The French box office market has been in a slump lately, but French producer Hugo Selignac has been somewhat immune to the ongoing darkness.
A hip-parisian who loves to talk about his mind, win chain smoke and win, Selinac is often behind all other local hits in bold films like Jills Lelouch’s “Beating Hearts” and this year’s “I Love Peru.” Theatres that include a young audience.
Sharing the same ownership with Brad Pitt’s Plan B (Media One), Celignac’s Kaifumi production is ready to launch a new chapter in Cedric Zimenez’s 40 million euro dysto piercing thriller “Dog 51,” the most ambitious film ever. The latter will premiere around the world on the closing night of the Venice Film Festival, with a North American premiere in Toronto and planning their next stop in Busan and Zurich. Selignac will also quickly create his English debut with Dupieux’s next two projects and Carax’s long-standing follow-up to Marion Cotillard-Adam driver’s musical romance “Annette;”: The project has also been set up alongside Alain Chabat and Jonathan Cohen.
Speaking to Variety ahead of the Venice premiere of “Dog 51,” Serignac noted that the film marked the 13th collaboration between his longtime partner study group and his most audacious bet. Studio Canal has already made its biggest investment in French films with “Beating Hearts,” and has earned the group’s biggest hit. Jimenez’s third film with Selignac follows a pair of successful contemporary thrillers, “The Stronghold” and “November,” which he performed at Cannes.
“We had a great book by Laurent Gaudé and a strong script written by Olivier Demangel and Cedric Zimenez. We had ambitions. We also had very close relationships with the same partner – the Studies, Netflix, French TV – and it’s a winning team because it portrays his heart, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between “his heart”, between ” Overlooking the Tuileries Gardens.
“The Dog 51 highlights the events that tell the audience, the great actor, the wild Meise en Susen and what stands out, so “Dog 51” shares “dog in sit novel in nowhold in sit in sit in sit in sit in sit ain it in sit now” and “dog 51” so it was once again driven by our desire to make a film that stands out in a few ways, because we do things fun in a few ways. Incests controlled by AI.
Starring two of France’s most bankable actors, Adele Exalchopoulos (“Battle of the Heart”) and Jill Lelouch (“Basehold”), Dog 51 is set in the near future in Paris. The city is separated into three zones that separate social classes, and checkpoints regulate the movement between them. People’s lives are being monitored by Alma, a powerful predictive AI that revolutionizes the police system and suppresses crime. However, when the Alma Creator is murdered, Zem, a disillusioned policeman living between Soria, the elite agent in Zone 2, and the exile in Zone 3, is forced to lead the investigation and team up to form a strong bond. The cast was completed by Louis Garel, Altus, Roman Duris and Thomas Bangarter, half of the pioneering French electronic duo Daftpunk who plays the enigmatic creator of Alma.
Featuring impressive action and VFX, the film rarely dared French filmmakers to challenge themselves to rarely challenge French filmmakers, especially with the exception of “the fifth element” and “the Valerian recently.” “Dog 51” barely reached Venice. It came out of post-production a few days before Lido’s premiere. From there, it will be the same release date as “Beating Hearts” before it will be released in France on October 16th.
Last year, Beating Hearts sold 5 million admissions and was released on October 16th, so during filming for “Dog51,” it was discovered that the same release date was available. “We still need to add some special effects and mixing!” he says.
Selignac says that he has never worked on a film on that level of budget, and that one of his obsessions with “Dog 51” is to maximize production value.
“Listening 40 million euros stand out on screen is a more important compliment to me because when you ask investors for a lot of money, you don’t want them to disappoint them,” he says. he says with a laugh.
Earlier this week, “Dog 51” was also screened by exhibitors from major film chains, Pathé, CGR, Kinepolis, MK2 and UGC. “They were on the floor and some of them said it was a film that would make the market,” Selignac said. “Theatre admission is devastating, so “I hope Dog 51 can stir things up in the right direction,” the producer continues.
Aside from action scenes and visual effects, the film also boasts memorable scores, including one of Pink Floyd’s most iconic song, “Wish You Weed Here.”
Selignack says. “We just paid. It was a lot of money, but it’s cool. It’s one of the best songs in the world.”
“It’s part of the joy of having a budget that fits your ambitions and you can do things,” he says.
Ultimately, Selignac says the biggest cost of films like “Dog 51” comes from action scenes that “require a huge amount of scenes so that the editing can have a quick pace.”
Like the two films before Jimenez, “Dog 51” has a social and political subtext. The film can be easily described as a science fiction film, but the producers joke that Jimenez had spent six months in Steve Jobs’ office and didn’t follow in the footsteps of Steven Spielberg, who came up with the big idea for “Minority Report.” “Cedric was more forced by these ideas of “strapping the characters, continuing to close to emotions, having some kind of action and social background.”
“He wanted to talk mainly about characters who were a bit separated from life, find each other and lay the foundations for national uprising together. So it was always human. In fact, in “Bak Node,” and “November,” it’s about people fighting “Dog 51,” which they want to target, just as they want to target.”
On the horizon, Selignac is developing even bigger projects. This allows him to reunite with Jimenez again and remove the filmmaker from his comfort zone somewhat. The project is a film that depicts the life of Johnny Halliday, the late French rock star who was called the French Elvis, as the exact plot remains under the rap. Johnny is performed by Quenard along with a script written by Jimenez by Demangel. The film will begin filming in the spring.
Chi-Fou-Mi’s slate also features Dupieux’s next two English projects, which captivated the A-List actors, Selignac notes that American actors like Dupieux’s freedom spirited comedy.
While he continues to work with the same director, Selignack is folding new directors, including French Auterreoscarax, who is believed to be working on a project that is even bigger than Annette, the musical romance that opened Cannes in 2021.
