News

The origin story of Jean Valjean, the iconic protagonist of Victor Hugo’s masterpiece “Les Misérables,” is being brought to the bigscreen by Éric Besnard, the French director of 18th-century set movie “Delicieux.”

The movie, which just started filming on Jan. 14 amid the lush landscapes of Southern France, has been boarded by Federations Studios’ sales label Ginger & Fed spearheaded by Sabine Chemaly. The project is being teased to buyers at the Unifrance Rendez-Vous in Paris which kicked off on Monday (Jan. 13).

“Valjean” reteams Besnard with French actor Gregory Gadebois who starred in his previous film, the 19th-century set movie “Louise Violet.” Gadebois stars as Valjean, opposite Bernard Campan, Isabelle Carré and Alexandra Lamy.

Clément Miserez and Matthieu Warter at Mediawan-owned banner Radar Films is producing. Warner Bros. France will release the film locally. France 3 Cinéma is a co-producer. “Valjean” is also backed by Ciné+, Ocs, HBO Max,...

Exclusive: Voltage Pictures has acquired global rights to the horror thriller O.T.H.E.R, starring Olga Kurylenko.

The David Moreau written and directed feature follows Alice (Olga Kurylenko), who reluctantly returns to her childhood home after the sudden death of her estranged mother, only to discover the house—eerily frozen in time—hides a sinister secret: a high-tech surveillance system tracks her every move as a dark presence lurks in the shadows, driving her toward a terrifying revelation.

Voltage will officially launch global sales for the film at the American Film Market (AFM) 2024. Wild Bunch is set to release the film in France in 2025.

Currently in post-production, O.T.H.E.R. is produced by Radar Films’ Clément Miserez and Matthieu Warter. Umedia’s Bastien Sirodot and Cloé Garbay are associate producers.

The supporting...

Mediawan Group has acquired a majority stake in Hugo Selignac’s Chi-Fou-Mi, the thriving Paris-based outfit behind Cedric Jimenez’s “Bac Nord” which world premiered out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival.

The deal follows Mediawan & Leonine Studios’s joint acquisition of Drama Republic, a major U.K. TV production banner, which was announced the start of Cannes by Mediawan’s co-founder Pierre-Antoine Capton and Leonine Studios CEO Fred Kogel.

The acquisition of Chi-Fou-Mi underscores Mediawan’s drive to become a major purveyor of premium content; and will solidify Mediawan’s footing in the French film business.

Chi-Fou-Mi is a 10 year-old company boasting an access to A-list French talent and a track record with popular and ambitious French films such as Gilles Lellouche’s “Le Grand Bain,” Antonin Baudry’s Omar Sy starrer “Le chant du Loup,” Jeanne Herry’s “Pupille,” Romain Gavras’ “Le Monde est à toi” and...

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.

Mediawan has acquired a majority stake in Radar Films, the French production company behind “Belle and Sebastian,” one of France’s most successful family movie franchises.

Headed by Clement Miserez and Matthieu Warter, Radar Films has been producing French and English-language films, teaming up with France’s top studios, including Gaumont and Snd. Besides “Belle et Sebastien” which traveled to dozens of territories, Radar Films also produced “The Secret” with Jessica Biel, and “The Love Punch” with Pierce Brosnan and Emma Thompson.

With Mediawan as its new owner, Radar Films will aim at ramping up its English-language production input, said Miserez. The producer said the banner will also start making ambitious TV series for French and international audiences.

“The media industry is going through turbulent times, especially in France with the upcoming audiovisuel reform, so forging an alliance with Mediawan is a great opportunity for an independent production company like Radar Films,...

Alleluia

Director: Fabrice Du Welz

Writers: Fabrice Du Welz

Producer: Clément Miserez, Vincent Tavier, Matthieu Warter

U.S. Distributor: Rights Available

Cast: Laurent Lucas, Lola Duenas, Helena Noguerra

While he hasn’t released anything since 2008’s sorely underrated Vinyan, Belgian director Fabrice Du Welz has been busy. His first film since then, the Joey Starr led action thriller Colt 45, wrapped some time ago, and while we thought we’d see this released somewhere in 2013, it looks like 2014 should usher it into theaters. But even more exciting is that Welz is in post-production with Alleluia, which is meant to be the second chapter in his Ardennes trilogy, an opus kicked off by his delectably bizarre debut, 2004’s The Ordeal. This latest sees him reteam with everyone’s favorite star of weirdo French films, Laurent Lucas (who starred in The Ordeal), co-written and produced by Vincent Tavier, the man who wrote...