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Rolling off their partnership on Studiocanal’s “‘Mayhem!” (“Farang”) and Netflix hit movie “Watch Under Paris,” popular genre filmmaker Xavier Gens (“Gangs of London”) is joining forces with Vincent Roget and Eric Lavaine’s banner Sameplayer to launch a new production company.

Named Good Players, the Paris-based company will aim at developing and producing action, thriller, aventure, fantasy and horror movies that have an international appeal. The inaugural slate of projects includes “Les Opposums,” directed by Eva Munoz (“Hannya”); “Drive” by Abel Danan; “C’est pas nous les diables” by Meryl Estragnat (“Promenons-nous”), and “Ferris Wheel” by Julien Hosmalin (“Magic World”). These projects will enter production between this year’s second half and end of 2025.

Gens, who is based in Paris, is also currently developing with Netflix “Malin Fors,” a gritty series based on Mons Kallentoft’s Scandinavian novels. Gens, who will produce via Good Players and direct, said the...

Kicking off on Jan. 17 with the world premiere of Philippe de Chauveron’s “Serial Bad Weddings 2,” the 21st edition of the UniFrance Rendez-Vous in Paris will showcase a flurry of French comedies, biopics and a raft of documentaries.

The Rendez-Vous in Paris, organized by the promotion org UniFrance, will take place over five days and will bring together 481 buyers from 56 countries, as well as 45 French sales companies.

Besides “Serial Bad Weddings 2,” the sequel of the smash hit film which grossed over $148 million, the anticipated comedy highlights set to have their market premieres at the Rendez-Vous include Hugo Gelin’s “Love at Second Sight,” Philippe Lacheau’s “City Hunter,” Eric Lavaine’s “No Filter,” Lisa Azuelos’s “Sweetheart,” Louis-Julien Petit’s “Invisibles” and Bertrand Blier’s “Heavy Duty.”

Sold by Studiocanal, “Love at Second Sight” is a romantic comedy which marks Gelin’s follow-up to the Omar Sy starrer “Two is a Family.

Writer-director Eric Lavaine returns less than a year after his 2016 dramedy Back to Mom’s (Retour chez ma mere) topped the French box office with You Choose (L’Embarras du choix), a self-consciously quirky romantic comedy. Lavaine has made a specialty of lighthearted fare, but adopts such a broad tone for his newest feature that it’s unlikely to appeal to American tastes, although European audiences may prove more receptive.

Part of the issue is the implausibility of the premise, which features a protagonist who’s meant to seem unpredictably flaky, but comes off as emotionally dysfunctional. Even at the age of 40,...

Colcoa is keeping up with the times. Now in its twenty-first year, the lauded French film festival, sponsored by the Franco-American Cultural Fund, has added a pair of forward-thinking new categories for its newest edition. This year will include a virtual reality program and a web series competition, in addition to its Cinema, Television and Shorts competitions.

“These two new popular formats offer more opportunities to showcase the creativity of French producers and filmmakers as well as the diversity of French production,” said François Truffart, Colcoa Executive Producer and Artistic Director. “While entertainment is still the key word for the program, with a balanced mix of comedies and dramas, several topical issues will cover the program this year, including the environment, discrimination, racism, terrorism, and the role of the artist in society. More than ever, Colcoa will offer a unique opportunity to see these universal topics from different angles.”

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Event backed by Franco-American Cultural Fund to showcase Vr, web series for first time.

Thirty-four features and documentaries will compete for the Colcoa Cinema Awards as part of the 21st Colcoa French Film Festival that runs from April 24-May 2 in Hollywood.

The competition kicks off on April 24 with the North American premiere of Claude Lelouch’s Everyone’s Life and ends on May 2 with the North American premiere of Eric Lavaine’s new rom-com You Choose starring Alexandra Lamy.

The line-up includes Marco Bellocchio’s Sweet Dreams, Stephane Brizet’s A Woman’s Life (pictured), Bruno Dumont’s Slack Bay, Lisa Azuelos’s Dalida, and Marie-Camille Mansion-Chaar’s Heaven Will Wait.

The event will showcase a record 82 films, television series and web series, 70 of which will compete for the Colcoa Awards.

The festival includes the After 10 Series, Colcoa Classics, Colcoa.Doc World Cinema Produced by France, Focus On A Filmmaker dedicated to Brizé, Film Noir Series...

Barbecue only very briefly features a cookout, yet it makes up for that absence by serving up a feast of fatuous gibberish about enjoying the time you have with friends and loved ones.

Antoine (Lambert Wilson) is a good-looking, physically fit family man who, shortly before his 50th birthday, suffers an unexpected heart attack. That cataclysmic event compels him to reassess his life, which means that the smug Antoine — who also loves cheating on his wife — decides to eat buttery foods, smoke joints, and act like a condescending prick to that wife and the group of friends who join him on vacation at a gorgeous country estate.

Eric Lavaine's midlife-crisis dramedy piles on dreary subplots involving Antoine's grating pals and their one-dimensional romant...

Pathe have Main Comp titles in Paolo Sorrentino's This Must Be the Place and Alain Cavalier's Pater on their product list, but the sale agent might find both titles a difficult sell until they are unveiled to the film critic mass. I'd bet that Phyllida Lloyd's The Iron Lady with Meryl Steep is the most desired item on their inventory list. The Iron Lady by Phyllida Lloyd - Completed This Must Be The Place by Paolo Sorrentino - Completed Monsieur Papa by Kad Merad - Completed My Worst Nightmare by Anne Fontaine - Post-Production Pater by Alain Cavalier - Completed Switch by Frederic Schoendoerffer - Completed The Tuche Family (Les Tuche) by Olivier Baroux - Completed The Well-digger's Daughter (La Fille Du Puisatier) by Daniel Auteuil - Completed Titeuf, The Film (Titeuf, Le Film) by Zep - Completed Zarafa by Jean-Christophe Lie - Post-Production Africa United by...

There won't be any big costly parties in Cannes this year for the folks at Pathe – it seems to be a Berlin, skip Cannes and go to Venice type of year. The Illusionist preemed in Berlin and makes an appearance in the Market screenings, and the much anticipated Miral from Julian Schnabel skipped a non-comp, non-confidence vote and is instead poised to double dip in Venice and Tiff. - There won't be any big costly parties in Cannes this year for the folks at Pathe – it seems to be a Berlin, skip Cannes and go to Venice type of year. The Illusionist preemed in Berlin and makes an appearance in the Market screenings, and the much anticipated Miral from Julian Schnabel skipped a non-comp, non-confidence vote and is instead poised to double dip in Venice and Tiff. All That Glitters (Tout Ce Qui Brille) by G&eacute...

There won't be any big costly parties in Cannes this year for the folks at Pathe – it seems to be a Berlin, skip Cannes and go to Venice type of year. The Illusionist preemed in Berlin and makes an appearance in the Market screenings, and the much anticipated Miral from Julian Schnabel skipped a non-comp, non-confidence vote and is instead poised to double dip in Venice and Tiff. All That Glitters (Tout Ce Qui Brille) by Géraldine Nakache - Completed Centurion by Neil Marshall - Completed The Illusionnist (L'illusioniste) by Sylvain Chomet - Completed Benvenuti Al Sud by Luca Miniero - Completed Camping 2 by Fabien Onteniente - Completed L'italien by Olivier Baroux - Completed Oceans by Jacques Perrin - Completed Africa United by Debs Gardner Paterson - Production Farewell by Christian Carion - Completed Loup (Wolf) by Nicolas Vanier - Completed Miral by Julian Schnabel - Post-Production Rien A...

Buoyed by its nine Oscar nominations, "Avatar" reigned as the boxoffice champ in its eighth round on the foreign circuit, grossing $79.4 million on the weekend from 10,298 screens in 120 markets.

Its record-setting overseas gross now stands at $1.585 billion, the polar opposite of the anemic foreign tally (less than $3.5 million) amassed to date by "Avatar's" chief Academy Award competitor, director Kathryn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker."

Opening at No. 10 in Brazil over the weekend at 41 screens, "Locker" grossed $128,792. In Argentina, it opened No. 5 with $194,201 collected from 48 venues.

Record global tally for "Avatar," director James Cameron's blockbuster spectacle in 3D released by 20th Century Fox, now stands at $2.214 billion.

"Avatar" will be challenged for the top spot on the foreign circuit next weekend when Universal opens its much-hyped "The Wolfman" in 37 offshore markets simultaneously with the film's domestic debut on Friday. The overseas run actually begins Wednesday in France, Belgium and Switzerland.

• When the official announcement was made for the line-up – I was disappointed that Sylvain Chomet's The Illusionist did not appear in the lineup. It was wishful thinking on my part that international sales rep Pathe Pictures International would have the animated film here – when I know all to well that a post production “label” for an animated film means: it will take a bit longer. Nonetheless, Pathe brought Jane Campion's Bright Star to the main competition and buyers will have the opportunity to get in on early on Julian Schnabel's Miral (this should be competing in Cannes in 2010) and what should be a packed Market screening showing for Neil Marshall's latest, Centurion. Bright Star by Jane Campion - Completed Centurion by Neil Marshall - Production Cheri by Stephen Frears - Completed Cineman by Yann Moix - Post-Production Eden Is West (Eden Est A L'ouest) by

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The first of 2009's summer blockbusters, Fox's "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," blanketed the international circuit during the weekend, clawing its way to No. 1 with an estimated $73.1 million from 9,364 screens in 101 markets.

The fourth film in the sci-fi action franchise inspired by the Marvel comics series sucked up virtually all foreign boxoffice oxygen with No. 1 bows almost everywhere. A five-day holiday break in Europe beginning Friday helped promote high weekend attendance.

The "Wolverine" opening is considered especially hearty since the title was leaked online illegally in early April.

Starring and co-produced by Hugh Jackman, "Wolverine" pulled in $9.8 million from 489 screens in the U.K. France produced $6.9 million from 700 situations, and Spain generated $5.3 million from 476 locations.

In Australia, the "Wolverine" take was $5.8 million from 416 screens, and Brazil contributed $5 million from 647 locations. The latest "X-Men" also drew $1.2 million from 103 Malaysia sites, $1.5 million from 61 Singapore locations (Fox's biggest opening weekend ever in the market) and...