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After slowly returning to production in the wake of a restructuring, EuropaCorp, the company founded by “The Professional” director Luc Besson, is now fully back in action with several French and international films in the pipeline. These include the Snoop Dogg sci-fi movie “The Last Man,” and “Disorder,” a thriller starring Dylan Sprayberry (Teen Wolf”) and Thalia Besson who plays Geneviève in “Emily in Paris” season 4.

The banner, which is best known for its high voltage franchise movies such as “Taken,” “The Transporter” and the Scarlett Johansson movie “Lucy,” is also about to ramp up its output in the scripted TV space. EuropaCorp is nearing a deal with a Federation Studios label to team on the development and production of series based on its best known IP’s, Variety has learned. Although a “Lucy” spin-off was previously in development, it’s not believed to be part of the franchises that...

Nora Arnezeder (“The Famous Five”) and Maria Bello (“A History of Violence”) are set to co-star in “Hell in Paradise,” a female-powered thriller inspired by a true story and produced by EuropaCorp’s Virginie Besson-Silla (“Dogman”).

Penned by Karine Silla (“A Butterfly Kiss”), “Hell in Paradise” revolves around Nina, a young French girl who leaves her native Marseille and accepts her first job as a receptionist at a luxurious hotel resort on a magnificent island of the Maldives, hoping for a better life. But when a tragedy befalls the hotel, Nina is propelled in a relentless spiral of lies and manipulations. Wrongly accused and sentenced to life in prison, she will have no other choice but to run between traps and escape this paradise turned into hell.

Arnezeder and Maria Bello star opposite Josephine de la Baume, Alyy Khan, Shubahm Saraf and Ranjit Krishnama. Gregoire Melin’s Kinology handles international...

In Street Flow, directors Kery James and Leila Sy tried to sketch out a portrait of a black immigrant family, where three brothers tried to find their footing in modern-day France. The film was essentially a somber portrayal of the impact of gang violence and how racial prejudice and socio-political systems have adverse effects on minorities and don’t work toward ameliorating the issues. Kery James, who starred in the film as well, is back again with Street Flow 2, handing over the directorial reins to Leila Sy this time around. There were some obvious questions left unanswered at the end of the previous movie, and it behooved this film to resolve those ones first. But this film, apart from doing the obvious, has given itself a bigger canvas this time to create a larger portrait of the Traore brothers. This time, there is the issue of finding their roots...

Toufik Ayadi and Christophe Barral’s Srab Films has a slate of social justice titles.

Toufik Ayadi and Christophe Barral’s Paris-based Srab Films, which is heading to Toronto next month with Ladj Ly’s Les Indésirables, has unveiled a slew of projects including the next features from Ly and Alice Diop, whose Saint Omer the company produced last year.

Ly is in the writing stages of the third of what will be a trilogy of titles set against the same backdrop of his native Montfermeil neighbourhood following Les Misérables (also produced by Srab) and Les Indésirables.

“After Les Misérables,...

Lucas Bernard’s romantic comedy ’In The Sub For Love’ is another new acquisition for French studio.

French studio Gaumont has unveiled a hefty genre-hopping Cannes slate complete with all new acquisitions Gilles de Maistre’s family adventure Moon The Panda, Stéphane Brizé’s romance drama Out Of Season and Lucas Bernard’s romantic comedy In The Sub For Love in addition to a slew of market premieres and official selection festival titles.

New acquisitions

Moon The Panda is the latest film from the master of the human-animal adventure tale Gilles de Maistre following Mia And The White Lion and The Wolf And The Lion.

Leo Maidenberg’s Paris-based company Place du Marché Productions is developing a slate of French and international films and TV series with acclaimed talents, including Daphna Levin, the creator of the Israeli series “Euphoria,” as well as Sarah Kaminsky (“Raid Dingue”) and Leïla Sy (“Banlieusards”).

Maidenberg, who launched Place du Marché in 2018 after a career in diplomacy and made his producing debut with Caroline Fourest’s politically charged action film “Sisters in Arms,” has teamed with Kim Younes at Elvie Productions on a pair of high concept Israeli series.

The first title produced by the two banners is “The Truth,” a police thriller series co-written and directed by Levin, whose credits also include the original Israeli series “In Therapy.” Set in Tel Aviv, “The Truth” opens on the day of the final verdict for the most controversial murder case in Israel, 10 years after the incident which took place in a high school gym.

With its impressive stunt scenes, pimped cars and groomed cops, Netflix’s “Lost Bullet” marks a big departure from the typical French thriller with run-down cops on the verge of depression or retirement.

Sara May, a Quebec-born executive who joined Netflix in 2018, has been a driving force behind a new wave of French action thrillers such as the “Lost Bullet” franchise that have been global hits on the streamer.

Released two weeks ago on the platform, the second opus of “Lost Bullet” currently ranks as the most-watched non-English language movie on Netflix, and it’s also in the top 10 across 80 countries. The movie also tops the charts across 80 territories including France, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Kenya, Thailand and Jamaica.

Set in Southern France, in Marseille, “Lost Bullet 2” brings back the French cast including Alban Lenoir, Stéfi Celma and Pascale Arbillot. Lenoir (pictured above), who started his career as a stuntman on movies like “Taken,...

Srab Films, producer of Ladj Ly’s 2019 Cannes effort “Les Misérables,” which was picked up by Amazon Studios, has been acquired by Asacha Media Group (Amg), according to reports.

Amg is a content studio based in Paris, France, which owns a number of production firms across Europe, including the U.K.-based Red Planet Pictures and France’s Kabo Family. Last year the company took a majority stake in production and distribution house Wag Entertainment.

Toufik Ayadi and Christophe Barral founded Srab Films in 2015. As well as “Les Misérables” they have produced Netflix drama “Street Flow” (“Banlieusards”), directed by Leïla Sy and Kery James, and “Saint Omer” from Alice Diop, which is set to premiere in Venice next month.

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Content creator and producer Asacha Media Group (Amg) said on Tuesday that it has acquired Paris-based production firm Srab Films, which produced Ladj Ly’s Les Misérables that Amazon Studios acquired following its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in 2019.

“This acquisition will accelerate Asacha’s development as an independent European production studio dedicated to scripted content,” said the buyer, a multinational producer headquartered in Paris. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

Srab Films was founded in 2015 by Toufik Ayadi and Christophe Barral. The studio also produced Kery James and Leïla Sy’s Street Flow (Banlieusards) for Netflix. Srab will have Saint Omer, Alice Diop’s first fiction feature film, in the Venice Film Festival competition.

“The acquisition of Srab fits Amg’s strategy to produce premium and innovative content dedicated to

streamers, TV broadcasters and movie theaters throughout Europe and the U.

Netflix continued to make strides in its European expansion on Thursday, unveiling a swanky multi-floor Paris office and announcing 20 new French shows and movies in the pipeline.

Located in the heart of the city and staffed with 40 employees, Netflix’s office launch attracted French industry figures, including producers and filmmakers working with or looking to work with Netflix.

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, who was on hand at the event, said the service will be stepping up its investment locally and will target high-profile talent in 2020. New titles include the film “Big Bug,” directed by “Amelie” director Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Penned by Jeunet and Guillaume Laurant, “Big Bug” is a comedy set in the future starring Elsa Zylberstein, Isabelle Nanty and Manu Payet.

Jeunet participated in the first roundtable organised for the event, along with the directors Julien Leclercq and Leïla Sy, as well as rapper-turned-actor Kery James, and Sara May, director...

Netflix is getting ready to officially launch its swanky Paris office on Jan. 17. The streaming giant has planned an afternoon of discussions that gather together Netflix executives, including the company’s co-founder, chairman and CEO Reed Hastings, as well as the filmmakers and producers who have worked with Netflix.

As previously announced, the French outpost won’t be dedicated to production as in Spain, where Netflix bowed its first European production hub, but it will be staffed with executives working across several fields, including production, acquisition, and marketing. The 27,000-square-foot office will spread over three floors and will be located in the heart of Paris, in a chic and hip neighborhood in the city’s 9th arrondissement.

The panels on Jan. 17 include a roundtable bringing together the up-and-coming directors Julien Leclercq and Leïla Sy, as well as rapper-turned-actor Kery James, who will participate in a discussion with Sara May, the head of acquisitions at Netflix.

As it prepares to launch a fully staffed Paris office and beefs up its roster of French series and movies originals, Netflix commissioners Sara May, Damien Couvreur, Dominique Bazay and Diego Buñuel discussed the particularities of their development process and deal-making with the French industry, as well as their diversity-friendly approach, at Series Mania.

Although France has presented many challenges for Netflix because of its strict window release schedule (which sets the Svod window at 36 months) and protests from film bodies, the French market has now become one of the fastest-growing for the streaming service, which currently boasts more than 5 million subscribers locally.

Netflix has nearly 20 French originals in the pipeline. So far, it has delivered a couple films, including “Je ne suis pas un homme facile” and “Paris est à Nous,” and three series: political drama “Marseille,” with Gerard Depardieu; romantic comedy “Plan Coeur”; and the science-fiction series “Osmosis,...

CEO Reed Hastings spoke on the French set of ’Osmosis’

Netflix has confirmed a further push into France, with the opening of a new office in Paris next year, as well as investment in three new French-language drama series and the acquisition of another four local productions.

CEO Reed Hastings made the announcement to journalists on the set of the sci-fi drama series Osmosis in France on Thursday (Sept 27).

He said the new Paris outpost would initially employ some 20 people. It is the company’s third European operation, after its regional headquarters in Amsterdam and London offices. The latter is...