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The black market for Cannes parties and screenings is alive and well, according to a list seen by Screendaily.

One of the most expensive offerings is a pair of tickets to Scarlett Johansson’s Eleanor The GreatUn Certain Regard premiere and after-party on May 20, which are being touted for $5,495 per person. A photo with Johansson is on offer for an extra $1,995.

The film’s distributor Sony Pictures Classics was unavailable for comment. However a festival spokesperson responded robustly.

“Tickets issued by the Festival de Cannes are free of charge and strictly prohibited from being sold. Any attempt to sell or...

The black market for Cannes parties and screenings is alive and well, according to a list seen by Screendaily.

One of the most expensive offerings is a pair of tickets to Scarlett Johansson’s Eleanor The GreatUn Certain Regard premiere and after-party on May 20, which are being touted for $5,495 per person. A photo with Johansson is on offer for an extra $1,995.

The film’s distributor Sony Pictures Classics was unavailable for comment. However a festival spokesperson responded robustly.

“Tickets issued by the Festival de Cannes are free of charge and strictly prohibited from being sold. Any attempt to sell or...

The 70th David di Donatello Awards, held at Rome’s Cinecittà Studios, marked a pivotal moment for Italian cinema as women filmmakers emerged at the forefront of the country’s most prestigious film honors. Maura Delpero’s Vermiglio dominated the evening, winning seven awards, while major honors were also claimed by Valeria Golino and Margherita Vicario, signaling a broad shift in creative leadership and recognition.

Delpero’s wartime drama, set in 1944 in an isolated Alpine village, earned the top prizes: Best Film and Best Director. She became the first woman to receive the directing award in the seven-decade history of the event. Only two women had previously taken the Best Film category. Vermiglio also collected awards for Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Sound, Casting, and Production. These achievements reflect both the artistic ambition of the film and its technical command across multiple disciplines.

The narrative of Vermiglio follows the disruption caused by...

Maura Delpero’s Vermiglio took home Best Film and Director at the 70th edition of Italy’s David di Donatello Awards on Wednesday evening, in an historic win for a female director.

Delpero is the first woman to win the David di Donatello Best Director prize in the history of the awards, and only the third female filmmaker to win Best Film.

The film picked up seven David di Donatellos in total which also included Best Original Screenplay, Casting, Producer, Cinematography and Sound.

Set in a remote mountain village in 1944, Vermiglio revolves around a family whose life is disrupted by the arrival of a deserted soldier. The feature world premiered in Venice where it won the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize and went on to be Italy’s 2025 Oscars submission.

It was an historically strong night for female directors.

Other big winners included Italian actress and singer-songwriter Margherita Vicario who won Best First Film,...

Exclusive: Pathé International will be launching sales at Cannes on Guillaume Canet’s new psychological thriller Karma, starring Oscar winner Marion Cotillard, three-time César nominee Denis Ménochet (Inglorious Basterds) and Goya winner Leonardo Sbaraglia (Pain and Glory).

Canet, who won a César for his Harlan Coben adaptation Tell No One in 2006, has written the script with Simon Jacquet and is directing the project, which is currently in production in Europe. Plot details remain under wraps but we understand Canet devised the main role for his wife and longtime screen collaborator Cotillard.

Luis Zahera (As Bestas) also joins but contrary to some online speculation Mark Ruffalo is not in the cast. Director of photography is Benoît Debie (Spring Breakers) while Laure Gardette serves as editor (Polisse).

The French-language film heralds from ascending French production company Iconoclast, which is also behind Romain Gavras’ starry action-comedy Sacrifice, and Canet’s label Caneo.

Delivery...

Netflix is experiencing a series of hits on its platform, with many releases becoming very popular. Since the beginning of the year, three titles have reached Netflix's Most Popular Lists.

One of its surprise hits is the French action thriller Ad Vitam. The series premiered on the platform on Jan. 10, 2025, and has been raking in major views since its release, dominating the non-English charts. The film's ongoing popularity led to Ad Vitam joining Netflix's Most Popular Non-English Movies list, per Tudum.

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The limited series is loosely based on a real story.

Ad Vitam joined the list with 56 million views, and 91.5 million hours viewed. The French action thriller's success might not end here because it's close to replacing No. 9 on the list, the 2022 Italian film My Name is Vendetta, which has only 400,000 views more than Ad Vitam.

Guillaume Nicloux, the prolific French director behind 2023 releases Lockdown Towerand The Baby and 2024’s The Divine Sarah Bernhardt, has launched production on Canary Islands-set thriller Mi Amor.

Le Pacte, which will launch sales at EFM, has boarded the film as co-producer and will handle world sales and French distribution.

Mi Amor stars Pom Klementieff, who plays the character Mantis inMarvel’s Avengers andGuardians Of The Galaxy franchises and also appears inMission Impossible 7 & 8, opposite veteran French actor Benoit Magimel.

The film, whose plot is being kept under wraps, is produced by François Kraus and Denis Pineau-Valencienne’s Paris-based Les Films du Kiosque.

The French crime thriller Ad Vitam, which currently sits atop the Netflixmovie charts, takes us on an action-packed journey through Paris complete with exciting chase scenes, government conspiracies, and a satisfying twist. Directed by Rodolphe Lauga, Ad Vitam follows Franck (Guillaume Canet), a disgraced government agent who's forced to reckon with his past after his apartment is ransacked and his pregnant wife Léo (Stéphane Caillard) is kidnapped. Both Franck and Léo were part of the Gign—an elite tactical unit within France's National Gendarmerie—but when Franck inadvertently intervenes in a covert government operation, the consequences are deadlier than he could have imagined. And the film's title, which translates to "for life" in Latin, is significant in more ways than one.

French-language action thriller Ad Vitam, starring Guillaume Canet, has entered Netflix’s all-time top ten for most popular non-English movies on its platform.

Per data collated by the streamer to coincide with the publication of its weekly top 10 charts, the movie has generated 54.5 million views since its release on January 10, in 93 countries including France, the U.S., Canada, Germany, Spain, the UK and Australia.

The achievement came as the movie clocked another 3.4M views over the past week, putting it in the No. 4 slot of this week’s chart.

Canet plays a former elite agent whose pregnant wife is kidnapped in an attack on their home by a mysterious group of armed men. As he embarks on a dangerous personal mission to get her back, his past catches up with him and he is plunged into a state affair that is beyond his control.

It marks a first major action...

In the last few years, Netflix has further expanded its slate with foreign titles that have proven to be extremely popular. Aside from the worldwide phenomenon series Squid Game and Money Heist, the streamer has released many popular movies, too, like 2023's Society of the Snow, 2019's The Platform, and 2024's Under Paris.

A new title that's making waves on the streaming service is Ad Vitam. The French action thriller debuted on Netflix on Jan. 10, 2025, and has been a huge hit ever since. Ad Vitam continued its dominance at the top of the non-English movie charts globally for a third week in a row, adding 8.4 million views, the equivalent of 13.7 million hours viewed for the week between Jan. 20 and Jan. 26, per Tudum.

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There's nothing people love more than a comeback story and Cameron Diaz proves that.

Spies were on the rise this week, with The Night Agentdebuting at No. 1 on the Top 10 English-language TV list (13.9 million views). Season 2 of the Gabriel Basso-starring action series hit the Top 10 in 90 countries, with audiences also continuing to catch up on Season 1.

Peter Sutherland wasn’t the only secret agent racking up views: Matt and Emily Reynolds (Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz) of Back in Actioncontinued their reign on the English-language film list, hitting No. 1 (46.8 million views) for the second week in a row, and Franck (Guillaume Canet) landed with France’s Ad Vitamat No. 1 on the non-English language films list (8.4 million views) for a third week. Audiences also caught up with Owen Hendricks (Noah Centineo) and The RecruitSeason 1 before Season 2 launches on Jan.

Netflix's latest movie, Ad Vitam, includes a small ensemble of talented French actors. Directed by Rodolphe Lauga, the Netflix international movie is currently the number one non-English film on the streaming platform. Ad Vitam follows Franck, a former member of the elite French tactical police, the Gign, as he is forced to delve into his past after his pregnant wife is kidnapped. While Ad Vitam uses a similar plotline that several films in the genre employ, it sets itself apart with its action and incredible performances from its cast.

Since most of the actors in Ad Vitam are French, they might not be familiar to an American audience, but they've featured in several French movies and TV Shows. The Netflix action movie is engaging from start to finish, with an intense storyline that makes audiences root for the primary protagonist. Although there's a lot to like about Ad Vitam,...

Ad Vitam has been climbing Netflix's charts, leaving some viewers confused by the film's title. The title of the movie is almost as mysterious as the film's plot, which follows a former police officer who has to save his wife from kidnappers. The chase sends him through France, and he has to use his officer skills to track down the officers while also avoiding being framed.

The French thriller's action-packed sequences and conspiracy-centered plot make the film's historically based name even more intriguing. The title comes from a mixture of ancient Rome and legal terms throughout history, which seems odd for a thriller. However, the meaning of Ad Vitam connects very closely to what happens in the movie and has a deeper meaning that some viewers might miss.

Ad Vitam ThrillerDramaCrimeAction

Release Date January 10, 2025Runtime 97 minutesCast Guillaume Canet, Alexis Manenti, Stéphane Caillard, Nassim Lyes, Zita Hanrot, Johan Heldenbergh, Etienne Guillou-Kervern...

The French action film “Ad Vitam” came out of nowhere to become the biggest movie on Netflix at the start of 2025.

“Ad Vitam” beat out a number of film classics and nostalgic movies to climb to the top of Netflix’s Top 10 ranking since it’s debut on Jan. 10. The film is certain to scratch the itch for action movie lovers – particularly those who adored Liam Neeson’s “Taken” franchise.

Here is what you need to know about “Ad Vitam” before you check it out for yourself.

What is ‘Ad Vitam’ about?

“Ad Vitam” follows a counterterrorism agent for the French national police called Gign who has fallen from grace right as he’s embroiled in a mission involving the kidnapping of his pregnant wife. Here’s the official synopsis of the film:

“After escaping an attempted murder, Franck Lazareff must find his wife Leo, who has been kidnapped by...

“The Substance” (Mubi) and “Flow” (Janus/Sideshow), two very independent specialized releases, add to their theatrical and awards successes with strong interest on home viewing.

“Wicked” (Universal), expecting even greater recognition repeats as #1 at both iTunes (ranking by transactions) and Fandango (by revenue) in its second week out. The studio, which like others rarely announces home video returns, said its first week out had $70 million in rentals and sales. They get 80 percent of this after a small carriage fee deduction, a much higher return than in theaters. This buttresses the claim of how vital PVOD is, even if its often early streaming release seems to intrude on theatrical play.

Netflix, meanwhile, underwent a wholesale turnover this week, with only three films listed last week still on their top 10. “Ad Vitam,” an original French thriller in the Liam Neeson-mold that follows a lone avenger saving a family member in danger,...

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When done with a modicum of proficiency, action movies are pure cinema. They are kinetic, ecstatic, and occasionally balletic. Whether we're watching hand-to-hand brawls, bullet-whizzing shootouts, or tire-squealing car chases, action cinema holds the potential to leave us gasping and cheering as stunt people (or combat-trained actors) strut their fearless stuff. And if the director is skilled enough to inventively storyboard, shot-by-chaotic-shot, the mayhem unfolding on the screen, your reward is nothing short of bliss.

While the action films of maestros like John Woo, Jackie Chan, and Walter Hill make life worth living, a true movie junkie can get their daily fix from a down-and-dirty formula flick laden with crudely executed punch-ups and twisted-metal set pieces. There is a nobility to this kind of filmmaking. In her vital essay "Trash, Art and the Movies," legendary film critic Pauline Kael wrote,...

Guillaume Canet makes like Bruce Willis and other past regular-guy-as-action-hero models in “Ad Vitam,” which he co-wrote. The entertaining Netflix concoction stars Canet as a Parisian ex-cop forcibly pulled into new perils connected to the shootout that got him sacked. Putting its hero through paces that embrace everything from parkour to parasailing, Rodolphe Lauga’s feature is not dull. But it is increasingly hard to take seriously, as the script veers between gritty thriller terrain to the kind of overscaled set-pieces more apt for James Bond.

Those elements’ failure to gel gets exacerbated by an awkward story structure whose midsection is a long, two-part flashback. The splashy yet vague end result feels like a hoped-for launch to a franchise that lacks the distinct character to become one — in trying to be too many things at once, it emerges a slippery composite of familiar genre concepts.

At the start, Franck Lazarev...

Netflix has continued to bring some incredibly popular action movies to streaming, and not just those from U.S. studios. Their new chart-topping release is the French movie Ad Vitam, which has already been compared to Liam Neeson’s Taken – even if its reviews have fallen a little short of that classic tale of skills and revenge. Having landed on the platform on January 10, the movie immediately overtook popular titles like Despicable Me and the Rush Hour trilogy to claim the number one spot easily.

Action movies have been the name of the game for many streamers in recent years, with movies from veterans like Van Damme and Statham charting high alongside new movies like Carry-On and Rebel Ridge. Now Ad Vitam has provided thrill-seekers with another blistering movie to usher them into a new year of movies. The action thriller is directed by Rodolphe Lauga, with Guillaume Canet starring as Franck,...

The central struggle of Netflix’s French action thriller, Ad Vitam, hinges upon the age-old question of whether the concept of nationalism equates loyalty to the state or to the ones who control the power dynamics of the state. While the execution of the theme left much to be desired due to a lackluster script, the performance by the ensemble cast was strong enough to keep the audience entertained.

Franck Lazarev Played By Guillaume Canet

French actor, director, and screenwriter Guillaume Canet has been active in the movie industry for over the last three decades and has starred in acclaimed movies like the crime noir Next Time, I’ll Aim for the Heart, the adventure drama titled The Beach, and the thrilling Tell No One, which was also directed by him.

In Ad Vitam, Guillaume Canet plays the lead role of former Gign Captain Franck Lazarev, whose quest to serve...

The French action thriller Ad Vitam, directed by Rodolphe Lauga, attempts to mix adrenaline with existential themes. The film, which stars Guillaume Canet as Franck, a former elite Gign officer, examines duty and family ties. The Latin word for “for life” in the title suggests an intellectual depth that the book often avoids.

When masked attackers kidnap Franck’s pregnant wife, Léo (Stéphane Caillard), the narrative begins, sending him on a bloody mission. But instead of a well-thought-out story, we get a rough outline of well-known plot points.

Franck feels guilty about a terrible event that ruined his job. This history is interesting to learn about, but it’s told through forced flashbacks. When does an action movie become more serious? This is the question it begs.

Léo represents vulnerability and power, consistent with larger societal themes about gender roles in action films. Even though she has trained, she often plays the damsel in trouble,...

Tom Cruise is considered the biggest action star working right now, and for good reason. He is in his 60s, he is still running as fast as some of the most brilliant athletes out there and performing the wildest vehicular stunts imaginable. And it doesn’t seem like he is in the mood to vacate that throne yet. But that doesn’t mean actors from all over the globe aren’t trying to live up to the standards he has set, especially in terms of doing their own stunts. Raymond Lam Fung knocked it out of the park in Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In. Dev Patel was excellent in Monkey Man. Emilio Sakraya took everyone’s breath away in Sixty Minutes. Jun Jong-seo surprised everyone in Ballerina. The work done by Alban Lenoir in the two Lost Bullet films are inspirational. Joe Taslim, Iko Uwais, Cecep Arif Rahman, Julie Estelle,...

“Ad Vitam” is a thriller movie directed by Rodolphe Lauga starring Guillaume Canet, with Stéphane Caillard and Nassim Lyes.

Netflix’s latest release, “Ad Vitam”, is a French thriller that attempts to balance high-octane action with a deep dive into the psyche of its protagonist. Directed by Rodolphe Lauga and starring Guillaume Canet, the film presents a familiar yet engaging narrative that should satisfy fans of the genre.

The story revolves around Franck Lazareff, a member of France’s elite Gign (National Gendarmerie Intervention Group). When his wife is kidnapped by a mysterious group seeking a specific key, Lazareff’s past comes back to haunt him. As he races against time to save his spouse, he becomes entangled in an international arms dealing conspiracy.

“Ad Vitam” distinguishes itself from typical Hollywood fare by taking a more measured approach to storytelling. The film’s structure, while not groundbreaking, proves effective. It...

Last year saw Netflix unleash several hugely popular, and critically acclaimed, action movies, including the gritty crime thriller Rebel Ridge, the brutal and bloody revenge epic The Shadow Strays, and the Christmas action outing Carry-On. And it looks like the streamer is all set to continue that success, with the upcoming action thriller Ad Vitam promising to be the next Taken. That’s right, the beloved Liam Neeson movie that kick-started the renowned actor’s aged action hero career.

Directed by Rodolphe Lauga, the French action thriller Ad Vitam stars Guillaume Canet as Franck, a man with a mysterious past who, after surviving a home invasion, must save his kidnapped wife while facing the deadly consequences of his painful past. The rest of the cast includes Stéphane Caillard, Nassim Lyes, Zita Hanrot, Alexis Manenti, Johan Heldenbergh, Etienne Guillou-Kervern, and Rayan Bouazza. Ad Vitam is all set to land on Netflix...

"You have four hours to bring me what we want." Netflix has unveiled an official trailer for a French action thriller film called Ad Vitam, directed by the camera operator turned filmmaker Rodolphe Lauga. The film features a screenplay co-written by Rodolphe Lauga and French actor Guillaume Canet, telling a story about a man trying to save his wife while tangled in a bigger conspiracy. After escaping from an attempted murder, Franck Lazarev must find his wife Léo, who has been kidnapped by a mysterious group of armed men. He is caught up by his past as a former member of the French Elite Intervention Squad (Gign) and pulled into a state affair far beyond his control. Starring Guillaume Canet as Franck (doing lots of running), Stéphane Caillard, Nassim Lyes, Zita Hanrot, Alexis Manenti, & Johan Heldenbergh. Yet another localized French film offering from Netflix - it does look entertaining but...

Harlen Coben’s Missing You comes to Netflix at the very start of 2025 – and here’s the trailer for the new Netflix production.

The Harlan Coben thriller is quickly becoming its own subgenre. So far, 12 of his high-octane, twisty novels have made their way to the screen. Among the highlights, Tell No One was adapted into a terrific French film of the same name in 2006, directed by Guillaume Canet and starring Francois Cluzet and Kristen Scott Thomas.

On television, The Five, Safe, Innocent, Just One Look, No Second Chance, The Stranger, The Woods, Gone For Good, Stay Close, Hold Me Tight and – most recently – Fool Me Once have all been adapted variously for Channel 5 and Netflix. It’s thanks to the huge success of Fool Me Once, which landed on Netflix last Christmas, that two more adaptations were commissioned.

The first is Missing You. The synopsis for which reads...

Netflix presented its first international showcase yesterday with a look at what is coming down down the pike. Below is a preview of what’s on deck for feature films. Of note, was the title announcement and treatment of the Japanese movie Bullet Train Explosion. Also made a official was Troll 2, the sequel to the streamer’s most watched non-English language film from Norway. Roar Uthaug returns to the director’s chair.

Also of note, the streamer dated the Mexican movie Los Dos Hemisferios de Lucca from Marina Chenillo for Jan. 31 next year.

Not made official by the streamer was a part two to their widely watched shark movie of 102.3M viewers, Under Paris, from director Xavier Gens and starring Oscar nominated The Artist actress, Bérénice Bejo.

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Netflix Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria announced the slate at...

1792 was a turbulent time in Paris. As the French Revolution raged outside the dilapidated walls of the Tour du Temple, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette faced an uncertain future behind those walls. Once the most powerful monarchs in Europe, ruling over the opulent court at Versailles, they had been deposed and cast into an isolated prison to await their fate.

Director Gianluca Jodice’s historical drama “The Flood” shines a light on this difficult period in the lives of the hapless royal couple. Focusing on their imprisonment in the dreary Tower ahead of their executions, the film is based on accounts from the journal of Louis’ valet, Jean-Baptiste Cléry, played in the film by Fabrizio Rongione.

Gone are the lavish parties and designer dresses of Versailles. In their dank cell in the Tower, Louis (Guillaume Canet) and Marie Antoinette (Mélanie Laurent) struggle to adjust to their new circumstances with dignity.

“Where do things truly start?” wonders the narrator of Emmanuel Mouret’s relentlessly middlebrow romantic comedy Trois Amies, a story of three women and their relationships that never feels like it’s ever going to end. Though it lasts just under two hours, it feels as bright and breezy as a flight from Newark to Singapore, spinning a complicated web of emotional intrigue that, finally, seems to go on and on just for the sake of it.

The French like these kinds of films, and their big-name directors stuff them with their equally famous friends, leading to waffly ensemble pieces that can be as endearingly cheerful as Julie Delpy’s family memoir Skylab (2011) or as insufferable as Guillaume Canet’s Big Chill ripoff Little White Lies (2011). Trois Amies sits somewhere, lumpenly, in the middle, and it’s hard to imagine what the Venice Film Festival programmers were thinking when they...

Akiplėša (Toxic), the feature debut from Lithuanian writer and director Saulė Bliuvaitė that explores the human body and mysterious model agencies, is the winner of the Locarno Film Festival’s 2024 international competition, which was honored with the Pardo d’Oro, or Golden Leopard, in the Swiss town on Saturday. Locarno77 organizers called the movie “an incisive portrayal of teenage girls and the crushing expectations imposed upon them.”

Meanwhile, the special jury prize went to Iraq-born Austrian auteur Kurdwin Ayub for her sophomore fiction feature Mond (Moon). The film follows former martial artist Sarah who leaves Austria to train three sisters from a wealthy Jordanian family. “It’s all about sisters, no matter where they come from, and about cages, no matter where they are,” according to Ayub.

Lithuania, which has a population of about three million people but was represented by two features in this year’s Locarno international competition,...

Alfonso Cuarn's 2013 thriller Gravity had audiences at the edge of their seats, gripped by the human drama and visual feast. Cuarn revealed the film almost failed to launch at one point due to its ambitious (and expensive) concept.

Director Alfonso Cuarn recalled his career's biggest breakthroughs while hosting a masterclass session at the Locarno Film Festival. Deadline reported a highlight of that segment was his exposition on Gravity, the 2013 space thriller starring George Clooney and Sandra Bullock; Cuarn said technical and financial hurdles stalled the film's production, and industry colleagues even suggested the project was better off shelved. "[David] Fincher told us to forget about it, there's no tech, wait 6 years," he confirmed. "And he wasn't wrong. James Cameron told us how we could do it but that was a 400 million dollar film. We told him only you can do that. And he said yeah you're right. So we developed our own way.

Before the groundbreaking, visually stunning space thriller “Gravity” won Alfonso Cuarón his first Academy Award for Best Director, it was just an idea the filmmaker and his son banged out hoping to scrounge up some money from studios. As reported by Deadline, this weekend, prior to receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award at Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland, Cuarón participated in the latest session of the masterclass series held there where he discussed the fallout from “Children of Men” that led to him making “Gravity,” as well as the technical and financial challenges he faced along the way.

“After ‘Children of Men,’ which was a complete commercial flop ($70 million worldwide on a $76 million budget), the appetite to work with me plummeted,” Cuarón said. “So I started writing and developing a film with my son. I started prepping and the cast featured Charlotte Gainsbourg and Guillaume Canet. It was about a road...

Alfonso Cuarón was reflective but playful this afternoon as he headlined the latest session in the Locarno Film Festival’s popular masterclass series.

The discussion was mostly geared to discuss Cuarón’s origins and most successful projects, all of which he has discussed at length many times before. The four-time Oscar winner did, however, give some insight into projects he has yet to get off the ground.

“My aspiration is to one day do a horror film,” he told the packed crowd at the stylish outdoor Spazio Cinema in Locarno.

“I love Rosemary’s Baby, and the other Polanski films, and films like The Babadook. They’re so grounded in reality and in character so I love those,” he said. “As a spectator, I have a wider taste but anything I feel I could do would need to be more grounded. I’ve been trying to write something like that, but somehow,...

The court of Louis XVI is stripped to a faded, festering husk of itself in “The Flood,” a stark study of the king’s last days in which the luxurious trappings of French monarchy disappear before our eyes — until only its literal architecture remains. An impressively severe second feature by Italian director Gianluca Jodice, this is a brisk rejoinder to past cinematic portraits of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette that have rendered even their downfall in the most lavish way possible.

Such spectacle can have its own ironic purpose, as with the pointed whipped-cream excess of Sofia Coppola’s 2006 vision. But here, as played by Guillaume Canet and a blistering Mélanie Laurent, the deposed, imprisoned monarchs are mocked by whatever finery they’ve held onto: Looking shrunken and freeze-dried in their dirtied robes and increasingly unkempt wigs, they’re dead well ahead of their date with the guillotine. A rather...

Mélanie Laurent is Marie Antoinette and Guillaume Canet her husband Louis XVI in Italian director Gianluca Jodice’s Le Déluge (The Flood), which opened the 77th edition of the Locarno Film Festival on Wednesday night in the Swiss town’s Piazza Grande, which seats 8,000 people during the fest.

On Thursday afternoon, the two stars, along with their director, met members of the press to discuss the movie, which is set in 1792 when the two main characters and their children were arrested and imprisoned in a chateau in Paris, awaiting their trial.

THR‘s Locarno review called the movie “an intriguing palace drama chronicling the last days of France’s ultimate royal couple,” also highlighting that “nuanced performances from both Canet and Laurent help to make the famous couple more than mere caricatures.”

The stars on Thursday shared how they got into their characters and their mindset. Actress-writer-director Laurent (Inglourious Basterds,...

The famous French saying, “Après moi, le déluge” (“After me, the flood”) has often been attributed to Louis Xv, who used it to express his total disinterest in what would happen to the world after his own demise. If things fell apart, well, too bad. And yet it’s the king’s own grandson, Louis XVI, who was ousted from power during the French Revolution and died on the guillotine, to whom the quote is most applicable. His death, as well as that of his wife, Marie-Antoinette, marked the end of the monarchy and the height of the Reign of Terror. It was also the start of one of the first modern democracies, with all its grandeurs and flaws.

The unpleasant final days of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette are the subject of The Flood (Le Déluge), by Italian director Gianluca Jodice (The Bad Poet), who focuses solely on the period...

Founded in 1946, Switzerland’s Locarno Film Festival is one of the world’s longest-running film festivals, known for its adventurous programming, exciting retrospectives, and nightly open-air screenings in the Piazza Grande, capable of seating 8,000 spectators. The latter is by no means the only screening spot, but it’s the location most associated with the festival.

Hosting world premieres and special screenings of highlights from Cannes, SXSW, and other early-year festivals, this year’s Piazza Grande selection includes the launch of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette portrait “The Flood,” starring Guillaume Canet and Mélanie Laurent; Bérénice Béjo-led thriller “Mexico 86”; Mohammad Rasoulof’s Cannes prizewinner “The Seed of the Sacred Fig”; actor Paz Vega’s directorial debut “Rita”; and the world premiere of Tarsem Singh’s restored recut of “The Fall.”

The Piazza Grande often showcases more mainstream fare, but Locarno has always prided itself on providing a less hostile...

Locarno is getting ready for a flood – in more than one sense! The 77th edition of the Locarno Film Festival is promising a veritable flood of arthouse movies. And it will open on Wednesday night with the world premiere of The Flood, which will take the 8,000-strong audience of the Swiss town’s Piazza Grande on a journey into French history.

Italian director and co-writer Gianluca Jodice’s Le Déluge (The Flood) features Mélanie Laurent and Guillaume Canet as none other than Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI. But the film is set in 1792 when the two and their children were arrested and imprisoned in a chateau in Paris, awaiting their trial.

The Locarno audience is in for a double treat. In addition to getting to enjoy the world premiere in a gorgeous setting, it will also see the two French stars of the movie receiving the Excellence Award Davide Campari...

Switzerland’s Locarno Film Festival returns this week with what is perhaps the strongest lineup festival director Giona A. Nazzaro has conjured up during his short but impactful four-year tenure. Across the festival’s official competitions, you can find new works by arthouse leaders like Hong Sang-soo, Wang Bing, Radu Jude, and Ben Rivers — all world premieres. Hollywood will also be present on the Piazza Grande with an expansive retrospective titled The Lady with the Torch set to be mounted at the fest to celebrate the centennial of Columbia Pictures.

Neapolitan filmmaker Gianluca Jodice’s latest feature The Flood, a historical drama about the last days of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette’s reign opens the festival on August 7. The film stars Mélanie Laurent and Guillaume Canet, who will be handed one of the festival’s career achievement awards. The festival will also honor Jane Campion, Shah Rukh Khan, Alfonso Cuarón,...

New films from well-known auteurs such as Hong Sang-soo, Wang Bing and Ben Rivers will compete for the Golden Leopard against potential discoveries by newcomers and lesser known helmers in a competition that Locarno Film Festival artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro has called “a mosaic that reflects the multiple forms of contemporary cinema.”

Interestingly, all of the four first works in the 17-title competition are directed by women.

Nazzaro spoke to Variety about his choices for what looks like his most ambitious edition.

Talk to me about your opener, Italian director Gianluca Iodice’s “Le déluge” on the last days of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette before their execution, with France’s Mélanie Laurent and Guillaume Canet, who will be honored.

That was a no-brainer. It’s a hotly anticipated film, the second work of an Italian director who made a strong debut with a very personal and powerful film about [Italian protofascist poet] Gabriele d’Annunzio.

Taking place August 7-17, the official selection for the 77th Locarno Film Festival has been unveiled, featuring a stellar-looking slate of highly anticipated films. Highlights include Hong Sangsoo’s second feature of the year, By the Stream, starring Kim Minhee, Kwon Haehyo, and Cho Yunhee; Ramon Zürcher’s The Sparrow in the Chimney, Wang Bing’s second part of his Youth trilogy, Youth (Hard Times), as well as new films by Radu Jude, Bertrand Mandico, Courtney Stephens, Ben Rivers, Gürcan Keltek, Denis Côté, Kevin Jerome Everson, Fabrice Du Welz (featuring Abel Ferrara!), and many more. Also of particular note is the world premiere of Tarsem Singh’s restored cut of The Fall, which features a slightly different edit as he recently noted.

Giona A. Nazzaro, Artistic Director of the Locarno Film Festival said, “We are very excited and happy with our selection for Locarno’s 77th edition, which we believe...

The Locarno Film Festival (August 7-17) has revealed the line-up for its 77th edition, with directors including Hong Sangsoo, Wang Bing and Ben Rivers world premiering their latest films in its international competition.

Playing out of competition at Locarno are world premieres from directors including Radu Jude, Fabrice du Welz, Aislinn Clarke, Bertrand Mandico, and Marco Tullio Giordana. Locarno’s famed Piazza Grande screenings include world premieres from Paz Vega, César Díaz and Gianluca Jodice.

Locarno’s international competition comprises 17 films, all of them world premieres, which will vie for the coveted Golden Leopard awards.

Scroll down for full line-up...

Locarno has revealed this year’s official selection.

Known auteurs Hong Sang-soo (“By the Stream”) and Wang Bing (“Youth (Hard Times)”) will now battle it out in the official selection, which will welcome 17 world premieres. Italy will be represented by Sara Fgaier’s “Sulla Terra Leggeri” and “Luce,” directed by Silvia Luzi and Luca Bellino. Ala Eddine Slim’s “Agora” will also be shown, as well as Ben Rivers’ “Bogancloch,” “Cent Mille Milliards” by Virgil Vernier and Saulė Bliuvaitė’s “Toxic.”

“We are very excited and happy with our selection, which we believe represents the best of contemporary filmmaking. We have taken special care in highlighting those works that, while broadening the possibilities of cinema, are also consciously trying to spark a more meaningful conversation with the audience,” stated artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro, adding that the fest “continues to offer itself up as a platform for intersectional dialogue.”

The...

Switzerland’s Locarno Film Festival will debut 17 world premieres, including new works by Hong Sang-soo and Wang Bing, as part of its 2024 competition program. This year’s event runs from August 7 – 17.

The festival announced its competition lineups this morning. The Hong Sang-soo feature is titled Suyoocheon (By The Stream) and stars Kim Minhee, Kwon Haehyo, and Cho Yunhee. The Wang Bing feature is a France, Luxembourg, and Netherlands co-production titled Hard Times. Scroll down to see the full Locarno competition lineup, which also includes new titles from Ben Rivers, Mar Coll, and Christoph Hochhäusler.

The festival today also announced that French acting veterans Mélanie Laurent and Guillaume Canet will receive the event’s honorary Excellence Award Davide Campari at the opening ceremony on August 7. Previous recipients of the award include Riz Ahmed and Aaron Taylor Johnson.

Locarno’s separate Piazza Grande lineup features 18 titles, including Mohammad Rasoulof’s The Seed of the Sacred Fig,...

The Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland has unveiled an eclectic lineup for its 77th edition, taking place Aug. 7-17. The fest will screen 225 total films, including 104 world premieres, five international premieres and some debut features, including new films from such directors as Hong Sang-soo, Spanish actress Paz Vega and Radu Jude. Gianluca Jodice’s Le Déluge, starring Mélanie Laurent and Guillaume Canet, will also world premiere and open the fest, with Locarno on Wednesday unveiling that the two French stars will receive the Excellence Award Davide Campari on the fest’s opening night.

Beyond new fare, some of this season’s film festival favorites and classics will screen in Locarno’s main Piazza Grande section, taking place on the town’s main square set up with 8,000 seats. Films to be screened include Cannes hits such as Laetitia Dosch’s Dog on Trial, Mohammad Rasoulof’s The Seed of the Sacred Fig,...

Brie Larson, Katie Holmes, Bo Derek, Harvey Keitel, Kate Beckinsale, John David Washington, Matt Bomer, and Colman Domingo are among the robust contingent of Hollywood stars set to disembark on the island of Sardinia for the upcoming seventh edition of the Filming Italy Sardegna Festival.

The event, which kicks off Italy’s summer moviegoing season and combines film and TV, unspools June 20-23 in the Forte Village resort near Cagliari, capital of Sardegna (Sardinia in English). This year, the festival has upped its game making “a major effort to attract talents,” notes Tiziana Rocca, the marketing guru and former Taormina Film Festival chief who launched the Sardinia event seven years ago.

More than 70 international and italian titles comprising feature films, TV series, docs and shorts in a wide range of genres will be screening at the fest. Local premiers include Netflix’s Japanese anime film “The Imaginary” which will drop...

The French box office bounced back in May after an April plunge to reach 15.6 million admissions, up 13.5% from the same month last year.

Ticket sales year on year from January through May are down by 11.6% compared to the same period in 2023 after a slow start to the year and admissions to French cinemas falling by 35.5% in what was an abysmal April.

However, the June-May total of 171 million admissions is equal to the same period year on year. More was merrier for a month when 74 new films were released compared to 63 in 2023.

The renewed May momentum was mostly due to local-language phenomenon A Little Something Extra,...

Exclusive: French film industry veteran Nicolas Royer, who was line and executive producer on Coralie Fargeat’s Cannes buzz title The Substance, has boarded Catherine Hardwicke’s upcoming feature A French Pursuit, starring Toni Collette.

The production, which is remake of Caroline Vignal’s 2020 French hit My Donkey, My Lover & I (Antoinette Dans Les Cévennes), starring Laura Calamy, is due to shoot in the Cévennes region in south-central France this summer.

Royer will line and executive produce the movie, which is lead produced by Christopher Simon at New Sparta Productions and Collette under her Vocab Films banner.

The new production will be first official gig for Royer’s company Voulez-Vous Production Services, which he created in 2023 to build on his work on The Substance.

Royer was line and executive producer on the body horror, lead produced by the UK’s Working Title and starring Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley and Dennis Quaid.

“Emilia Pérez,” a Spanish-language musical drama starring Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gomez and Karla Sofía Gascón, has earned the biggest standing ovation of this year’s Cannes Film Festival so far.

Gomez wiped away tears as the Palais clapped for a full nine minutes, accompanied by plenty of hooting, whistling and cheering. During the standing ovation, director Jacques Audiard waved his hat at the balcony as stars Saldaña and Édgar Ramírez shared an emotional hug. There was huge applause for Gascón, who stars in the film as a drug cartel leader who seeks gender-affirming surgery.

In the film, from Palme d’Or winner Audiard, Saldaña stars as Rita, an “overqualified and undervalued” lawyer, whose firm is more inclined to help criminals than seek justice. She finds an unexpected way out when a feared drug cartel leader Manitas (Gascón) recruits her to aid him in surreptitiously completing a sex change operation to...

Studiocanal and Editions Albert René have signed an exclusive development agreement for the fifth live action movie inspired by the adventures of French comic strip hero Asterix.

The deal comes as French publishing house Éditions Albert René marks the 65th anniversary of the creation of the plucky Gaul warrior Asterix and his sidekick Obelix by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo in 1959.

Since then, 400 million Asterix books in 130 languages and dialects have sold worldwide, with 40 albums of Asterix adventures published since 1961.

The Asterix & Obelix comic books are embedded in French culture and have inspired five live-action films to date: Claude Zidi’s Asterix & Obelix Take On Caesar (1999), Alain Chabat’s Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra (2002), Frédéric Forestier and Thomas Langmann’s Asterix At The Olympic Games (2008), Laurent Tirard’s Asterix & Obelix: God Save Britannia (2012) and Guillaume Canet’s Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom (2023).

They have had mixed fortunes...

Production has begun in Paris, France on Netflix’s French-language action thriller Ad Vitam starring Guillaume Canet.

Filming is taking place across the capital and its suburbs, including Versailles, from April 8 to June 20.

Ad Vitam follows a man who, after narrowly escaping an attempted murder, gets caught up in his past while trying to find his kidnapped wife. Other cast include Stéphane Caillard, Nassim Lyes, Zita Hanrot and Alexis Manenti.

Canet is also a producer, along with Cabanes’ Jean Cottin, and co-wrote the film with its director Rodolphe Lauga in association with David Corona.

It will be released on Netflix...