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Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

The Dead Don’t Hurt (Viggo Mortensen)

Though The Dead Don’t Hurt gradually becomes Vivienne’s story as Holger disappears to fight, his presence still defines the film in strange ways. While Mortensen certainly looks younger than 65 and I’m not one of those people who busts out a calculator to determine what is or isn’t an appropriate age-gap relationship, Mortensen casting himself opposite Krieps in the romantic (even action hero) lead role he’s clearly too old for (beyond maybe financing requirements) reeks of ego. Maybe this wouldn’t matter as much if he dramatized these proceedings in a way more compelling than just its interesting conceptual ideas of immigrants in the west going through the passage of time together.

French directors Benoit Jacquot and Jacques Doillon (“The Little Gangster”) were summoned by police on July 1 for questioning in connection with complaints filed by actor Judith Godreche on Feb. 8.

The two directors were taken in custody by the Juvenile Protection Brigade, according to the Afp.

Godrèche lodged a rape complaint against Jacquot and accused him of “predation” and “violent rape of a minor under 15 years old committed by a person in authority.” She met Jacquot in 1986, when she was 14 years old (the director was then 39) on the set of his movie “Les Mendiants,” and began a relationship with him which went on for six years. She also starred in his 1990 film “La Desenchantée.” The offences were alleged to have taken place between 1986 and 1992. Jacquot has denied all of Godrèche’s accusations.

The director’s attorney, Julia Minkowski, told Variety that Benoît Jacquot “had requested to be heard since the beginning of the investigation.

When Blanche (Virginie Efira) and Gregoire (Melvil Poupaud) serendipitously meet at a summer house party, they fall into the kind of seemingly perfect love that you’d never believe was possible unless you had experienced it yourself. She’s a French literature teacher who has grown tired of waiting for her soulmate to arrive, and he’s the tall, handsome stranger who just so happens to be ready to discuss Camus and Molière for hours on end. They laugh at the same jokes, have earth-shattering sex, and create the kind of shared language that forms when a couple shares their most intimate experiences. It isn’t long before a summer of love leads to an engagement ring and a baby on the way.

The elegance with which “Just the Two of Us” director Valérie Donzelli shoots their whirlwind romance only makes it more jarring when, 20 minutes into the film, we...

A seemingly blissful union rapidly crumbles in Valérie Donzelli’s Just the Two of Us, a domestic abuse-drama presented as a harrowing-if-simplified psychological thriller from which escape seems near-hopeless. It’s impossible for Virginie Efira and Melvil Poupaud to give a bad performance; this drama certainly doesn’t break the streak. Yet Donzelli and Audrey Diwan’s black-and-white, overworked script is missing the kind of nuance each lead exudes in their physicality as they navigate a suffocating relationship where the smallest action or word can unleash a monster.

As one might expect, the monster in this case is Grégoire (Poupaud), a suave charmer who first romances Rose at a party. Blinded by love, she excuses some warning signs: Grégoire leaving with no explanation after their first night together and a dig at his general distaste for bangs when she sports them. After an unexpected pregnancy, the two get married and jet off to the countryside,...

The romantic thriller, “Just The Two Of Us”, directed by Valerie Donzelli, stars Virginie Efira and Melvil Poupaud, opening June 14, 2024 in a limited theatrical release:

“…when ‘Blanche’ (Efira) meets ‘Gregoire’ (Poupaud) at a party her twin sister ‘Rose’ drags her to, she thinks she has found ‘the one’.

“The ties that bind them grow quickly, and a passionate affair ensues. Rose has serious reservations about Gregoire, but against her better judgment, they decide to marry and move in together…”

Click the images to enlarge…...

Having sprinkled his films in the competition section twice before with Les chansons d’amour (2007) and Sorry Angel (2018), Christophe Honoré has also populated the fest with Un Certain Regard, Out of Comp and Directors’ Fortnight offerings. With Marcello Mio, the filmmaker reunites with his muse Chiara Mastroianni and they both honor who else but her famous actor dad and what is kinda meta level is that her mom Catherine Deneuve and other famous faces in Fabrice Luchini, Nicole Garcia, Benjamin Biolay, Melvil Poupaud all play version of themselves.

Gist: This is the story of a woman named Chiara. She is an actress, the daughter of Marcello Mastroianni and Catherine Deneuve.…...

Now a Cannes veteran, French filmmaker Christophe Honoré has returned to the Competition with the world premiere of Marcello Mio, his French-Italian comedy that stars longtime collaborator Chiara Mastroianni — who, in the film, adopts the persona and appearance of her late father, Marcello Mastroianni. The movie received applause that lasted a touch over eight minutes during its unveiling this evening.

Marcello Mio taps into the younger Mastroianni’s complex reality of being the daughter of cinema icons Marcello Mastroianni and Catherine Deneuve.

In a fantasy scenario, Chiara hits a crisis point and begins to dress, speak and breathe like her late father, the legendary star of such films as La Dolce Vita, 81/2 and Marriage Italian Style. Those around her, including Deneuve, Fabrice Luchini, Melvil Poupaud, Benjamin Biolay, Nicole Garica and Hugh Skinner, who also play part-real, part-fictionalized versions of themselves in Marcello Mio, begin to believe it and start to call her “Marcello.

Celebrities: they’re not just like us, exactly, but they’re human just the same. Which is why some of the current discourse around “nepo babies” must be a little wounding for showbiz scions nursing their own insecurities about their talent, their reputation and their place in the world — even if the prudent thing to do, from a PR perspective, is to openly check your privilege and move on. Yet whatever degree of sympathy one might feel for actor Chiara Mastroianni — the daughter of Catherine Deneuve and Marcello Mastroianni, a dazzling legacy to bear but perhaps not an easy one — largely evaporates by the end of “Marcello Mio,” a vastly indulgent but gossamer-weight bit of frippery from French writer-director Christophe Honoré, in which Mastroianni channels her late father to increasingly contrived comic effect.

So wink-wink it can barely see straight, so inside-baseball it’s practically buried under the pitcher’s mound,...

Of all the actors with claims to nepo baby aristocracy, few, if any, have the same pedigree as Chiara Mastroianni. An accomplished performer and winning star all on her own, the daughter of Catherine Deneuve and Marcello Mastroianni has that rare distinction of seeing both of her parents grace Cannes Film Festival posters, leaving a project that playfully interrogates that very heritage a near shoo-in for the festival spotlight. But that vaunted competition slot does little favors for Christophe Honoré’s slight and sketch-like “Marcello Mio,” which plays as an incisive photo-shoot concept in search of wider justification.

This fashion shoot concept isn’t hypothetical, as Honoré’s meta-movie doodle opens on the very same, finding Mastroianni decked out in full Anita Ekberg garb as she saunters into a pool before Paris’ Saint-Sulpice church reformatted as an ersatz Trevi Fountain. The visual folds in several layers, taking Marcello’s iconic turn in “La Dolce Vita,...

Maïwenn’s Jeanne du Barry is a work without a unifying thesis. Born Jeanne Bécu in 1743, Louis Xv’s favorite mistress (played as an adult by Maïwenn herself) was a courtesan who was elevated to a countess, and to the scandalized horror of the French court. At first, the film seems primed to deliver a send-up of courtly ritual and hypocritical noble decorum, à la Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette. But like the real Countess du Barry, it’s eventually caught up in the very pomp and splendor that it initially lampoons.

It’s in that initial, comical examination of court etiquette that Maïwenn’s film is at its strongest. When Jeanne, a courtesan favored by aristocrats who take her along to court, arrives at Versailles and is offered like livestock to Louis Xv (Johnny Depp), we see through her eyes how the palace has turned every single action into...

"Jeanne du Barry", set in France 1768, is directed by Maïwenn, starring Johnny Depp, Maïwenn, Melvil Poupaud and Pierre Richard, releasing May 2, 2024 in theaters:

“…the film follows the life of ‘Jeanne Bécu’ (Maïwenn), who was born as the illegitimate daughter of an impoverished seamstress in 1743…

“…and went on to rise through the Court of Louis Xv (Depp)...

"...to become his last official mistress…”

Click the images to enlarge…...

Johnny Depp has been on the longest hiatus of his career ever since making it in Hollywood. Even with his defamation case with Amber Heard having settled, fans wondered just when he would step in front of the camera again. That came at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, when Depp and director Maïwenn unveiled Jeanne du Barry, the actor’s first film since 2020’s Minimata. Now, Depp is giving due credit to his director for standing by his side and giving him the chance that even some of his closest collaborators were hesitant to.

Posting on Instagram, Depp shared a photo from a red carpet event for Jeanne du Barry – in which he plays Louis Xv – along with the following caption: “Endlessly grateful to the incomparable Maïwenn for choosing me as her King of France in ‘Jeanne du Barry’. Now playing across the UK & Ireland. Jd.X”

While we...

Bill Maher welcomed Katie Couric onto his “Club Random” podcast and passionately defended Woody Allen while the two discussed canceled artists in Hollywood. Maher said “I don’t think he committed that crime” in reference to Dylan Farrow’s molestation allegation against Allen, adding: “There was two police investigations that exonerated him.”

“There’s these actors who won’t work with him anymore and some of them made movies with him are saying, ‘I regret doing that.’ What a bunch of pussies!” Maher said. “First of all, it’s a very improbable crime that they’re accusing him of. Plainly, the other party had motivation and [was] vindictive.”

Maher referenced the HBO documentary “Allen v. Farrow” and said it was all from Mia Farrow’s point of view, alluding that it can’t fully be trusted as an unbiased account of what allegedly happened between Woody Allen and his adopted daughter,...

Iconic director Woody Allen may retire from his career, noting that the film industry is not appealing to him anymore.

“The business has changed, and not in an appealing way,” Allen told AirMail. All the romance of filmmaking is gone.”

Allen struggled to find a North American distributor for his most recent film, Coup de Chance. The French thriller/romance film, starring French actors Lou de Laâge and Melvil Poupaud, premiered at the Venice International Film Festival in September 2023.

On the red carpet, Allen was booed by people in attendance, including the press and fans. The film was not released in U.S. theaters after the HBO docuseries Allen v. Farrow aired. The docuseries covers the numerous sexual abuse allegations against Allen, including the incident between Allen, ex-partner Mia Farrow and Farrow’s adoptive daughter Soon Yi Previn.

Allen was also accused of sexual abuse by his stepdaughter, Dylan Farrow.

Vertical has unleashed a brand new U.S. trailer for the historical drama ‘Jeanne du Barry’ starring Johnny Depp.

The French-language film, set in the 18th century, tells the story of Jeanne Bécu (Maïwenn), the daughter of an impoverished seamstress who rose through the Court of King Louis Xv (played by Depp) and became his last official mistress.

Jeanne Vaubernier, a young working-class woman hungry for culture and pleasure, uses her intelligence and allure to climb the rungs of the social ladder one by one. She becomes the favourite of King Louis Xv who, unaware of her status as a courtesan, regains through her his appetite for life. They fall madly in love. Against all propriety and etiquette, Jeanne moves to Versailles, where her arrival scandalizes the court.

Directed by French actress and filmmaker Maïwenn (whose films include “DNA” and “My King”), the movie also stars Benjamin Lavernhe, Melvil Poupaud,...

"Jeanne du Barry", set in France 1768, is directed by Maïwenn, starring Johnny Depp, Maïwenn, Melvil Poupaud and Pierre Richard, releasing May 2, 2024 in theaters:

“…the film follows the life of ‘Jeanne Bécu’ (Maïwenn), who was born as the illegitimate daughter of an impoverished seamstress in 1743…

“…and went on to rise through the Court of Louis Xv (Depp)...

"...to become his last official mistress…”

Click the images to enlarge…...

"You're in danger, Madame." Vertical has unveiled an official US trailer for Maïwenn's Jeanne du Barry, which is finally getting a theatrical release in he US one full year after it premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival last May. It already opened in France the same week as its Cannes premiere, but hasn't shown up in the US until now. In this film, Jeanne Vaubernier, a young working-class woman hungry for culture and pleasure, uses her intelligence and her allure to climb the rungs of the social ladder one by one. She becomes the favorite of King Louis Xv who, unaware of her status as courtesan, regains through her his appetite for life. They fall madly in love. Against all propriety and etiquette, Jeanne moves to Versailles, where her arrival scandalizes the court... The film also stars Maïwenn as Jeanne, plus Johnny Depp as King Louis Xv, along with Benjamin Lavernhe,...

Fathom Events and Vertical Entertainment have released the official trailer for Jeanne du Barry, the period drama written, directed, and produced by Maïwenn and starring herself and Johnny Depp.

Jeanne du Barry follows Jeanne Vaubernier (Maïwenn), a working-class woman determined to climb the social ladder. She uses her charms to escape her impoverished life.

Her lover, the Comte du Barry (Melvil Poupaud), wishes to present her to King Louis Xv and orchestrates a meeting through the influential Duke of Richelieu (Pierre Richard).

The encounter goes far beyond his expectations, for it was love at first sight for the King and Jeanne. Through this ravishing courtesan, the king rediscovers his appetite for life and feels he can no longer live without her. Making Jeanne his last official mistress, scandal erupts as no one at Court will accept a girl from the streets into their rarified world.

The French-language film was written by Maïwenn,...

Fluff your powdered wig and fill your snuffbox because a trailer for French filmmaker Maïwenn’s Jeanne Du Barry is here to give you a front-row seat to one of history’s most notorious scandals. The lavish footage depicts Johnny Depp as Louis Xv and Maïwenn Besco as Jeanne Vaubernier, a woman willing to give a gloved middle finger to tradition to rise through society’s ranks. Decadent, scandalous, and filled with more drama than a season of Bridgerton, today’s Jeanne Du Barry trailer highlights Depp’s first significant feature since his public court battle with his ex-wife Amber Heard.

Here’s the official synopsis for Jeanne Du Barry:

“Jeanne du Barry follows Jeanne Vaubernier (Maïwenn), a working-class woman determined to climb the social ladder, using her charms to escape her impoverished life. Her lover, the Comte du Barry (Melvil Poupaud), wishes to present her to King Louis Xv...

Johnny Depp is back on the big screen with “Jeanne du Barry.”

Helmed by co-writer/director/producer/star Maïwenn, the 18th-century-set drama follows the ill-fated romance between King Louis Xv (Depp) and Jeanne Vaubernier (Maïwenn), a working-class woman determined to climb the social ladder. Jeanne’s lover, the Comte du Barry (Melvil Poupaud), presents her to King Louis Xv (Depp) through the influential Duke of Richelieu (Pierre Richard). The meeting turns into an affair, and Jeanne becomes the King’s last official mistress. Scandal erupts as no one at Court will accept a girl from the streets into their rarified world.

Benjamin Lavernhe and Pascal Greggory also star, with Pauline Pollmann portraying Marie-Antoinette in the feature that opened the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.

“Jeanne du Barry” was also written by Teddy Lussi-Modeste and Nicolas Livecchi. The film is produced by Pascal Caucheteux and Grégoire Sorlat.

The feature was acquired by Vertical...

Woody Allen’s Coup de Chance starts appropriately with a random encounter and finishes with an out-of-nowhere intervention. But what lies in between those moments of chance is tightly scripted and purposeful, with barely a scene or line out of place. The film is at once among Allen’s most economical works and one of his most free-spirited.

When Alain (Niels Schneider), a fiction writer, runs into Fanny (Lou de Laâge) on a Parisian street near the art auction house where the latter works, it’s a seemingly fleeting moment. Fanny seems charmed but not overly impacted by this encounter with Alain, a passing acquaintance from their time at the Lycée Français in New York. Slightly restless in her marriage to Jean (Melvil Poupaud), a financier whose one-percenter friends describe her as a “trophy wife,” Fanny sees no harm in reconnecting with Alain. You can imagine where this might go.

Of the many politically-tinged projects premiering at this year’s Series Mania, French thriller “In the Shadows” could very well claim the best pedigree.

While showrunner Pierre Schoeller has spent a career tracing his country’s corridors of power through films like “Versailles” and “The Minister,” he found a most opportune creative partner working with politician Edouard Philippe to adapt the latter’s 2011 novel.

Perhaps the name rings a bell. When Philippe published his eponymous novel more than a decade ago, he was a small city mayor running for a seat in France’s National Assembly. By the time he signed on to co-write this small screen adaptation in 2020, Philippe was coming off three years as French Prime Minister – while planting the seeds for an anticipated presidential run of his own in 2027.

Only don’t expect “In the Shadows” to mirror Philippe’s own ascension – or that of any one political figure,...

French public broadcaster France Televisions has commissioned a raft of new scripted shows, including “Lucky Luke,” an adaptation of the cult graphic novel, and “Rallye 82,” a 1982-set female-led racing show.

“Lucky Luke” is an adventure comedy directed by Benjamin Rocher and penned by Mathieu Leblanc and Thomas Mansuy, based on the “Lucky Luke” comicbook. The eight-part half-hour series is produced by Geraldine Gendre and Lionel Uzan at Federation Studios, and co-produced by Rémi Préchac and Julien Vallespi at Un pour tous productions, and Alban Lenoir at Homerun. Lenoir, the French star of Netflix’s action thriller series “Lost Bullet,” will play Lucky Luke.

“Rallye 82,” directed by Julien Lacombe (“Missions”), takes place during the racing championship in 1982, where Michele Mouton, the only female pilot, beats the odds and wins the race. The script was penned by Lacombe and Haiga Jappain. Producers are Raphael Rocher and Eric Laroche at Empreinte Digitale.

The...

Roll up, roll up for Part 2 of our Cannes Film Festival preview, this time with a focus on international, mainly non-English-language fare. If you didn’t catch Andreas’ English-language-focused Part 1, check it out.

As the fest basks in the warm glow of the Oscar wins for 2023 Palme d’Or winner Anatomy of a Fall and Grand Jury Prize winner The Zone of Interest, delegate general Thierry Frémaux and his team are furiously tying up the 2024 Official Selection.

With less than four weeks to go until the bulk of the 77th edition (running May 14-25) is revealed at the press conference in Paris on April 11, we’ve rounded up a host of the titles ready and in the running for a splash in either Official Selection or the main parallel sections of Directors’ Fortnight and Critics’ Week.

The registration deadline was March 15, with March 22 the official cut-off for submissions to arrive...

Exclusive: More citizens will head to the polls this year for elections than any other in history, and the political fever has reached Series Mania.

This year’s event in Lille, France contains four political dramas in competition — not surprising given almost 50% of the world will vote for new leaders in more than 64 elections (including the European Union), according to Time magazine.

“It is all things political in 2024,” said Leona Connell, Chief Commercial Officer at Newen Connect, the sales arm of TF1 Group’ owned French sales house’s Newen Studios that will representing two of the highest profile political titles at Series Mania, In the Shadows and 8 Months.

In the Shadows (Dans L’Ombre) comes from Versailles and Rembrandt director Pierre Schoeller, who adapted a novel from former French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe and Gilles Boyer, a political insider who served as Philippe’s advisor.

The series stars Swann Arlaud as...

David Thion, the French producer of Justine Triet’s best picture contender “Anatomy of a Fall,” is preparing a raft of projects helmed by daring female directors including Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet (“Anais in Love”) and Emily Atef (“More Than Ever”).

Speaking to Variety ahead of the Oscars, Thion said he and Marie-Ange Luciani, who also produced “Anatomy of a Fall,” have also signed Triet for her next movie, the topic of which hasn’t been decided yet.

“Justine has devoted herself fully to the awards campaign for ‘Anatomy of a Fall’ and she hasn’t had time to decide what her next film will be, but she has a few ideas,” Thion said. He added that Triet’s next film will likely be “mainly shot in French, but could have an Anglo-Saxon actress as the lead.”

Bourgeois-Tacquet, who made her feature debut with “Anais in Love,” which premiered at Cannes’ Critics Week,...

Jeanne Du Barry starring Johnny Depp (Photo Credit – IMDb)

The last film Johnny Depp starred in was W Eugene Smith’s Minamata. In 2022, the actor was busy with the court trial in a defamation case filed against his ex-wife, Amber Heard. The trial lasted six weeks, and Johnny won a defamation suit. Depp has been absent from movies since then. Well, his film Jeanne Du Barry is all set to release in theatres soon.

Jeanne Du Barry is cited as Johnny Depp’s comeback film after his trial ended. He has had no release for three years now. On the other hand, Amber Heard was last seen in Aquaman 2 (2023). Depp’s film was premiered during the opening of the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. The Depp starrer has not got a US release date. Read more details about the same below.

Jeanne Du Barry Cast

The film stars Johnny Depp as Louis Xv,...

Iceland’s Stockfish Film Festival has announced a new prize, the Eva Maria Daniels Award for Vital Filmmaking, which honors the legacy of the Icelandic filmmaker who died last year. With the support of Daniels’ partner Moritz Diller and son Henry, the festival will honor one standout producer or director in the shorts categories will receive the inaugural award commemorating her achievements and continued contributions to Iceland’s next wave of filmmakers. The prize includes a $1.5 million Icelandic krona award.

Daniels’ credits include “Reality” and “Joe Bell.” The 10th edition of the festival runs April 4-14.

“Eva’s approach to producing was to listen and support undeniable talent,” said her producing partner, Riva Marker, who will oversee the prize committee. “We will never know all the beautiful stories she would bring to audiences, but we’re honored to create an inaugural award endowed to storytellers that we believe Eva would have championed.

The Johnny Depp film “Jeanne du Barry” from director and star (and producer and co-writer) Maïwenn will open in U.S. theaters on May 2 as part of a special engagement via Fathom Events and distributor Vertical.

The film will open exclusively in more than 500 U.S. theaters on May 2, 2024, with the possibility that the film could run longer than its “limited” engagement if it’s a success. The first big theatrical release of May 2024 is 20th Century’s “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” which will command many more screens beginning May 10.

“Jeanne du Barry” was the opening night film at last year’s Cannes Film Festival and was a modest box office hit, grossing $13 million outside of the states. Vertical picked it up last June but has yet to release it here.

With more than 500 screens in tow, the movie will be the widest opening for Depp in the U.

The César Awards are always the biggest night of the year for French cinema, but the massive award season impact of “Anatomy of a Fall” ensured that this year’s event took on additional importance for Oscar watchers around the globe. When the 49th César Awards took place in Paris on Friday night, all eyes were on Justine Triet and her Palme d’Or-winning film.

Predictably, “Anatomy of a Fall” swept many of the night’s biggest categories. In addition to winning the top prize of Best Film, Triet was honored with Best Director and shared Best Screenplay with her partner Arthur Harari. Stars Sandra Hüller and Swann Arlaud also won Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor, respectively.

The night’s other big winner was Thomas Cailley’s “The Animal Kingdom,” which won awards for Cinematography, Visual Effects, Costume Design, and Sound.

Keep reading for a complete list of winners from the 2024 César Awards.

A first-look trailer has dropped for the historical drama ‘Jeanne du Barry’ starring Johnny Depp, and we have an exclusive look at both the trailer and these two new posters for the film.

The French-language film, set in the 18th century, tells the story of Jeanne Bécu (Maïwenn), the daughter of an impoverished seamstress who rose through the Court of King Louis Xv (played by Depp) and became his last official mistress.

Jeanne Vaubernier, a young working-class woman hungry for culture and pleasure, uses her intelligence and allure to climb the rungs of the social ladder one by one. She becomes the favourite of King Louis Xv who, unaware of her status as a courtesan, regains through her his appetite for life. They fall madly in love. Against all propriety and etiquette, Jeanne moves to Versailles, where her arrival scandalizes the court.

Directed by French actress and filmmaker Maïwenn (whose...

Streaming now in various virtual cinemas in new restorations, Éric Rohmer’s “Tales of the Four Seasons,” the last of his three major film cycles, offers a fresh chance to consider the methods of one of cinema’s most quietly perceptive artists. Compared to his “Six Moral Tales” and “Comedies and Proverbs,” films that probed the strident yet misplaced confidence of young people as they attempt to find their place in the world, the “Tales of the Four Seasons” found Rohmer—70 years old the year that the first film in the series, 1990’s A Tale of Springtime, premiered—turning his attentions to middle-aged characters.

Perhaps for that reason, this is the most narratively driven cycle in Rohmer’s oeuvre, focusing on characters who may still show flashes of impertinence but generally have a far more solid grasp of self than the pseudo-intellectuals and flighty dreamers of his earlier work. This...

Woody Allen’s Coup de Chance premiered at the Venice International Film Festival last September, and THR reports that MPI Media Group will release the movie in the U.S. on April 5th, followed by a Digital/VOD release on April 12th.

The film is Woody Allen’s 50th theatrically released movie and has already made the rounds in many European markets. The official synopsis reads: “Fanny and Jean have everything of the ideal couple: fulfilled in their professional life, they live in a magnificent apartment in the beautiful districts of Paris and seem to be in love as on the first day. But when Fanny crosses, by chance, Alain, a former high school friend, she is immediately capsized. They see each other again very quickly and get closer and closer.” The film stars Lou de Laâge (The Mad Woman’s Ball) as Fanny, Niels Schneider (Sybil) as Alain and...

Woody Allen’s latest film “Coup de Chance,” his 50th feature, is getting a U.S. release. The movie will be distributed by MPI Media Group, the company that has released Allen’s latest few films ever since allegations resurfaced that he sexually abused his adopted daughter Dylan Farrow.

“Coup de Chance” will open at the Quad Cinema in New York City on April 5 (other venues will be confirmed at a later date), followed by a VOD and digital release on April 12.

MPI Media Group previously released “A Rainy Day in New York” (2020) and “Rifkin’s Festival” (2022) in the U.S. “Rainy Day” was originally meant to be released through Allen’s deal with Amazon Studios, but Amazon ultimately canceled the deal when the abuse allegations resurfaced. (Allen won a legal settlement against Amazon.) Allen has been a persona-non-grata in Hollywood, but he’s continued to make movies in Europe.

“Coup de Chance...

Controversial director Woody Allen’s 50th film “Coup de Chance” is coming to U.S. theaters. MPI Media Group will release the movie on April 5 for North American markets, with a digital/VOD release on April 12.

The film, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival in September, drew both protests and an enthusiastic two-and-a-half minute standing ovation.

U.S. theatrical distributors have generally avoided Allen since the #MeToo movement resurfaced Dylan Farrow’s allegations of child molestation against him, and actors like Rebecca Hall, Timothée Chalamet and Greta Gerwig have expressed regret over working with him.

“Coup de Chance,” which translates to “stroke of luck,” stars Valerie Lemercier, Niels Schneider, Lou de Laage, Elsa Zylberstein and Melvil Poupaud in a tale of murder and intrigue that follows a beautiful couple living in Paris whose lives change when a former flame re-enters their orbit.

Variety’s chief film critic Owen Gleiberman...

Last week, The Hollywood Reporter reported that cinephiles were sharing “samizdat” links to Woody Allen’s latest film Coup de Chance from a French-to-Dutch-to-English translation, and New Yorkers were attending clandestine screenings at an East Village bar/event space. Today, THR can exclusively report that those who wish to see the 88-year-old’s latest project, which debuted at the Venice Film Festival in early September to (mostly) positive reviews, can do so without slinking around or needing secret codes.

MPI Media Group will release the picture, Allen’s 50th theatrically released feature film as a director, for North American markets on April 5, 2024. A digital/VOD release will follow on April 12.

The movie, shot in France in French, stars Lou de Laâge (Respire, The Mad Woman’s Ball) as a self-aware trophy wife who reconnects with an old chum from the Lycée Français in New York, played by Niels Schneider (Heartbeats,...

French actresss Judith Godrèche has filed an official police complaint against Jacques Doillon, accusing him of two counts of sexual assault in the 1980s when she was a minor.

News of the complaint came just one day after Godrèche revealed in an interview with Le Monde newspaper she had filed a complaint against director Benoît Jacquot for “rapes with violence of a minor less than 15-years-old”.

The Paris Prosecutor’s office has since confirmed to Deadline that a case has been opened.

Godrèche, who is now 51, lived with Jacquot for six years and appeared in his films The Beggars and The Disenchanted, before leaving him in her early 20s.

The actress says she was 14-years-old when the relationship began while the director was 40 and that she was “under his influence”. Jacquot has denied the accusations saying they were in a “loving” relationship.

The actress publicly made the accusations against Doillon...

Judith Godrèche, the French actor-turned-filmmaker who recently delivered the semi-autobiographical series “Icon of French Cinema,” has filed a complaint against director Jacques Doillon alleging rape, Variety has confirmed.

Godrèche filed the complaint on Feb. 6, the same day that she filed one against director Benoit Jacquot.

Interviewed by the local radio station France Inter, Godrèche alleged that she was raped twice by Doillon when she was 15 in the late 1980s. She claimed the sexual assault happened at the home that Doillon shared with his then partner Jane Birkin, during the shoot of “La fille de 15 ans.” Godrèche, who was at the time in a relationship with Jacquot, had the lead role in Doillon’s film and starred alongside Melvil Poupaud and Doillon himself. The movie came out in 1989.

“It was hallucinating. He got rid of the actor and took his place and all of the sudden he decided that there...

“I’m seeing it logged on Letterboxd. You know anything?”

This was the message I received from an industry friend. The topic was Woody Allen’s 50-somethingth directorial effort, Coup de Chance. Little did I know a network of file sharing and secret screenings were already underway, part of a series that (almost) included Timothée Chalamet.

The 88-year-old director’s latest and perhaps final film debuted at the Venice Film Festival out of competition in early September 2023 to solid reviews, and is currently boasting an 84 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. (The Hollywood Reporter’s critic Leslie Felperin was muted in her praise, calling it “competent but forgettable.”) The droll relationship drama with a soupçon of criminality has accrued $7.4 million in receipts, according to BoxOfficeMojo, with its top four markets being Italy, Spain, Russia and France.

Yet the people leaving their witty remarks on the popular cinephile social networking service Letterboxd were not doing so from overseas.

International television festival Series Mania unveiled its 2024 lineup Wednesday, with an impressive slate of world premieres that will grace the screens of Lille, France for the event running March 19-21.

Peacock’s Australia-set family drama Apples Never Fall, featuring Nyad Oscar nominee Annette Bening and Jurassic Park veteran Sam Neill as a dysfunctional couple, will screen in competition at year’s fest, as will MGM+’s Hotel Cocaine, from Narcos showrunner Chris Brancato, a crime thriller featuring The Shield star Michael Chiklis and set in the booming cocaine scene in Miami in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

So Long Marianne, a Canadian-Norwegian co-production from Crave and Norway’s Nrk, will also get its first screening in Lille. The series stars Oppenheimer supporting actor Alex Wolff as legendary singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen in a story of his turbulent relationship with Norwegian writer Marianne Ihlen (played by The Last Kingdom‘s Thea Sofie Loch Næss...

Lille-based Series Mania, Europe’s biggest TV festival and forum, has revealed its impressive 2024 main competition, which includes three U.S. streamer bows – from Peacock, and MGM+ and Disney+/HBO Europe world premieres.

The starry lineup features, for example, the much-anticipated new Liane Moriarty adaptation “Apples Never Fall” with Annette Bening as the matriarch who suddenly disappears, leaving her picture-perfect family in disarray. Currently celebrating Oscar nomination for “Nyad,” Bening is joined in the series be by Sam Neill and Alison Brie.

Alex Wolff, recently spotted in another Oscar hopeful “Oppenheimer,” will put on his deepest voice for “So Long, Marianne” about the tumultuous relationship between Leonard Cohen and Norwegian writer Marianne Ihlen, from Norway’s Nrk.

With Wolff currently set to attend, Zal Batmanglij – behind Netflix’s “The Oa” – “The Artist’s” Bérénice Bejo, “Gossip Girl” alumni Kelly Rutherford, novelist Douglas Kennedy and France’s Laurent Lafitte will also deliver masterclasses.

Justine Triet’s Oscar-nominated Anatomy of a Fall and Thomas Cailley’s fantasy drama The Animal Kingdom are the front runners for this year’s Cesar Awards, France’s equivalent to the Academy Awards. In nominations announced Wednesday, Anatomy picked up 11 Cesar noms and The Animal Kingdom 12. Both were nominated in the best film and best director categories.

Also nominated for best film are Jean-Baptiste Durand’s Junkyard Dog, All Your Faces from director Jeanne Herry and Cédric Kahn’s The Goldman Case.

France’s official Academy Award contender, Anh Hung Tran’s foodie period drama The Taste of Things, which missed out on an Oscar nom on Tuesday, picked up three Ceasar nominations, but none in the main categories.

German actress Sandra Hüller, a best actress nominee at this year’s Oscars for her starring turn in Anatomy of a Fall, is also up for the Cesar for best actress,...

Thomas Cailley’s fantasy drama The Animal Kingdom topped the nominations for France’s César Awards, which were announced in Paris on Wednesday.

The drama picked up 12 nominations with Justine Triet’s Oscar hopeful Anatomy Of A Fall coming in second with 11 nominations, followed by Jeanne Herry’s All Your Faces, which nine, and The Goldman Case, with eight.

Set in a world where human beings start transmuting into animals, The Animal Kingdom world premiered as the opening film of Cannes Un Certain Regard in 2023 and went on to make $8.5M at the box office last fall.

The Animal Kingdom and Anatomy of a Fall are competing in eight categories spanning Best Film, Director, Original Screenplay, Male Revelation, Editing, Sound, Cinematography and Production Design.

The high nomination count for Herry’s ensemble drama All Your Faces was thanks to the fact it dominated the Supporting Actress category with separate nominations for cast members Leila Bekhti,...

Thomas Cailley’s supernatural drama “The Animal Kingdom” and Justine Triet’s Palme d’Or winner “Anatomy of a Fall” are leading the race at the 49th Cesar Awards with 12 and 11 nominations, respectively.

Triet’s movie, which just garnered an impressive five Oscar nominations, and “The Animal Kingdom,” which opened at Cannes’ Un Certain Regard and won a prize, will vie for top Cesar awards including best director and film.

“The Animal Kingdom” is an ambitious film that marks a departure from France’s cinema tradition of social realism. It’s both a creature-filled dystopia and a father-and-son drama, weaving some contemporary concerns over the future of mankind. It’s produced by Pierre Guyard at Nord Ouest Films and co-produced by Artemis.

“Anatomy of a Fall,” meanwhile stars Sandra Hüller — the German actor nominated for Cesar, Oscar and BAFTA awards — as a novelist who is put on trial following the...

After keeping a fairly low profile as president of France’s leading commercial network TF1 Group for seven years, Gilles Pelisson, the discreet Harvard-educated executive, is ready for showtime. He has been propelled into the spotlight to promote French film and TV in his new role as president of Unifrance, succeeding Serge Toubiana last summer.

While participating in his first big gig for Unifrance at the Rendez-Vous showcase in Paris (which wraps Tuesday), Pelisson showed he had enough swagger to mingle with French stars and industry professionals alike, as well as deliver speeches about the prospects for French movies and TV series with both authority and conviction.

In the space of one week during the Rendez-Vous, he handed out the French Film Award to “By the Grace of God” actor Melvil Poupaud, and presented Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan with the best international co-production prize at the Lumiere Award on Monday.

Justine Triet’s Anatomy Of A Fall was named best film of the year at France’s Lumiere Awards on Monday evening.

Triet and co-writer Arthur Harari also took home the best screenplay award and lead Sandra Hüller earned the prize for best actress at the 29th edition of the awards, considered to be France’s version of the Golden Globes and voted on by international correspondents from 36 countries.

The courtroom drama about a woman on trial for her husband’s death in the French Alps was nominated in six categories, but Lumiere voters spread their votes across the board...

Justine Triet’s Anatomy Of A Fall continued its prize-winning run on Monday at France’s 29th Lumière Awards clinching Best Film and Best Screenplay, while its German star Sandra Hüller won Best Actress.

The Lumières fete the best films, performances and technical achievements of French cinema across 13 categories.

The French equivalent of the Golden Globes, they are voted on by the Académie des Lumières which is made up of France-based international journalists representing 36 countries.

In other key prizes, Thomas Cailley won Best Director for Cannes 2023 Un Certain Regard opener The Animal Kingdom, while Arieh Worthalter won Best Actor for his performance in Cédric Khan’s Cannes Directors’ Fortnight opener The Goldman Case.

Triet’s Cannes Palme d’Or winner Anatomy of a Fall, which was nominated in six Lumière categories, is on an award-winning streak.

The movie swept the board at the European Film Awards in Berlin last December...

A week after being appointed culture minister and slammed by an avalanche of criticism, famed politician Rachida Dati has officially entered the ring.

Dati went off-script and delivered an unfiltered speech — starting with “I’m not asking you to love me, what I want is to convince you” — to a room full of film and TV players on Thursday evening during a ceremony honoring actor Melvil Poupaud, who received the French Cinema Award.

While on stage, Dati said she will strive to democratize culture during her tenure.

“Culture in schools and civic sense go hand-in-hand. When you look at schools in certain areas which are ridden with problems, you’ll notice that it’s often places where culture has taken a backseat,” she said. Dati also spoke about her own relationship with culture, admitting she saw a movie in a cinema for the first time at the age of 21 but...

Brussels-based company Best Friend Forever has acquired international rights to Lenny and Harpo Guit’s new feature “Heads or Fails,” the duo’s follow-up to Sundance comedy “Mother Schmuckers.”

Now in post, “Heads or Fails” tells the story of Armande Pigeon, a queen of shenanigans in Brussels who struggles to make ends meet because she can’t stop gambling on everything, always ending up on the wrong side of luck. When she teams up with Ronnie one night, everything changes – they win it all. And when you hit a winning streak, you have to know when to stop.

Lenny and Harpo Guit’s previous film, “Mother Schmuckers,” premiered at Sundance in the Midnight section in 2021 and was critically lauded. Along with having directed numerous short films, they also have their own YouTube channel, Clubb Guitos.

“Heads or Fails” stars Maria Cavalier-Bazan, Axel Perin (“Mother Schmuckers”), Maxi Delmelle (“Mother Schmuckers”), Michael Zindel...

Flanked on either side by members of the country’s political and cultural elite, actor Melvil Poupaud claimed the French Cinema Award at a ceremony held at France’s Ministry of Culture on Thursday.

Awarded by publicly-funded film promotional organization Unifrance, the French Cinema prize is meant to honor those filmmakers, actors and producers that have helped Gallic cinema resonate on the global stage. Previous winners include Virginie Efira, Juliette Binoche, and Olivier Assayas.

Reflecting on his four decades in front of the lens – a winding path that kicked off at age 10 with a key role in Raúl Ruiz’s 1983 fantasy “City of Pirates,” and has since paired the star with local auteurs Justine Triet, Arnaud Desplechin, and Francois Ozon, as well global standouts like James Ivory, Xavier Dolan and the Wachowskis – Poupaud spoke in earnest and self-effacing terms about his winding career.

“Right from the start, I thought that...