Amazon Prime Video Orders Lisa Azuelos’ Comedy ‘I Love America’ With Sophie Marceau (EXCLUSIVE)
Amazon Prime Video has ordered Lisa Azuelos’s “I Love America,” an L.A.-set modern comedy with French star Sophie Marceau as its next French Original movie.
Azuelos, a well-established filmmaker who previously directed Marceau in the hit French movie “LOL” (Laughing Out Loud) co-wrote “I Love America” with Gael Fierro. Autopilot is producing the film which will launch exclusively on Amazon Prime Video in France, and around the world in 2022. The cast also includes Djanis Bouzyani, the actor of Hafsia Herzi’s “You Deserve a Lover.”
More from Variety
VOD Services in U.S., U.K. and European Union Grew a Third in Four Years, Report Finds
Amazon Prime Video Bows One of the Biggest Brazilian Productions Ever, Crime Drama 'Dom'
Marceau stars as Lisa, a single woman who decides to take a chance on love again by catapulting her life from Paris to Los Angeles. Her children flew the coop and her famous, yet absent mother just passed, so Lisa needs a big change.
While in Los Angeles, Lisa reunites with her best friend Luka (Bouzyani), who found success in America with his iconic drag queen bar but is struggling to find his own prince charming. Luka embarks on a mission to give Lisa a fresh start by creating a profile for her on a dating app, and starts living vicariously through his best friend’s amorous escapades. From awkward dates to touching surprise encounters, Lisa will understand that the journey to love is a journey towards herself and forgiveness of her first love, her mother.
“My only goal when I make a movie is to promote love and remind the audience it is our life purpose,” said Azuelos. “I am very honoured that Amazon is promoting this vision of mine.”
Through her heartwarming films, Azuelos has excelled at portraying contemporary women in their relationships with their loved ones and themselves, notably in “LOL (Laughing Out Loud)” in which Marceau delivered a critically acclaimed performance. The movie turned out to be one of the highest-grossing French films of 2008 and sold around the world before getting remade in the U.S. with Miley Cyrus. Azuelos most recently directed Sandrine Kiberlain in “Mon bébé” and had previously directed “Dalida,” a strong biopic of the iconic Egyptian-born French-Italian singer.
Marceau, who remains one of France’s most celebrated actors with a career spanning four decades, will be in Cannes with Francois Ozon’s “Everything Went Fine,” which will world premiere in competition.
“Partnering with two of the most celebrated and renowned French female talents Lisa Azuelos and Sophie Marceau is a dream come true for us,” said Georgia Brown, director of European Amazon Original Series at Amazon Studios.
“We are thrilled to be bringing this stand out comedy to life for our PV customers in France and around the world and hope to delight our customers with such a compelling, poignant and funny movie,” said Brown.
Thomas Dubois, head of French Originals at Amazon Studios, said this new Amazon Original Movie, the streamer will “pursue (its) will to be a home for talent and offer a fresh and fun comedy directed by Lisa Azuelos and starring one of the biggest actresses in France, Sophie Marceau.”
“We’re aiming to make the combination of both of [Azuelos’ and Marceau’s] talent transformed into a comedy that will be as touching as joyful for our Prime members,” added Dubois.
Amazon Prime Video will be rolling out Melanie Laurent’s “Le bal des folles,” its first French original Movie, on Sept. 17. The historical thriller is produced by Legende Films.
Best of Variety
Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
