Renier stars as famed singer Claude François in Cloclo
The 17-week shoot started yesterday on French/Belgian co-production Cloclo by Florent Emilio Siri (Intimate Enemies [+see also:
trailer
film profile]). The biopic retraces the life of singer Claude François, who was a star of “chanson française” in the 1960s-1970s and died in a tragic accident in 1978, at the age of 39.
The famous songwriter behind “Comme d’Habitude” (the original version of the English “My Way”) will be played by Belgian actor Jérémie Renier (recently acclaimed in Potiche [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and to be seen on screens from April 6 in Les Aventures de Philibert). The rest of the cast includes Benoît Magimel, Italian actress Monica Scattini, Ana Girardot, Joséphine Japy and Robert Knepper.
Co-written by the director and Julien Rappeneau, the script is being kept under wraps. According to our sources, the film will describe Claude François’s life in all its facets, revealing the man behind the idol.
Suddenly expelled from Egypt during the nationalisation of the Suez Canal, the François family end up penniless in Monaco. Through music, 17-year-old Claude finds a way to earn a living by doing what he loves. His father sees no prospect of success in this choice.
Magimel will play the singer’s manager and Scattini his mother.
Produced by Cyril Colbeau-Justin and Jean-Baptiste Dupont for LGM Cinéma, Cloclo is co-produced by Belgian company Flèche Productions, TF1 Films Productions and StudioCanal. The film, which has received pre-acquisition financing from Canal + and CinéCinéma, is also backed by Sofica A Plus Image and Coficup, and the Belgian Tax Shelter via uFund.
Shooting will take place in Belgium from mid-March to the end of April before relocating to Morocco, then Monaco, Menton and finally Paris. The film will be released theatrically in Belgium by Udream and in France in early 2012 by StudioCanal, who will also manage international sales.
LGM Cinémas, which is still basking in the recent box office success of Point Blank [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and Jo’s Boy, will launch Thierry Klifa’s His Mother’s Eyes [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (see news) in theatres on March 23. In post-production, the company has Olivier Marchal’s Les Lyonnais (see news); and Jacques Maillot’s La Mer à Boire (“The Sea To Drink”, see news).
(Translated from French)
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