong international potential under its €100 million co-investment agreement signed earlier this year with private equity film Entourage Ventures.

“The Count of Monte Cristo” marks Irons’ third collaboration with August, who directed him in “Night Train to Lisbon” and “The House of Spirits.” A revered Danish filmmaker, August previously won...

AFM slate also includes a blend of local drama, comedy and thriller titles.

Orange Studio will kick off sales at AFM for Like A Prince, the debut feature from actor Ali Marhyar about a star boxer attempting a career comeback in a French chateau after a bar fight gone wrong.

Like A Prince stars Ahmed Sylla as the titular athlete who is sentenced to community service at the prestigious Château de Chambord following a bar fight that injures him and threatens his career. There, amidst horses, strange bosses and knight-inspired stunts, he meets a foster child with a knack for...

Sam Claflin, known for his role in The Hunger Games, is set to star in a new television adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo, a story of revenge and betrayal. The upcoming eight-part miniseries will be directed by Bille August, and will incorporate contemporary elements to appeal to a new audience. Claflin's career has been on the rise since his breakout role in The Hunger Games, with notable projects including Love, Rosie and Me Before You, as well as his recent role in the hit series Daisy Jones & The Six.

After surprising the world with his leading role in Amazon Prime Video's hit series Daisy Jones & the Six, Sam Claflin lands his next big part. The Count of Monte Cristo is the upcoming television adaptation of the acclaimed novel by French author Alexandre Dumas, published in 1844. The story, one that has already been adapted on several occasions...

Bille August, the two-time Palme d’Or winning director of “Pelle the Conqueror,” is directing a sprawling English language series adapted from Alexandre Dumas’ classic novel “The Count of Monte Cristo” starring an international cast led by Sam Claflin (“Peaky Blinders”).

“The Count of Monte Cristo” marks the first series which is entirely produced within Mediawan and represented by its distribution arm Mediawan Rights. As such, Italy’s Palomar is producing the eight-part series in collaboration with Demd Productions in France, in association with Entourage Ventures, as well as Rai Fiction and France Televisions which are the commissioning broadcasters in Italy and France, respectively.

The show underscores Mediawan’s strategy to pursue prestige scripted projects with strong international potential under its €100 million co-development agreement signed earlier this year with private equity film Entourage Ventures. Another recent Mediawan show in the same vein is the anticipated “Zorro” series reboot directed by...

At the turn of the year, HeyUGuys were lucky enough to head to Paris to interview some of the biggest stars of the French film industry, ahead of theatrical releases in the UK across the year. One interview, with talented actress Anaïs Demoustier, actually covered two bases, as she was promoting both Smoking Causes Coughing and November. Two films that couldn’t be more different from one another. Naturally we discussed the diversity of roles, and her ambitions in the industry. And she also talks about how Lara Croft became an unlikely inspiration…

The very fact I am speaking to you today about Smoking Causes Coughing and November is symbolic of your diverse choices as an actress, a performer who is difficult to define. Is that something you do consciously, trying to find different roles, and different projects, or do you just follow the best stories, and see where it takes you?...

The French pay-TV giant also announced a surprise film festival-focused channel.

French pay-tv powerhouse Canal Plus unveiled its autumn line-up in Paris this week and announced a new channel devoted to films from well-known directors selected at global festivals called Canal+ Cinema(s) that will launch on September 1 alongside Canal+ Box Office.

The latter will feature primarily blockbusters from the US majors in addition to crowd-pleasing local fare, capitalising on themedia chronology that allows Canal+ to air films six months after their theatrical release, a major leg up compared to fellow streamers inlcuding Netflix and Prime Video that have to wait 15-17 months.

Leading French producer Michael Gentile’s Paris-based outfit The Film is about to start shooting Julie Delpy’s next directorial outing, “The Barbarians,” and Laurence Arné’s “Les Hennedricks” starring Dany Boon.

Delpy’s comeback to French filmmaking since “Lolo,” “The Barbarians” is a satirical comedy unfolding in a small town in Brittany which is preparing to welcome Ukrainian refugees after voting unanimously to greet them in exchange for subsidies from the government. But instead of seeing Ukrainians come into town, they see Syrian refugees, causing some tensions among locals and testing their liberal beliefs. Delpy will star in the film opposite Sandrine Kiberlain (“Mademoiselle Chambon”), Laurent Lafitte (“Elle”) and Ziad Bakri (“The Weekend Away”), India Hair (“Angry Annie”), Mathieu Demy (“The Bureau”) and Delpy’s father Albert Delpy.

Delpy penned the script with Matthieu Rumani (“Family Business”), in collaboration with Lea Domenech (“Bernadette”). “The Barbarians” will start filming on...

The 1953 original by Henri-Georges Clouzot won best film at Cannes, Berlin and Bafta.

Julien Leclercq is directing an untitled remake of Henri-Georges Clouzot’s 1953 thriller The Wages Of Fear for Netflix, starring Franck Gastambide, Alban Lenoir, Ana Girardot and Sofiane Zermani.

Netflix has also unveiled the first look from the project (image above) which is now in production.

The French-language film is being produced by Leclercq and Julien Madon’s outfit Labyrinthe Films with TF1 Studio. The script is by Leclercq and Hamid Hlioua.

The film is about four men hired to transport nitroglycerine through South America without the appropriate safety equipment.

Netflix has announced a remake of the 1950s French classic The Wages of Fear (Le Salaire de la Peur), in a production reuniting the platform with action-thriller maestro Julien Leclercq.

Production is currently underway on the untitled film for a scheduled release in 2024.

The 1953 original starred Yves Montand, Peter van Eyck, Charles Vanel and Folco Lulli as four down-on-their-luck men who are hired to drive trucks laden with nitroglycerine through the mountains as part of an operation to extinguish an oil well fire.

The work is regarded as one of the most suspenseful action-thrillers of all time.

Leclercq’s reboot stars Franck Gastambide, best known internationally for his role in Taxi 5, opposite Alban Lenoir (Lost Bullet), Ana Girardot (The House) and Sofiane Zermani (No Limit).

“To reunite this cast for the reboot of such a film, for a worldwide broadcast with Netflix, forces me to put all my heart and guts into it,...

Netflix is taking a swing at another film classic, rebooting the Henri-Georges Clouzot’s 1953 French adventure thriller The Wages of Fear.

Julien Leclercq, a French action director whose credits include 2010’s hijacking thriller The Assault, 2021’s Sentinelle starring Olga Kurylenko, and the Netflix crime series Ganglands, will adapt the original film, together with his Ganglands co-writer Hamid Hlioua.

Franck Gastambide, Alban Lenoir, Ana Girardot and Sofiane Zermani have signed on to star in the new, currently untitled, remake, which will roll out on Netflix worldwide next year.

“To reunite this cast for the reboot of such a film, for a worldwide broadcast with Netflix, forces me to put all my heart and guts into it,” said Leclercq. “The ambition is huge.”

Leclercq and Julien Madon will produce the film for Netflix via Labyrinthe Films and TF1 Studio.

Poster for the original ‘Wages of Fear’ (1953)

Clouzot and directed and co-wrote the...

Studiocanal is set to launch Quentin Reynaud’s timely disaster thriller “The Blaze” ahead of its world premiere at the BFI London Film Festival.

The film reteams Reynaud with popular French actor Alex Lutz, who headlined the director’s feature debut “Final Set.” Lutz stars alongside revered French actor André Dussolier (“Tell No One”).

“The Blaze” follows Simon and his father Joseph who embark on a race-against-the-clock to escape a wildfire.

The first-look image features Simon and Joseph who must leave everything behind to escape their coastal region alongside multiple evacuees who are fighting to survive.

The film was shot in France’s tree-covered southwest region where thousands of hectares were destroyed by wildfires this summer, but Quentin Reynaud told Variety that the movie wrapped shooting a year ago.

“I grew up in this beautiful region and I know every corner of it. It has a very dense landscape with a strong local culture,...

Pulsar Content has closed a raft of major deals on “La Maison,” Anissa Bonnefont’s erotic drama based on Emma Becker’s controversial bestselling novel chronicling the young author’s two-year undercover experience working as a sex worker at a Berlin brothel.

The Paris-based company introduced the title to buyers at Cannes and sold it to Wild Bunch for Germany, Austria, Italy and Spain, among other deals.

Wild Bunch will team with Capelight for the German release. The film will be handled by Wild Bunch subsidiaries in Italy and Spain, Bim Distribuzione and Vertigo, respectively. Other territories closed include Singapore (Shaw), Portugal (Nos Lusomundo Audiovisuais), and the Baltics (Garsu Pasaulio Irasai). Pulsar Content is in talks to lock further deals.

“I’m excited to take on this ambitious, well crafted and daring film accross our European territories. ‘La Maison found its home,'” said Wild Bunch’s Marc Gabizon.

Pulsar...

Pulsar Content has boarded Anissa Bonnefont’s erotic drama “La Maison” based on Emma Becker’s controversial bestselling novel chronicling the young author’s two-year undercover experience working as a sex worker at a Berlin brothel.

Now in post-production, “La Maison” is headlined by Ana Girardot, the rising French star of “The Returned,” “Back to Burgundy” and “Escobar: Paradise Lost,” as well as Rossy De Palma and Aure Atika (“10 Days With Dad”). De Palma will also be at Cannes to preside over the jury of the Golden Camera Award.

Pulsar Content has secured worldwide sales and unveiling a first still of the movie (pictured above). The outfit will introduce the project to buyers at Cannes with a promo reel. Rezo will distribute “La Maison” in France.

Radar Films, a Mediawan company whose credits include “Vicky and her Mystery,” “The Deep House” and “Divorce Club” is producing the movie with and Belgian banner uMedia co-producing.

Crossing borders under difficult circumstances has always been part of the deal for spies. But getting your cast and crew to do the same, during times of Covid, also became part of the suspense in completing the first two episodes of the Amazon Prime show “Totems,” which premiered at Canneseries TV festival this week.

Featuring an international cast, including Niels Schneider, Vera Kolesnikova, José Garcia, Lambert Wilson and Ana Girardot, the spy drama was mainly shot in Prague. The city provides a convincing substitute for East Berlin, where some of the story takes place at an action-packed scientific conference.

The story follows French scientist Francis Mareuil (Schneider) whose angular features play beautifully between the shadows, as he starts operating as a spy, just like his estranged nurse wife in Paris (Girardot).

While working for the French Secret Service and the CIA, Mareuil meets a Russian pianist (Kolesnikova), who has been...

Sky Original’s fifth and final season of “Gomorrah,” Rtl Group and Beta Film’s German-language “Sisi,” and Canal Plus’ hip-hop themed “All The Way Up” will — rather fittingly — join the David Tennant-led, Slim Film+Televison/Federation co-produced “Around the World in 80 Days” for an internationally accented edition of Canneseries, which plays from Oct. 8-13.

Running concurrent to Mipcom before returning to its traditional April berth in 2022, this year’s fourth edition will spotlight nine countries in its ten series long-form competition, though with a limited U.S. presence.

Alongside those four aforementioned series, all playing out of competition, this year’s most high-profile competition premieres include the Gaumont-produced, Amazon Prime broadcast Cold War thriller “Totems,” a Franco-Spanish-Czech co-production that stars Niels Schneider, Lambert Wilson and Ana Girardot, and “Limbo… Until It’s Over,” the latest series from Argentine hit-makers Gastón Duprat and Mariano Cohn (“Officila Competition...

"It would hurt less if you won the match quicker." Film Movement has released an official US trailer for an indie French sports drama called Final Set, also known as Cinquième Set in French - which translates directly to 5th Set. This initially premiered at a few film festivals in Europe last year, and also played at the Rendez-Vous with French Cinema in the US and the RiverRun Film Festival earlier this year. Thomas was once renowned as a young tennis prodigy, but never had the career he hoped for. At 37, despite his declining physical fitness, he decides to compete in the qualifying rounds of the French Open for one last attempt at glory. Final Set stars Alex Lutz as Thomas J. Edison, with a cast including Kristin Scott Thomas, Ana Girardot, Tariq Bettahar, Quentin Reynaud, plus Jürgen Briand as his opponent Damien Thosso. This looks so much better than...

With the Olympics behind us and the US Open around the corner, it’s the prime time to serve up tennis-related films. Earlier this year we got a new restoration of William Klein’s seminal doc The French and now the acclaimed French drama Final Set will arrive this month. Ahead of a release at NYC’s Quad Cinema and Virtual Cinemas on August 27, we’re pleased to present the exclusive trailer for Quentin Reynaud’s latest work, courtesy of Film Movement.

Once described as a young professional tennis prodigy, Thomas (Cesar-winner Alex Lutz) never had the career in the game he had hoped for. At 37, he decides to return to the French Open at Roland-Garros, in spite of his declining physical fitness and shattered knee. Although his wife Eve (Ana Girardot) and mother Judith (Oscar-nominee Kirstin Scott Thomas) advise him to give up on his unlikely ambition, Thomas obsessively perseveres.

Radar Films, the Mediawan-owned production banner, is reteaming with “The Deep House” filmmakers Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo on “North Sentinel.” The well-established company, which is headed by Clement Miserez and Matthieu Warter, is developing several other English-language projects including a genre twist on “The Phantom of the Opera” directed by Xavier Gens (“The Divide”).

Rolling off “The Deep House,” an underwater horror film that was just acquired by Blumhouse and Epix, Maury and Bustillo will next direct “North Sentinel.” Pic is inspired by the true story of an explorer who set off to visit a dangerous island located deep in the Indian Ocean, where a tribe of indigenous people live, and was killed. Visiting the island or going anywhere near it has been banned by the Indian government. “North Sentinel” will revolve around a young American woman who embarks on a journey to the island in order find her missing brother.

Amazon Prime Video France today published details of its upcoming slate of productions, including four new originals:

Greek Salad is a contemporary sequel to the movie trilogy L’Auberge Espagnole (Pot Luck), 20 years after the originals. It follows the lives of Tom and Mia (the children of Xavier and Wendy from L’Auberge Espagnole) as they embark on a new adventure in Athens. The eight episode series is created by Cédric Klapisch, with Lola Doillon and Antoine Garceau (Call my Agent). The show will be co-produced by Bruno Levy for Ce Qui Me Meut and will launch exclusively on Prime Video in 2022.

Flashback is the second Amazon original movie produced in France. This one is a time travel comedy starring comedian Caroline Vigneaux, with Sophia Aram, Suzanne Clément, Lison Daniel, Gad Elmaleh, Lannick Gautry, Emy Ltr, Florent Peyre and Sylvie Testud. It is produced by Alain Goldman for Legende Films and...

New slate includes projects spearheaded by filmmaker Cédric Klapisch and Ballsy Girl actress Melha Bedia.

Amazon Prime Video has unveiled a slate of French original productions, including Cédric Klapisch’s drama series Greek Salad, a spin-off of his 2002 hit feature Pot Luck (L’Auberge Espagnole), about a group of students from across Europe living in a flat in Barcelona together.

The new series follows the lives of the children of two of the original characters as they embark on a new adventure in Athens.

Kaplisch has created the eight-episode drama with Lola Doillon and Antoine Garceau, who both took credits (like...

New slate includes projects spearhead by filmmaker Cédric Klapisch and Ballsy Girl actress Melha Bedia.

Amazon Prime Video has unveiled a new slate of French original productions, including Cédric Klapisch’s drama Greek Salad, a spin-off of his 2002 hit feature Pot Luck (L’Auberge Espagnole), about a group of students from across Europe living in a flat in Barcelona together.

The new series follows the lives of the children of two of the original characters as they embark on a new adventure in Athens.

Kaplisch has created the eight-episode drama with Lola Doillon and Antoine Garceau, who both took credits (like...

Amazon Prime Video France has unveiled a slate of originals, including Cedric Klapisch’s “Greek Salad” — a series sequel to the “L’Auberge Espanole” trilogy — Melanie Laurent’s “Le Bal des Folles,” as well as live sports such as the tennis tournament Roland Garros, and adaptations of popular unscripted formats such as “Lol” and “Celebrity Hunted.” All titles will roll out on the streaming service later this year.

The programs were presented during a virtual press conference on Monday hosted by Georgia Brown, director of European Originals; Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios; Thomas Dubois, head of French Amazon Originals at Amazon Studios, Isabelle Bertrand, head of content for Amazon Prime Video France; and Alex Green, managing director of sport at Amazon Prime Video.

“Greek Salad” will be set in Athens, Greece, and follow the children of Xavier and Wendy, who were played by Romain Duris and Kelly Reilly, respectively,...

Film Movement has acquired U.S. rights to Quentin Reynaud’s “Final Set,” a French movie starring Kristin Scott Thomas, Alex Lutz and Ana Girardot, from Studiocanal.

“Final Set,” which unfolds in the world of professional tennis, is produced by Leonard Glowinski for his company, 22H22 (“A Hologram for the King”).

The film revolves around Thomas (Lutz), who was once a young professional tennis prodigy who never had the career in the game he had hoped for. At 37, he decides to return to the French Open at Roland Garros, in spite of declining physical fitness and a shattered knee. Although his wife Eve (Girardot) and mother Judith (Scott Thomas) advise him to give up on his unlikely ambition, Thomas obsessively perseveres. He will have to face his own demons as well as the intense competitive qualifying rounds to reach the tournament and eventually face a young tennis genius who disturbingly...

François Ozon’s Summer of ’85 (Été ’85) screens in New York’s Rendez-Vous with French Cinema Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze UniFrance and Film at Lincoln Center announced the 26th Rendez-Vous with French Cinema line-up of 18 feature films and free Special Events. Opening the festival is Sébastien Lifshitz’s Little Girl (Petite Fille) with eight-year-old Sasha. Other highlights include François Ozon’s Summer of ’85 (Été ’85), starring Benjamin Voisin and Valeria Bruni Tedeschi (music by The Cure); Suzanne Lindon’s Spring Blossom (Seize printemps) with Lindon opposite Arnaud Valois; Nicole Garcia’s Lovers (Amants), starring Stacy Martin, Pierre Niney, and Benoît Magimel; Hélier Cisterne’s Faithful (De nos frères blessés) starring Vicky Krieps and Vincent Lacoste; Quentin Reynaud’s Final Set (Cinquième) set with Kristin Scott Thomas, Ana Girardot, and Alex Lutz, and Fanny Liatard and Jérémy Trouilh’s Gagarin (Gagarine) with Jamil McCraven, Lyna Khoudri, and a cameo by Denis Lavant.

Guest of...

Orange Studio is set to co-produce and represent in international markets a trio of ambitious French movies, “L’astronaute,” “Madame de Sevigné” and “Chien blanc.” All three films will start shooting during the first quarter of 2021 and will be co-distributed by Orange Studio in theaters.

“Chien blanc,” to be directed by Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette, will be headlined by Denis Ménochet and Canadian actress Kacey Rohl (“The Killing”). Produced by Nicole Robert at Go Films, “Chien blanc” is an adaptation of Romain Gary’s novel. Barbeau-Lavalette bought the adaptation rights from Alexandre Diego Gary, the only child of Gary and Jean Seberg.

The film, mainly inspired by Gary’s own life, unfolds in the U.S. in the aftermath of Martin Luther King’s assassination. Gary and his wife, Seberg, welcome in their home an abandoned dog who appears to have been trained to attack Black people. Gary nevertheless refuses to have the dog euthanized,...

The director’s feature debut stars Ana Girardot, among others; the Gloria Films and 2.4.7 Films production is being sold abroad by Playtime. After kicking off on 2 March, and then grinding to a halt on 16 March because of the health crisis, the shoot for Arnaud Malherbe’s feature debut, the fantasy tale Ogre, resumed on 15 June in the Morvan, where it is slated to wrap on 18 July. The cast includes Ana Girardot, young actor Giovanni Pucci and Samuel Jouy.Malherbe has short films such as Macadam Peau-rouge (in the national competition at Clermont-Ferrand in 2009) and Dans...

Distrib Films has acquired U.S. rights to Lucie Borleteau’s “The Perfect Nanny” and Cédric Klapisch’s “Someone Somewhere,” both of which will screen at the Rendez-Vous with French Cinema in New York, a festival organised by the Film Society of the Lincoln Center and UniFrance.

A psychological thriller, “The Perfect Nanny” is adapted from Leila Slimani’s bestselling novel “Chanson Douce” which was awarded France’s highest literary prize, the Prix Goncourt, in 2016.

Represented in international markets by Studiocanal, “The Perfect Nanny” follows Myriam (Leïla Bekhti), a lawyer who decides to return to work after having children. She and her husband (Antoine Reinartz) think they’ve found the perfect nanny for their son and daughter. The film’s U.S. remake rights have been acquired by Legendary and Paul Downs Colaizzo is on board to adapt and direct the English-language adaptation. “The Perfect Nanny” was produced by Pascal Caucheteux...

There are two big takeaways in “Someone, Somewhere,” director Cédric Klapisch’s return to Paris after satisfying detours to New York (“Chinese Puzzle”) and eastern France (“Back to Burgundy”). The first, which makes for the better movie, is you can’t love someone until you’ve learned to love yourself. The second, which drags the movie down, is that our hyper-connected era has, paradoxically, kept us from establishing meaningful relationships. Both lessons need to be learned by Mélanie (Ana Girardot) and Rémy (François Civil), lonely thirtysomething neighbors who’d be perfect for each other if only they could overcome their individual hangups, stop substituting computer screens for real connections and actually meet.

At this point, no one can argue that Facebook and Tinder are acceptable alternatives to engaging with the world around you. Had Klapisch advanced the idea 10 years ago, it would have been downright prescient. In 2019, however, his...