Pathé Films and French producer Philippe Rousselet’s Vendôme Group have signed an exclusive production deal to develop and produce English-language films, kicking off with “Coda,” a remake of the 2014 French box office hit “La Famille Belier,” written and directed by Sian Heder (“Orange Is the New Black”).
Set to start shooting this summer in Massachusetts, the remake will be headlined by Marlee Matlin and newcomer Emilia Jones.
The film will star Jones as 16-year-old Ruby, the only hearing child in a deaf family who finds herself torn between pursuing her love of music and her family’s reliance on her to be their connection to the outside world.
The three-year pact between Pathé and Vendôme Group aims to produce one to two films a year, and the possibility to add more projects over time. All films produced under the deal will be fully financed by Pathé and Vendôme, and will be released theatrically in France and represented in international markets by Pathé.
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Rousselet and Fabrice Gianfermi, the co-CEO of Vendôme Group, will produce “Coda” alongside Patrick Wachsberger’s Picture Perfect Entertainment. Wachsberger and Rousselet will be selling the project with the support of Pathé at Cannes.
Vendôme’ and Pathé have a long relationship, having most recently worked together on “Promise at Dawn” and Michel Hazanavicius’ upcoming film “The Lost Prince” with Omar Sy.
“‘Coda’ epitomizes the type of high quality material and talent we want to work with under this deal. There’s no one better than Patrick in his field, so we’re delighted he will be producing ‘Coda’ with us and that it will be Picture Perfect’s first sales title at Cannes,” said Rousselet.
Ardavan Safaee, managing director Pathé films, said that “over the years, Vendôme has shown an uncanny ability to develop and produce memorable films with top talent.” Pathe is attending Cannes with Pedro Almodovar’s “Pain & Glory” playing in competition and Nicolas Bedos’s “La Belle Epoque” slated out of competition.
The remake of “La Famille Belier” is the first pic produced by Wachsberger’s newly launched company. “I have a long, wonderful business and social relationship with Philippe Rousselet and I am very excited to produce with him my first movie out of Lionsgate,” he said.
He described “Coda” as “very engaging, both funny and moving script” and that Emilia Jones has “inspired all of (them).”
In addition to Rousselet and Gianfermi, Vendome’s current executive team includes Sarah Borch Jacobsen, head of development and production, who oversees the day-to-day development of the company’s English-language production slate across multiple genres.