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Exclusive: French film industry veteran Nicolas Royer, who was line and executive producer on Coralie Fargeat’s Cannes buzz title The Substance, has boarded Catherine Hardwicke’s upcoming feature A French Pursuit, starring Toni Collette.

The production, which is remake of Caroline Vignal’s 2020 French hit My Donkey, My Lover & I (Antoinette Dans Les Cévennes), starring Laura Calamy, is due to shoot in the Cévennes region in south-central France this summer.

Royer will line and executive produce the movie, which is lead produced by Christopher Simon at New Sparta Productions and Collette under her Vocab Films banner.

The new production will be first official gig for Royer’s company Voulez-Vous Production Services, which he created in 2023 to build on his work on The Substance.

Royer was line and executive producer on the body horror, lead produced by the UK’s Working Title and starring Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley and Dennis Quaid.

Photo: ‘Madame Claude’/Netflix Who Was Madame Claude? Just a few days ago, Netflix released the French biographical drama, ‘Madame Claude’, on its streaming service. This distressing, explicit biopic follows the rise and fall of sex work coordinator, Fernande Grudet. Taking place in the late ’60s, Grudet, a.k.a Madame Claude, recruits young girls around France as escorts, servicing an elite list of clientele. I went into this film blindly. I expected an abundance of commentary on sexual liberation for women and empowering elements within the film. I was sorely mistaken. There are a few moments of empowerment sprinkled in the story, but the film primarily displays the sexual, emotional, physical abuse, and exploitation of women in the prostitution business. Related article: The Complete List of 2021 Oscar Nominations – Celebrations, Surprises & Snubs | The Show Must Go On Related article: April Movies Release Schedule: The Most Accurate List of Every Movie...

The headline news for fantasy fans on Netflix UK this month is the arrival of eight-part adaptation Shadow and Bone, based on Leigh Bardugo’s Grisha trilogy. It’s the story of Alina, a girl who discovers she wields a mighty power that sees her targeted by a covetous foe. You can read more about the cast here. For families, at the end of the month there’s Sony’s latest animated feature The Mitchells Vs the Machines, which is made by the creators of excellent animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

Comedy-wise, Melissa McCarthy and Octavia Spencer co-star in regular-Joan-gets-superpowers movie Thunder Force. And for anybody looking to brush up their Spanish for a summer holiday, Netflix has the latest Harlan Coben mystery thriller, The Innocent.

On top of that, there’s a clutch of older films, from John Carpenter’s They Live to the Coen Bros.’ The Big Lebowski...

Netflix is the king of the streaming world until proven otherwise. But in recent months the streamer’s lists of new releases have looked relatively sparse as competing media conglomerates remove their titles from Netflix’s library. With its list of new releases for April 2021, however, Netflix appears to have its original production machine operating at high capacity once again.

There are plenty of intriguing Netflix original series and films this month. The one that appears to have the highest blockbuster potential though is the series Shadow and Bone on April 23. Shadow and Bone is adapted from Leigh Bardugo’s Grisha-verse trilogy and should bring another compelling sci-fi/fantasy universe to the streaming world.

Read more TV How Will Shadow and Bone Incorporate Six of Crows? By Kayti Burt TV Shadow and Bone: Why Netflix Cast Its Fantasy Adaptation With Relative Unknowns By Kayti Burt

Other worthwhile original series...

Madame Claude

Director Sylvie Verheyde returns to the world of the sex worker in her sixth feature, Madame Claude, a Parisian period piece about a 1960s brothel madame. Reuniting with Karole Rocher as the lead, Verheyde rounds out a supporting cast featuring Roschdy Zem, Garance Marillier, Benjamin Biolay, Pierre Deladonchamps, Josephine de la Baume, plus two more Sex Doll cast members, Hafsia Herzi and Paul Hamy. Produced by Florence Gastaud, the title is notably lensed by Leo Hinstin (the Dp on Bonello’s 2016 title Nocturama).…...

The acting duo is currently performing in Peter Dourountzis’ feature debut, which is being produced by 10:15 Productions and will be sold by Kinology. The shoot for Vaurien, the feature debut by Peter Dourountzis, kicked off on 27 October and is due to wrap on 28 November. Toplining this thriller are Pierre Deladonchamps and Ophélie Bau (nominated for the César Award for Most Promising Actress in 2019 and winner of the Lumières Award...

Slate also includes four new festival title acquisitions and five previously announced Palme d’Or contenders.

Wild Bunch will launch sales on eight new titles at Cannes this year including Sylvie Verheyde’s Madame Claude about an infamous French brothel owner and Lou Ye’s upcoming black and white thriller Saturday Fiction.

The slate also features two recent acquisitions out of the Official Selection as well as two new Cannes Critics’ Week films alongside the five previously announced Palme d’Or contenders.

Verheyde’s Madame Claude stars Karole Rocher as the real-life, late Paris brothel owner whose clients allegedly included John F.