French B.O. Surges by 33% During First Five Months of 2023, Driven by Spike in U.S. Releases, Standout French Fare

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent 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.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Vivendi, the parent company of Canal+ Group, has received the green light from the European Commission to proceed with the acquisition of Lagardère, the French media, publishing and travel retail conglomerate. This European Commission has given its approval under Vivendi’s two proposed commitments, starting with the sale of 100% of the share capital of its publishing group Editis, as well as the full sale of Gala magazine. Vivendi said it expects to close both deals by the end of October. It entered into exclusive negotiations to sell Editis to a subsidiary of Czech Media Invest (CMI) founded by Daniel Kretinsky, in March. With the acquisition of Lagardère group, Vivendi’s payroll will rise to 66,000 employees compared to 38,000 at the end of December 2022, with a stronger presence in key markets such as France, the U.K., Spain and the US.

Gaz Beadle's wife Emma McVey as been rushed into hospital just five months after having open heart surgery. The Geordie Shore star, 35, and his influencer wife had been on a family holiday to Corfu with their two young children, Chester, five, and Primrose, three, but have had to venture to hospital upon their return.Taking to Instagram on Friday, mum-of-two Emma opened up about her health woes with her 896K followers. In an intimate selfie snapped from her hospital bed, she can be seen hooked up to an intravenous drip.

The first five minutes of the upcoming Marvel television series Secret Invasion can now be watched online, but only if you have a password to the secret website!

Rafael Nadal is expected to stay out of the tennis court for five months after successfully undergoing arthroscopic surgery. The procedure was to check his left psoas muscle. “Hello, everyone.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Banijay Rights has closed a major sale on its French drama series “Serial Lover” to Spanish broadcaster Atresmedia. “Serial Lover” marks the debut series for Banijay France’s label Shine Fiction, which is co-producing with Amaury Fournial from Sibaro Films. Written by Alice Den Broek and directed by Fred Berthe, “Serial Lover”‘s synopsis bills the show as “the story of a shrewd man who lives many different lives – a pilot, a surgeon, a broker, a journalist; developing a new personality for every identity and deceiving experts in each field. Handsome, charming, and attentive, exhilarated by his power, the deception becomes an art form as he manipulates all those around him, especially women who he targets and steals from. How many women have fallen in this trap?”

Nobel Prize-winning writer Annie Ernaux has signed an open letter in support of Amber Heard, decrying “the vilification” and “ongoing online harassment” of the actress.

Jessica Kiang Apparently determined to prove herself francophone cinema’s most inexhaustible precious resource, Virginie Efira once again lights up the screen prior to burning it down in a role that, after Justine Triet’s “Sibyl,” Paul Verhoeven’s “Benedetta” and Rebecca Zlotowski’s “Other People’s Children,” is of a type she has come to define: the strong-willed, smart fortysomething woman chafing against her society’s conformist expectations. Delphine Deloget’s debut “All to Play For” features one of Efira’s more straightforward incarnations of this dramatic type — fewer sly kinks, no arch winks. But she is no less riveting and lovely for it and in Deloget’s confident, gentle grip, she turns in one of her most committed performances, all the more moving for its commitment to valorizing the kind of woman seldom treated on screen with such respect and compassion. 

Guns N’ Roses have kicked off an expansive 2023 world tour in Abu Dhabi, returning a handful of songs to the setlist for the first time in decades.The band played Etihad Arena in the United Arab Emirates capital on Thursday night (June 1). Included among the more than 30 songs they played were ‘Appetite for Destruction’ cut ‘Anything Goes’, breaking the song out for the first time since 1988.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent After being greeted with a seven-minute standing ovation on opening night of the Cannes Film Festival, Johnny Depp’s comeback movie “Jeanne du Barry,” directed by Maiwenn, has charmed French audiences after debuting in cinemas. The costume drama, which stars Depp as the French King Louis XV and marks his first leading role in three years, has been having a strong run at the French B.O., proving that the controversial star is still bankable. At least in France. The film was widely released by Le Pacte on 650 screens and has grossed nearly $4.1 million from more than 550,000 tickets sold in two weeks, according to Comscore France. Currently playing across 800 screens, the film got mixed reviews in Cannes, but still has the potential of selling up to 850,000 tickets (an estimated $6.4 million), according to Eric Marti at Comscore France.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent The colorful world of Michel Gondry, the Oscar-winning writer-director of “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” is the subject of an upcoming feature documentary represented worldwide by Reservoir Docs. Directed by François Nemeta, “Michel Gondry: Do it Yourself” is an 80-minute documentary shedding light on Gondry’s “inventive and unusual creative process,” from his first video clips to the shooting of his latest movie “The Book of Solutions” which recently opened at Cannes’ Directors Fortnight. “Michel Gondry: Do it Yourself” is produced by Olivier de Bannes at O2B Films, and Robin Acard at The Red Ceiling, and is co-produced by ARTE France.

Kim Kardashian recently got candid with cameras about the cameras, following a conversation reflecting on her nine month relationship with Saturday Night Live comedian, Pete Davidson. For some context, the celeb couple first got a liking for each other during Kim’s presenting stint on SNL back in October 2021. Fans will remember the now iconic Aladdin sketch, where the two locked lips, with Kim later revealing that was the first time she felt a spark.

Broadway box office overall held steady last week, even as the recent Tony Award nominations already seemed to lose some of their power to boost ticket sales. Some shows with nominations saw declines at the box office, from Good Night, Oscar and Some Like It Hot to Leopoldstadt and New York, New York.

The growing row around Cannes Palme d’Or winner Justine Triet’s politicized victory speech as she received the coveted award for courtroom drama Anatomy Of A Fall spilt into the French parliament on Tuesday.

It’s a wrap for the 2023 edition of the Cannes Film Festival, where French director Justine Triet’s courtroom thriller “Anatomy of a Fall” has won this year’s Palme d’Or for best film.

Rammstein frontman Till Lindemann fell off the stage at the band’s first concert of the year in Vilnius, Lithuania on Monday (May 22).At the end of the gig at Vingis Park, all six members of the German industrial metal band stood at the front of the stage to thank fans and wrap up the gig, as recorded in video footage.Seconds later, Lindemann fell into an opening behind him while most of the band members remained oblivious to what happened.The band appeared the look into the void a few seconds later, though it’s not known if Lindemann sustained any injuries.The band are due to continue their European this weekend for two shows at Helsinki’s Olympiastadion on Saturday (27) and Sunday (28).They will also perform shows in Munich, Madrid, Lisbon, Budapest, Berlin, Paris and more throughout the summer, before their close out at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels on August 4.

Johnny Depp Makes a Comeback (Kinda) Having scored a major victory after a Virginia court ruled in his favor in his defamation suit against ex-wife Amber Heard, Depp was hoping to use Cannes and the premiere of “Jeanne du Barry” as a launching pad for a return. And the results are … mixed. The crowd at the festival showered Depp with a seven-minute ovation on opening night.

for minutes of applause. So entrenched is this French farce that trade publications routinely time the euphoria and judge the response to the new films based on the length of the cheering at the Grand Théâtre Lumière. Cannes’ longest-ever roar? Guillermo del Toro’s “Pan’s Labyrinth,” which premiered there in 2006, at 22 minutes. This year’s fest is in full swing, and so is the ceaseless hand-slapping.Here are Cannes’ standing ovations so far, from triumphant to tepid.The most ecstatic response to a film so far at this year’s festival, which runs until May 27, was for Martin Scorsese’s latest drama. The historical movie from Apple and Paramount brings together two popular Scorsese stalwarts, Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro, plus last year’s Best Actor Oscar winner Brendan Fraser and Jesse Plemons.

Jennifer Lawrence is turning heads with her stunning look at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent French actor Marine Delterme has signed with WME and has joined the cast of Park Chan-Wook’s HBO spy series “The Sympathizer” alongside Robert Downey Jr. Delterme, who currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband Florian Zeller, the Oscar-winning director of “The Father,” is best known in France for her role in the long-running procedural series “Alice Nevers.” Delterme has also acted in Roland Joffe’s “Vatel,” Mike Figgis’ “Women and Men 2,” and Christian Duguay’s “Coco Chanel.” She also collaborated with directors such as Jean Luc Godard, Manuel Poirier, Benoît Delepine, Philippe Leguay, Raoul Ruiz,  Philippe Harrel, Cyril Collard, Cedrick Klapish, Caroline Champetier, Gerard Oury and Claude Berri.