Bille August to Direct Mediawan’s Ambitious Series ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’ Starring Sam Claflin, Produced by Palomar (EXCLUSIVE)
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Bille August, the two-time Palme d’Or winning director of “Pelle the Conqueror,” is directing a sprawling English language series adapted from Alexandre Dumas’ classic novel “The Count of Monte Cristo” starring an international cast led by Sam Claflin (“Peaky Blinders”).
“The Count of Monte Cristo” marks the first series which is entirely produced within Mediawan and represented by its distribution arm Mediawan Rights. As such, Italy’s Palomar is producing the eight-part series in collaboration with DEMD Productions in France, in association with Entourage Ventures, as well as RAI Fiction and France Televisions which are the commissioning broadcasters in Italy and France, respectively.
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The show underscores Mediawan’s strategy to pursue prestige scripted projects with strong international potential under its €100 million co-development agreement signed earlier this year with private equity film Entourage Ventures. Another recent Mediawan show in the same vein is the anticipated “Zorro” series reboot directed by Javier Quintas (“Money Heist,”“Sky Rojo”) which the company will premiere on opening night of Mipcom.
August, the revered Danish filmmaker whose credits include “Pelle the Conqueror;” “The Best Intentions” and “Les Misérables,” is currently filming the series on location in Europe. The extensive five-month shoot will wrap in mid-December and is taking place across France, Italy and Malta.
Claflin stars as Edmond Dantes, a nineteen-year-old sailor who was falsely accused of treason and is imprisoned without trial in the Château d’If, a grim island fortress off Marseille. After many years of captivity he finally escapes and, under the identity of the Count of Monte Cristo, he plans to take revenge on those who have wrongly accused him. The cast is completed by Ana Girardot, Mikkel Boe Følsgaard, Blake Ritson, Karla-Simone Spence, Michele Riondino, Lino Guanciale, Gabriella Pession and Nicolas Maupas.
“The Count of Monte Cristo” was initiated by Palomar, the leading Italian company behind “Inspector Montalbano” and “The Name of The Rose,” and represents a passion project for Carlo Degli Esposti, the company’s co-founder and veteran producer. “‘The Count of Monte Cristo’ was my bedside book and it’s been my lifelong dream to adapt it into a film or a series,” he said, adding that the journey to make the show started five or six years ago.
Degli Esposti says “classics’ adaptations have often been criticized for being old-fashioned but he’s confident that the “quality of the script, the creative vision of August and performance of Sam Claflin in the title role will give ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’ a modern edge while remaining faithful to the legacy of Alexandre Dumas’ work.”
Sébastien Pavard at DEMD says the series has universal themes that resonate today because it’s a “story about love and treason. About the revenge of the underdogs against the powerful.” Making the series in English has also allowed producers to bring together talent from different horizons, from Italy, France, Denmark and England, explains Pavard.
While faithful to the literary classic, “The Count of Monte Cristo” will place a larger emphasis on the characters’ psychological depths, emotions and motivations. It will also boast stronger female characters, including the young Haydée, who isn’t a frightened slave as in the book but rather a brave and empowered woman.
August says he was lured by the project because it’s “all about relationships, the complexities of human beings and in that sense it’s very modern and timeless.” “I love ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’ is a great story about the human being and about person who is so obsessed by revenge that it eats him up from the inside and he is not able to love anymore. That’s an important message,” says August, adding that the series also tells a “beautiful love story” nevertheless.
August says the series stayed true to the protagonists of the novel and “spent almost half a year just to cast (the show) to try to find the best actors for each role.”
Elisabeth d’Arvieu, the managing director of Mediawan Pictures, says: “‘The Count of Monte Cristo’ is precisely the type of endeavor that illustrates why Mediawan was created.”
“The series fits into the company’s DNA because it’s based an iconic European IP that is known around the world and brings together prestigious cast,” d’Arvieu continues.
“‘The Count of Monte Cristo’ also fits Mediawan’s model, she says, because it was initiated by Palomar in Italy, which then brought in its French sister company DEMD Productions to build an Italian-French co-production.
“We’ve done a few other big series such as ‘Zorro’ under our partnership with Entourage but ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’ is the first one that’s 100% Mediawan and checks all the boxes,” says d’Arvieu who runs Mediawan Pictures, adding that it’s also a series that’s “fully financed independently and out of Europe.”
The project also reflects the caliber of internationally driven shows that Mediawan seeks to deliver under its partnership with Entourage, she says.
Speaking of August’s involvement, d’Arvieu says he’s given the series “a very cinematic appeal.” “Beyond the budget, the fact that we secured a two-time Palme d’Or winning director who won an Oscar speaks volume about our ambition to make very premium shows, whether they’re in French or in English,” she says.
Maria Pia Ammirati at Rai Fiction says “bringing the archetypal tale of The Count of Monte Cristo back to the TV screen 57 years after the historic 1966’ adaptation starring Andrea Giordana is not only consistent with Rai Fiction’s editorial line but also exciting.”
Manuel Alduy at France Televisions says: “Monte Cristo brings together all the ingredients of a great international series that will delight our French audience: the adaptation of a mythical story from our national literary heritage, an ambitious production by Palomar and DEMD, a formidable cast led by a very great author Bille August.”
Mediawan is handling worldwide distribution rights to “The Count of Monte Cristo,” in cooperation with CAA (for North America), and with the participation of Entourage.
Bille August is repped by CAA. Sam Claflin is repped by CAA and Independent Talent (in the UK) and attorney Doug Stone.
● D’Arvieu is attending MIA Market in Rome on Wednesday, and was a panelist at a session titled “New Studios Models” on the changing role of global players in drama production and distribution.
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