Netflix/ITV Thriller ‘Marcella’ Set For French Remake From TF1
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Netflix/ITV’s hit thriller “Marcella” is set for a French adaptation produced by Elephant and commissioned by TF1. The deal was made by Cineflix Rights which has exclusive worldwide rights to the new series.
Hans Rosenfeldt’s “Marcella” was produced by Buccaneer Media and stars Anna Friel who won an International Emmy Award for her role in the series. Season 3 of “Marcella” is currently available on Netflix and will premiere on ITV in the U.K. the fall.
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“Rebecca,” the French adaptation of “Marcella,” will be directed by Didier Le Pêcheur (“Innocents”), and was co-written by Le Pêcheur and Delphine Labouret (“Innocents”). The eight-part series is being produced by Elephant (Gaëlle Cholet and Sandra Ouaiss), and begins shooting this month around Paris.
The paranoid thriller will be headlined by Anne Marivin (“Ce soir je vais tuer l’assassin de mon fils”) in the titular role. Six years after abandoning the hunt for a serial killer and quitting the police force, Rebecca decides to return to work to escape the depression eating away at her, which has distanced her from her husband (Benjamin Biolay) and her children.
During her investigations into a series of brutal murders, Rebecca becomes convinced that the killer is the same individual who had previously eluded her; but her attempts to track down the murderer are hampered by a series of blackouts and memory loss.
The high-profile cast is completed by Samir Guesmi (“The Revenant”), Valérie Karsenti (“Household scenes”), Gregory Montel (“Call my agent”), Baptiste Lecaplain, Clotilde Courau, Patrick Timsit, Ophélia Kolb, Moussa Mansaly (“Validé”), Salim Kechiouche, and Pauline Cheviller (“Balthazar”).
“Marcella has been a huge success in the UK and internationally – a testimony to the strength of the characters and story created by Hans Rosenfeldt and Buccaneer Media,” said James Durie, head of scripted at Cineflix Rights.
“We’re all really looking forward to seeing how the creative team at Elephant develop Rebecca for French viewers and – through our distribution deal –a global audience,” said Durie.
Sandra Ouaiss, the managing director of Elephant International and co-producer of the French remake along with the company’s managing director Gaëlle Cholet, said the French remake will “dive even deeper into Rebecca’s personal journey, turning the first two seasons into one, to bring another edge to this heroine.”
Anne Viau, the artistic director of French Drama at TF1, said the network group was “immediately seduced by the character of Rebecca, which is both extremely endearing, but also mysterious and complex.”
“The role offers a terrific range for an actress like Anne Marivin. All the ingredients of an addictive ‘thriller noir’ are there to seduce our audience!,” said Viau.
The deal with Elephant was brokered for Cineflix Rights by Julien Leroux and Sabrina Ayala, SVP of sales in France, Italy, Iberia, and Latin America.
“Marcella” was created by Rosenfeldt (The Bridge) with Nicola Larder (The Tunnel), and executive produced by Tony Wood. It’s produced Buccaneer Media for ITV and Netflix. Cineflix Rights has exclusive worldwide distribution rights to the format and finished series.
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