News

Snd, the film and TV production/distribution arm of French network M6, is teaming up with Paris-based company Superprod on the feature film adaptation of “Les blagues de Toto,” the popular French comics. Created by Thierry Coppée, “Les blagues de Toto” comprises of 13 volumes and have sold more than 3.7 million units.

The family comedy will start shooting later this month in live action. Pascal Bourdiaux, who directed another comics adaptation, “Boule et Bill 2,” is on board to direct “Les blagues de Toto.”

The cast is headlined by children and completed by Guillaume de Tonquédec (“What’s in a Name?”), Ramzi Bedia (“Taxi 5”) and Daniel Prevost (“Diner de cons”). The movie will follow the adventures of a mischievous little boy – whose parents are separated — and his friends at school.

On top of producing with Superprod, Snd has acquired French distribution and international sales rights to “Les blagues de Toto.” The...

The Traverse City Film Festival is celebrating its 14th year in 2018 by bringing together some of the year’s best indies and documentaries, plus classics from Jonathan Demme, Hal Ashby, and more. The Michigan-set festival, backed by Michael Moore, is being run in 2018 by directors Susan Fisher and Meg Weichman, who have worked on the festival for nearly a decade and have been at the helm since December.

Tickets for this year’s edition will go on sale to the public on Saturday, July 21 (click here for the official festival website). Friends of the Film Festival will be able to get early access to tickets with advance sales starting Sunday, July 15.

The full lineup for the 2018 Traverse City Film Festival is below.

Opening Night: “Rbg”

Centerpiece: “Hearts Beat Loud”

Closing Night: “Burden”

Open Space

“Stop Making Sense,” Jonathan Demme

“Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle,” Jake Kasdan

“Coco,” Lee Unkrich

“Black Panther,...

Jean Reno stars in Family Heist as master thief who teams up with long-lost daughters.

French outfit Snd has boarded international sales and local distribution rights to art theft comedy caper Family Heist and romantic drama The Confession ahead of Unifrance’s annual Rendez-vous with French Cinema in Paris next week (Jan 14-18).

Pascal Bourdiaux’s Family Heist stars Jean Reno as a master thief who enlists the support of his long-lost daughters on an ambitious robbery aimed at exacting revenge on a double-crossing, former partner.

French stand-up and big screen comedy actresses Camille Chamoux and Reem Kherici play the two contrasting half-sisters who have inherited their father’s con artist skills.

Reno is set for a high-profile year. He will hit screens at home and abroad in French comedy The Visitors: Bastille Day this spring and also has roles in Sean Penn’s upcoming The Last Face and the historical drama The Promise.

The two-month...

Catalina Denis cast in Paul Walker thriller Model and film actress Catalina Denis has been cast as the female lead opposite Paul Walker (Fast & Furious 6) and David Belle (Malavita) in Camille Delamarre’s Brick Mansions. The action thriller is EuropaCorp and Relativity Media’s English-language remake of the 2004 French-made action / thriller District B13. In Brick Mansions, Paul Walker incarnates an undercover cop out to defuse a bomb in possession of drug warlord RZA. Catalina Denis will play David Belle’s romantic interest. Luc Besson, who specializes in run-of-the-mill, Hollywood-style French-made action thrillers, is one of the film’s producers. Directed by Pierre Morel (Taken, From Paris with Love), and co-written by Luc Besson and Bibi Naceri, District B13 / Banlieue 13 stars David Belle, Cyril Raffaelli, Dany Verissimo-Petit, and co-screenwriter Naceri. The film performed modestly at the French box office; according to Box Office Mojo, District B13 was no. 51 on France’s 2004 box-office chart,...

Ed Helms has signed up to the remake of the French comedy Le Mac. The Hangover and Office actor will star as a banker who finds himself forced to switch his identity to that of a wanted gangster and pimp, Variety reports. Ben Stiller's Red Hour Films is producing the movie. The 2010 original was directed by Pascal Bourdiaux and starred Jose Garcia in the lead role. Helms has also appeared in Meet Dave, Semi Pro and Cedar Rapids. The actor recently became (more)...

Ed Helms, otherwise known as Andrew Bernard on The Office or Stu from The Hangovers gets to play twins and a gangster/pimp in his next film, a remake of the French comedy Le Mac.  Helms will play two characters, Chapelle and Ace le Mac who just happen to unknowingly be twin brothers.

The original Le Mac was released in 2010 by director Pascal Bourdiaux.

When he's not busy getting into trouble on stag trips in the Hangover films, Ed Helms can usually be found as Andy Bernard on the American version of The Office. But he's just picked up another film role, agreeing to star in the remake of 2010 French comedy Le Mac.

Pascal Bourdiaux's film saw José Garcia as a mild-mannered banker who is forced to impersonate a notorious gangster and pimp. It sounds like the sort of fish-out-of-water role Helms can pull off with ease.

The script is being written by Johnny Rosenthal, one of several writers who have pitched one of two competing takes on Bad Santa 2 to Dimension Films and Miramax. He brought up the idea of remaking Le Mac to film backers Media Rights Capital, which has struck up a partnership with Ben Stiller's Red Hour Films to thrust the idea into development.

Helms has cropped...

When he’s not busy getting into trouble on stag trips in the Hangover films, Ed Helms can usually be found as Andy Bernard on the American version of The Office. But he’s just picked up another film role, agreeing to star in the remake of 2010 French comedy Le Mac.Pascal Bourdiaux’s film saw José Garcia as a mild-mannered banker who is forced to impersonate a notorious gangster and pimp. It sounds like the sort of fish-out-of-water role Helms can pull off with ease.The script is being written by Johnny Rosenthal, one of several writers who have pitched one of two competing takes on Bad Santa 2 to Dimension Films and Miramax. He brought up the idea of remaking Le Mac to film backers Media Rights Capital, which has struck up a partnership with Ben Stiller’s Red Hour Films to thrust the idea into development.Helms...

Comedic actor Ed Helms has signed on to star in an American remake of the French comedy Le Mac for Media Rights Capital and Ben Stiller's Red Hour Films.

The original French movie starred Jos&#233 Garcia as a timid banker who is forced to assume the identity of his long-lost brother, a gangster and pimp known as Le Mac.

Bad Santa 2 screenwriter Johnny Rosenthal will write the screenplay, although a director is not attached yet. Ben Stiller will produce the remake alongside Stuart Cornfeld and Guy Stodel.

No production schedule was given for this comedy remake at this time.

Le Mac was released February 12th, 2010 and stars José Garcia, Gilbert Melki, Carmen Maura, Arsène Mosca, Jo Prestia, Catalina Denis, Alain Fromager, Laurent Bateau. The film is directed by Pascal Bourdiaux.

On The Office Ed Helms plays Andy Bernard, a Cornell graduate from Connecticut who comes from a wealthy family and has a penchant for wearing sweater-vests. To put it bluntly, he's the definition of upper-class white dude, and whenever a character like that pretends to be a "gangster" it usually results in some pretty good laughs. Those that agree will probably want to be checking out the Ben Stiller-produced remake of Le Mac, as Variety reports that Helms has signed on to star. The original, directed by Pascal Bourdiaux and released in 2010, is about a mild-mannered bank employee named Chapelle whose life is suddenly turned upside down when a pair of cops inform him that he has a twin brother that is a notorious pimp/gangster that is planning a huge job. Chapelle is then given a choice: he can either spend 20 years in jail or he can assist...

Kinology is heading to Cannes with a single title in Copacabana – the Isabelle Huppert starring with her daughter comedy is a focal point in the Critic's Week section this year. It's the projects that they've got on the sales slate that have got my ears perked up in an upright position – beginning with Juan Solanas' next - he is currently shooting Upside Down in Montreal, while Andrew Niccol is still in pre-production mod with The Cross. - Kinology is heading to Cannes with a single title in Copacabana – the Isabelle Huppert starring with her daughter comedy is a focal point in the Critic's Week section this year. It's the projects that they've got on the sales slate that have got my ears perked up in an upright position – beginning with Juan Solanas' next - he is currently shooting Upside Down in Montreal, while Andrew Niccol is...

Kinology is heading to Cannes with a single title in Copacabana – the Isabelle Huppert starring with her daughter comedy is a focal point in the Critic's Week section this year. It's the projects that they've got on the sales slate that have got my ears perked up in an upright position – beginning with Juan Solanas' next - he is currently shooting Upside Down in Montreal, while Andrew Niccol is still in pre-production mod with The Cross – if I remember correctly it was first announced at last year's Cannes and they are trying to bring down the price tag on the 50 million dollar-ish production. French items worth keeping an eye out for are Benoît Philippon's Lullaby for Pi – which was shot in Canada and would logically find a spot at Tiff. Mathieu Kassovitz also has a project in development . Buried by Rodrigo Cortes - Post-Production Heartbreaker (L'arnacoeur) by Pascal Chaumeil...

Hanging on for what will be its farewell round atop  the foreign circuit, 20th Century Fox's "Avatar" on the weekend made it 11 straight stanzas in the No. 1 spot by grossing $39.8 million from 6,626 screens in 70 markets.

Total foreign take by director James Cameron's 3D blockbuster now stands at $1.849 billion -- thus surpassing the $1.843 billion worldwide boxoffice total rolled up by the director's 1997 former record holder, "Titanic."

"Avatar's" worldwide cume is $2.556 billion. To date, its foreign gross is more than 2 1/2 times its domestic cume of $706.6 million. In addition to setting a new theatrical attendance record in South Korea (where its market cume stands at $105 million), "Avatar" is now the biggest-grossing title ever to play Italy (market cume, $90 million).

The biggest "Avatar" market on the weekend was Germany, where the weekend take was $4.3 million from 498 locations for a territory cume of $139.7 million. Top market overall remains France, where the Cameron epic...

Showing modest boxoffice fatigue after more than two months dominating the foreign circuit, 20th Century Fox's "Avatar" landed in its 10th consecutive round the No. 1 film overseas, generating $48.5 million -- down 18% from the prior weekend -- from 7,247 screens in 71 markets.

Overseas gross total for director James Cameron's record-setting blockbuster was $1.780 billion with its worldwide tally weighing in at $2.468 billion. In addition to its worldwide record in current dollars, "Avatar" has now beaten 1997's "Titanic's" global boxoffice milestone on an inflation-adjusted basis as well.

Top market remains France where "Avatar" claimed $5.1 million on the weekend from 529 locations, raising its market cume to $164 million. It became on the weekend the biggest-grossing title ever to play Mexico, where the market cume stands at $42.5 million.

Director Martin Scorsese's "Shutter Island," which opened No. 1 in the U.S. and Canada, premiered in nine overseas markets via Paramount and other distributors for an opening boxoffice gross of $9.1 million.