France TV Distribution Sells ‘Parliament’ Season 2 to U.S. Streamer Topic, Among Raft of Deals (EXCLUSIVE)

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Vivendi, the parent company of French pay TV banner Canal+ Group,has sees revenues rise by 3.3% to €2.29 billion ($2.52 billion) during the first quarter of 2023. Vivendi attributes the growth to all its subsidiaries, in particular Studiocanal, the film and TV production and distribution company of Canal+, whose revenues went up by 13.6% compared with the first quarter of 2022 driven by the success of several films, including the comedy “Alibi.com 2” and “John Wick 4.” Among the several high profile deals signed by the company during the first quarter, Canal+ inked an agreement with French telco Orange to acquire all shares of its pay TV package OCS, as well as Orange Studio, the film and series co-production subsidiary.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Leo Maidenberg’s Paris-based company Place du Marché Productions is developing a slate of French and international films and TV series with acclaimed talents, including Daphna Levin, the creator of the Israeli series “Euphoria,” as well as Sarah Kaminsky (“Raid Dingue”) and Leïla Sy (“Banlieusards”). Maidenberg, who launched Place du Marché in 2018 after a career in diplomacy and made his producing debut with Caroline Fourest’s politically charged action film “Sisters in Arms,” has teamed with Kim Younes at Elvie Productions on a pair of high concept Israeli series. The first title produced by the two banners is “The Truth,” a police thriller series co-written and directed by Levin, whose credits also include the original Israeli series “In Therapy.” Set in Tel Aviv, “The Truth” opens on the day of the final verdict for the most controversial murder case in Israel, 10 years after the incident which took place in a high school gym. That same day, a new murder happens in identical circumstances. Juvenile inspector Rachel Zohar, a student at the high school at the time of the first murder, must revisit her trauma to solve the case. Aurit Zamir (“Babysitter”) co-wrote the series with Levin.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Netflix has set the launch date for Part 3 of “Lupin,” its popular heist series starring Omar Sy, for Oct. 3. Louis Leterrier, who’s just been tapped to helm the next installment in the “Fast and Furious” franchise, is back in the director’s chair for the third part of “Lupin,” which will come more than two years after Part 2. As previously reported, the new season of “Lupin” started filming in the French capital in November 2021, so the launch comes a good deal of time after Part 2 debuted in June 2021. Sy is reprising his role as Assane Diop, a character inspired by the world-famous gentleman thief and master of disguise, Arsène Lupin. The cast will also bring back Ludivine Sagnier and Clotilde Hesme, among others.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent A flamboyant man who was once a sales clerk, singer, actor, sports impresario, business mogul and government minister, Bernard Tapie led a rollercoaster life wilder than most fictional characters depicted in pop culture, even those created by Martin Scorsese. No wonder that it took a decade for Tristan Seguela and Olivier Demangel to create and pen “Tapie,” a Netflix original series charting the swaggering man’s epic rise, from his blue-collar origins to his glorious days as a wealthy businessman and president of one of France’s biggest soccer clubs, Olympique de Marseille. The limited series tells intimate parts of his life, including his relationship with loved ones and business partners, as well as some of his setbacks and legal problems. Tapie died in 2021.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent In a bid to showcase the utility of NFT’s in cinema, the team behind Mounia Meddour’s (“Papicha”) Rome-premiering film “Houria” is launching a limited impact NFT collection. Meddour’s follow up to her Cesar-winning feature debut “Papicha,” “Houria” is still playing in theaters in France and was recently boarded by “CODA” Star Troy Kotsur who is now executive producer on the movie. Kotsur made history last year as the first Deaf man to take home an acting award at the Oscars.  The initiative, which is being engineered by the film’s producers Ink Connection and High Sea, as well as the banners MADworld and Lumiere, will allow for the creation of a series of NFT’s focusing on “Houria”‘s central themes — sign language and dance. Powered by blockchain technology, a portion of the NFT proceeds will be donated to the Paris-based non-profit org Femmes Sourdes Citoyennes et Solidaires (United Deaf Women Citizens).  

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Pixar will be back at the Cannes Film Festival on closing night (May 27) with the world premiere of their new feature “Elemental.”   Presented Out of Competition, the film will be released in theaters on June 16 in the U.S. and on June 21 in France.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent French director Catherine Corsini was meant to be the seventh female director in competition at the 72nd edition of Cannes with her film “Le Retour” (The Return). But her competition slot is on hold for now after news broke about several alleged inappropriate incidents during filming. The night before the press conference on April 13, Cannes chief Thierry Fremaux confirmed to the director that she would have a competition slot, but shortly before the start of the announcement, the festival’s administration board decided to hold off on including the title as part of the lineup. The delay came after the board discovered that Corsini was allegedly being accused of harassment by crew members, while other members of the crew had been allegedly been accused of inappropriate acts against two female actors, according to French reports. Fremaux told Variety the “administration board wished to gather more information about the situation around the film before taking a decision on whether to include the film in its Official Selection.”

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Netflix has swooped on “Vortex,” the event drama-fantasy series which recently launched on France Televisions and garnered stellar ratings. The limited series will be available on Netflix in 190 countries starting June 2. The mini-series was produced by Quad Drama, the banner behind “Women at War” and “The Bonfire of Destiny” — a pair of highly successful shows which were jointly commissioned by Netflix and TF1. Set in 2025, the show stars Sisley as Ludovic, the police captain in the French city of Brest who lost the love of his life, Melanie, 27 years prior in a tragic accident. 

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent One of France’s most beloved and long-running TV hosts, Arthur Essebag, is preparing to take his leading unscripted production banner Satisfaction into English-language markets with top partners, ranging from James Corden, Leo Pearlman, Ben Winston, Benjamin, Gabriel Turner, Richard Bacon to Elisabeth Murdoch. A few days after announcing its stake in Yes Yes Media, the company founded by Richard Bacon alongside Elisabeth Murdoch’s Sister Media, Satisfaction has formed a joint venture with Fulwell 73, the U.K.-based production company behind “The Late Late Show With James Corden.” The London-based outfit was founded in 2005 by Winston, Pearlman and Benjamin and Gabriel Turner. Corden was appointed a director in the company in 2017. Although the banner is headquartered in the U.K., as much as 70% of its turnover in 2020 came from the U.S. where Winston has produced the Grammy Awards, among other shows.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Rolling off a successful edition that premiered Charlotte Wells’ celebrated film “Aftersun” with Paul Mescal, Cannes’ Critics Week is back with an international lineup spanning South Korea and Malaysia to France and Jordan, among others. The Critics Week sidebar runs parallel to the Cannes Film Festival, and focuses on first and second films. Under the leadership of artistic director Ava Cahen since last year, the lineup will boast 11 feature films chosen from 1,000 submitted movies. Out of these 11 movies, seven are feature debuts and six are directed by women. Among them is “Ama Gloria,” directed by French helmer Marie Amachoukeli, who previously won Cannes’ Golden Camera for “Party Girl” which she co-directed with Claire Burger and Samuel Theis.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Once pitted againsteach other as rivals, streamers and broadcasters have become unlikely allies in the face of increased competition and economic pressure following the pandemic and the launch of more content viewing platforms.  Even in France, where Netflix was referred to as the “devil” by France Televisions president Delphine Ernotte Cunci in a 2019 interview, the tide has turned and a number of ambitious series have been jointly financed by both local broadcasters and streamers.  Examples of collaborations vary from period drama series such as “The Bonfire of Destiny” and “Women at War,” from TF1 and Netflix, to action series like Ziad Doueiri’s “Dark Hearts,” from  France Televisions and Amazon Prime Video. What do these shows have in common? They shot in French with local casts, and have the high budgets and production values that are typically allocated to international co-productions like “Marie Antoinette,” which shot in English and was produced with French and foreign TV partners. 

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Apple and Canal+ have signed a landmark deal that will bring Apple TV+ to all Canal+ subscribers in France, along with some other European territories. The deal is different from the aggregation agreements that Canal+ has in place with other streamers such as Disney+ and Netflix, whose offers are being accessible as part of the French pay TV operator’s bundle. Under the pact, Apple TV+ will be available at no extra cost to Canal+ subs from April 20. Canal+ customers can seamlessly and easily access the films and series of Apple TV+ directly on their existing set-top box — with no separate app or subscription necessary. This is a multi-territory agreement for France, French speaking-Switzerland, Czech Republic and Slovakia. 

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Iconic French fashion house Saint Laurent is launching a film production banner spearheaded by its artistic director Anthony Vaccarello. Named Saint Laurent Productions, the subsidiary is kicking off with a trio of films from renowned filmmakers, including a pair of shorts world premiering at Cannes: “Strange Way of Life” by Pedro Almodóvar, starring Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal. Vaccarello, a cinephile who became the artistic director of Saint Laurent in 2016, said launching this new division gives him “the opportunity to expand the vision I have for Saint Laurent through a medium that has more permanence than clothes.”

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent French actor Gerard Depardieu, who’s already indicted on rape and sexual assault charges in connection to a 2018 case, is now being accused of sexual misconduct by 13 women in an investigative report published by Mediapart. The accusations were made by female actors, make-up artists and production staff, some of whom spoke on the basis of anonymity, and allegedly occurred during the filming of 11 films released between 2004 and 2022. Mediapart said “one actress has just given her account to the French justice system.” None of these 13 women have taken legal action against Depardieu, according to a statement provided to Variety by the Paris prosecutor’s office.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Elsa Zylberstein (“Simone: Woman of the Century”) will star as the French feminist writer Simone de Beauvoir in a feature film that will be penned by Oscar-winning writer Christopher Hampton and directed by Anne Fontaine. Zylberstein’s Sonia Films will produce the film with Philippe Carcassone’s banner Cine@ and Master Movie, the production vehicle of Marco and Lola Pacchioni. Rather than a biopic, the movie will revolve around the passionate transatlantic romance between de Beauvoir and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Nelson Algren. Zylberstein has scooped the adaptation rights of de Beauvoir’s “Lettres à Nelson Algren” from Gallimard. Through those letters, the film will chart the pair’s affair, which spanned nearly two decades from 1947, in the aftermath of World War II, to 1964. Two-thirds of the movie will take place in Chicago, and the reminder will unfold in Paris.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Woody Allen’s “Coup de Chance,” the controversial filmmaker’s 50th movie, has found a French distributor. Metropolitan FilmExport, one of country’s biggest independent distributors, has come on board to release the movie in France. The release date has not yet been set, but sources close to the film say it could world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. Metropolitan FilmExport has never handled a movie directed by Allen before as it typically focuses on commercial U.S. movies such as the “Hunger Games” franchise and “Evil Dead Rises.” While Allen’s movies have also always been widely popular in France, his previous film “Rifkin’s Festival” sold under 100,000 tickets for Apollo Films after world premiering at the San Sebastian Festival. It was the director’s worst B.O. performance in France. Budgeted in the $20-million range, “Coup de Chance” was a pricey acquisition that not many French distributors could afford to gamble on.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Maïwenn’s historical drama, “Jeanne du Barry,” starring Johnny Depp as Louis XV, is slated to world premiere on opening night of the 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival, Variety has learned. The movie marks Depp’s acting comeback after a three-year hiatus following his long legal battle with ex-wife Amber Heard which culminated in a defamation trial won by Depp in December. Maïwenn’s sixth feature, the period movie revolves around the tumultuous relationship of the French king Louis XV and his lover, Jeanne du Barry (played by Maiwenn), whom he brought into the Versailles Palace to live near him even though she wasn’t a noble. Louis XV, who was nicknamed “the beloved,” ultimately died as an unpopular king after being accused of corruption. He reigned for 59 years, the longest in the history of France after that of Louis XIV. Depp barely spoke French before the start of filming so it will be interesting to see how he pulls it off without an accent.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Don’t expect Warner Bros. Discovery’s French original programming team to follow Netflix and Amazon Prime Video’s trail and chase teen audiences. Vera Peltekian, VP and head of streaming original production for the banner, says the standalone service’s bow in France “is on the roadmap” with a raft of “bold and director-driven Max originals targeting adult audiences in line with what the HBO brand is known for.” Peltekian, who previously worked 15 years at Canal + and played a major role in the pay TV group’s critically acclaimed series such as “The Returned,” “Spiral” and “Savages,” revealed that Warner Bros. Discovery’s first French original will be “The Mythomaniac of the Bataclan,” a four-part series inspired by the true story of a woman who conned her way into a victims’ association and quickly became one of its pillars.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent The crack of a bullwhip may soon echo around the Palais. Fifteen years after opening the Cannes Film Festival, the world’s most famous archeologist is expected to return to the Croisette, and follow in the footsteps of 2022’s “Top Gun: Maverick” as this edition’s splashy Hollywood blockbuster premiere. The festival has invited Disney’s “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” and it certainly boasts all the right ingredients to make for a glamorous and memorable moment. Executive produced by Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, this installment will reportedly be Harrison Ford’s last time playing the titular character. Ford stars opposite an attractive international cast, including Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Mads Mikkelsen, among others. James Mangold, the director of “Logan” and “Ford vs. Ferrari,” slides behind the camera on this one. Details of the film’s plot are being kept under wraps that are tighter than those of a mummy, but based on the trailer this one does find Dr. Jones facing off against former Nazis in a flashback sequence that uses de-aging technology to zap Ford back in time.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Eitan Mansuri, who attended Series Mania Festival to pitch season 2 of “No Man’s Land” (pictured), is re-teaming with award-winning Israeli director Samuel Maoz on his next film “It’s Good to Die For Your Country.” The project will mark Maoz’s follow up to “Foxtrot” and “Lebanon” which won Venice’s Silver and Golden Lion awards, respectively. Mansuri told Variety that “It’s Good to Die For Your Country” will be like the third opus of a trilogy on war, completing “Foxtrot” and “Lebanon.” “‘Lebanon’ was about being a soldier, ‘Foxtrot’ was about the implication of war on families and ‘It’s Good to Die For Your Country’ will be about trauma itself,” said Mansuri, whose produced Maoz’s last two movies.