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French production reached a second all-time record with 309 movies produced in 2024, according to an annual report unveiled by the National Film Board on Tuesday.

The 2024 production level almost matches that of 2021, when postponed shoots piled up in the aftermath of the pandemic. The number of co-productions also boomed in 2024, with 130 international movies that were minority-produced with France — the third highest level since 1952, according to the Cnc. France’s leading co-production partners were Belgium with 30 films, followed by Germany with eight films.

Investment in movies reached €1.44 billion ($1.57 billion), representing a rise of 21.3% compared with pre-pandemic times. Foreign investment, certainly driven by streamers such as Netflix, Prime Video and Disney, also skyrocketed by 16% to $301 million. French investment in local movies also reached 1.17 billion euros, the second largest level of the last decade.

2024 was also marked by a rise of big-budget films. While the average budget for a French movie is $4.5 million, as...

Picture: Netflix

Teased late last month at Next On Netflix, Omar Sy’s next project for the streamer won’t be the anticipated—and as of yet unconfirmed on the record—season 4 of Lupin but rather an original movie taking full advantage of his star power. Described as a romantic comedy in the vein of Notting Hill, the movie is set to be released later this year. Here is everything we know about the project so far.

Directed by first-time helmer Nina Rives, the movie is loosely based on the Israeli series Ish Hashuv Meod (VIP) and was shot last summer in Paris (filmed dates were between May and July 2024). The executive producer is Hugo Gélin, who has also co-written the dialogue – and is also notably the husband of Nina Rives. Gélin is himself experienced in rom-coms, with Love At Second Sight (Mon Inconnue); he also directed Sy in 2016 for...

Newen Connect has added a trio of French comediesto its EFM slate:Cycle Of Time, No Signal!andThe Family Road.

Vinciane Millereau’s Cycle Of Time stars Elsa Zylberstein, Didier Bourdon, Aurore Clément and Dider Flamand and is about a 1950s French family catapulted into 2025 due to a freak accident with their washing machine, forcing them to face a new world dominated by technology and adapt to a new reality.

Olivier Kahn produces for Ugc which is releasing the film in France in October.

Edouard Pluvieux’s No Signal! is about two young step-siblings spending the weekend with their parents in...

European sales banner Newen Connect has boarded “Haunted Minds,” a psychological thriller directed by Belgian filmmaker Lucas Belvaux (“This Is Our Land”) on the eve of the European Film Market in Berlin.

“‘Haunted Minds” is led by a sexy cast, including Niels Schneider and Ramzy Bedia, who both starred in Xavier Giannoli’s acclaimed limited series “Of Money and Blood.” Deborah François (“Savage State”) and Linh-dan Pham (“Mr. Nobody”) complete the cast.

The movie, which is based on a Belgian novel penned by Belvaux, revolves around a skilled army veteran Skender suffering from Ptsd who’s been estranged from his children and their mother, and is now homeless. “Out of the blue, Max, his former sergeant, approaches him with a life-changing offer, to be the pray of a man. If Skender agrees to the offer, his family will receive a large sum of money upon his death. However, if he survives for one month,...

Nice Girls, directed by Noémie Saglio, aims to position itself within the gender-swapped buddy-cop genre, a cinematic playground with various degrees of success.

The film stars Alice Taglioni as the unkempt, chain-smoking Leo—a cop juggling grief, chaos, and complicated personal life—and Stéfi Celma as Mélanie, her disciplined yet earnest German partner. Together, they navigate a complicated murder investigation, tangential eco-politics, and an endless supply of errors that range from slapstick to sarcastic.

Nice Girls, with its Riviera backdrop, is more than its bright exteriors and postcard-perfect beaches; it is also a site of cultural disputes, gender relations, and political commentary—or, at least, it attempts to be. Saglio’s directing depends heavily on absurdity, but whether the film succeeds in being subversive or simply dumb is up for dispute—a debate that this review will gladly engage in.

Now available on Netflix, Nice Girls enters a crowded scene of action comedies,...

“Nice Girls” is a Netflix movie starring Alice Taglioni and Stéfi Celma. It is directed by Noémie Saglio.

Featuring two endearing and utterly unconventional girls, this film breaks away from the typical French high comedy stereotypes. Instead, it presents two police officers who neither dress in glamorous attire nor conform to expected behavior, creating humor through an unexpected, refreshing lens. The film is straightforward and charming, with the sole purpose of eliciting laughter.

About the Film

This comedy is unabashedly what it sets out to be: a comedy. Despite a backdrop involving corrupt cops, hackers, and more, “Nice Girls” finds its humor in witty dialogues and a slightly old-fashioned portrayal of characters who deftly navigate and subvert their own stereotypes. Imagine “Miami Vice” stripped of all its glamour, transforming its two leads into near parodies with the simple aim of providing a good time.

The film boasts clever dialogues, stunning landscapes,...

The film adaptation of popular comic strip “Natacha (Almost) Air Hostess” boasts an all-star cast.

The cast includes Camille Lou (“Anthracite”), Vincent Dedienne (“We Can Be Heroes”), Fabrice Luchini (“The Empire”), Didier Bourdon (“Cocorico), Elsa Zylberstein (“Coup de Chance”), Isabelle Adjani (“Wingwomen”) and Baptiste Lecaplain (“Meet the Leroys”).

The film is loosely based on the comic strip of the same name created by screenwriter François Walthéry, which was published by Editions Dupuy, and which comprises 23 albums and has sold more than five million copies.

The story follows Natacha, who, since she was a child, has dreamed of becoming an air hostess so that she can break free from the constraints of an age where women are expected to remain at home. Just as her dream is on the verge of becoming a reality, she finds herself involved against her will on an adventure on the trail of a bunch of...

Newen Studios, a division of France’s TF1 Group-owned media banner Newen, has acquired Vanessa Djian’s French production banner Daï Daï Films.

The acquisition of Daï Daï Films underscores the company’s strategy to ramp up its presence in the feature film landscape and aggregate talents, following the footsteps of French indie powerhouses such as Mediawan.

Djian, who will remain in post at Daï Daï Films, began her career in the movie industry working on shoots for films directed by Clint Eastwood, Christopher Nolan, Luc Besson and Dany Boon, among others. She also worked a number of years with Alain Goldman (“La Vie en Rose”) at Legende Films before launching her own production vehicle, Daï-Daï Films in 2017. Dijan’s company has so far produced movies such as Alexis Michalik’s “Edmond” (pictured) and “Adieu Monsieur Haffman,” an adaptation of the play that received six nominations at the Molières awards.

Queen Of Hearts star Trine Dyrholm plays woman who enlists in the army during World War One.

TF1 Studio has launched sales on Danish director Henrik Ruben Genz’s World War One drama Erna At War at the virtual Cannes market.

Top Danish actress Trine Dyrholm (Queen Of Hearts) stars as a mother whose mentally-challenged son is drafted into the army and sent to fight on the border between Denmark and Germany. In a bid to keep him safe, she disguises herself as a man, enrols and heads to the frontline.

The sales arm of French commercial TV giant TF1...

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...

Netflix is continuing to expand its international footprint with the launch of a Paris bureau, which follows Euro offices in Amsterdam and London and a recently announced production hub in Madrid, Spain.

A spokesperson for Netflix confirmed that the office will initially house around 20 employees, some of whom will be relocating from Amsterdam. The executives will work across production, acquisitions and marketing.

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings is in Paris today where the streaming giant made the announcement. He also confirmed that following discussions with France’s national film body, the Cnc, the company will start to pay 2% tax on its annual revenues in France.

The company previously had a small office in Paris but that closed down in 2016 prompting speculation that the firm wanted to seek more advantageous tax arrangements elsewhere in Europe. Relations with France have been more challenged than most markets due to the Cannes Film Festival snafu...

When she’s not working with the greatest auteurs in world cinema, Juliette Binoche is letting loose and exercising her comedic muscles — at least, if this trailer for an upcoming French comedy is any indication. Telle mère, telle fille aka Baby Bump(s) finds the Certified Copy actress as a mother who gets pregnant at the same time as her daughter, and wackiness ensues.

Also starring Camille Cottin, Lambert Wilson, and Catherine Jacob, it comes from co-writer/director Noémie Saglio and there’s no word if we’ll even see it pop up in the United States. Set for a release in France at the end of this month, it’s entertaining enough to see Binoche enjoying herself in this comedic playing field. Check out the trailer below and although there are no hardcoded subtitles, you can get a translation by clicking “Cc” then in settings, choosing the language of your choice.

Exclusive: Binoche-starrer tops comedy driven slate.

Gaumont has taken on world sales of Noémie Saglio’s comedy Baby Bump(s) starring Juliette Binoche as a devil-may-care, forty-something mother who falls pregnant at the same time as her daughter.

Camille Cottin plays the long-suffering daughter who is horrified when she discovers her mother, who had a hang-up about being a grandmother, is also expecting.

It is the third feature of rising comedy director Saglio after Parisian Bitch and I Kissed A Girl.

The film — produced by Pan-Européene and Flamme Films — is currently in post-production for a March 2017 release by Gaumont in France.

Gaumont is putting the accent on comedy at this year’s Afm.

Other titles on its slate include box office hit Brice From Nice, starring Oscar-winning Jean Dujardin as the hapless Mediterranean surfer dude Brice, who swaps his native Nice for Hawaii in his latest adventure.

The picture drew more than one million spectators in its...

Whether you think he’s a titan of contemporary art cinema or a moralizing hack, Michael Haneke will dominate much of 2017’s cinematic discourse with his new feature, Happy End. Earlier reports were vague, albeit intriguing, telling us the Isabelle Huppert– and Jean-Louis Trintignant-led picture will concern a “bourgeois, European family, blind to what is going on in the wider world around them,” specifically with regard to Europe’s migrant crisis.

So said Huppert at this year’s Cannes Film Festival:

“‘But you can imagine what a Michael Haneke film called Happy Ending will be like. You can imagine there will be a certain irony, a certain…’ – she hesitates playfully, choosing her words – ‘clear-sightedness. For me, the title says everything about how lucidly Haneke sees the world.’ Apparently it’s about immigration, I hazard. ‘Apparently. That’s not all there is to it. We’ll see.'”

Casting has...