03/04/2003 - Boom in France of 'toon-inspired live actions with summer release dates for Michel Vaillant & Muraya starring Vincent Cassel and more titles in the pipeline

A popular new trend is making inroads in French cinema : live action adaptations of famous cartoons. The success of the first two episodes of the Asterix and Obelix saga has generated a third. On 6 August Michel Vaillant by Louis-Pascal Couvelaire and produced and distributed by Europa Corp will be out. It will be followed in the Autumn by Muraya by Jan Kounen, starring Vincent Cassel and Le marque jaune, produced by Charles Gassot for Téléma Productions, and Bob Morane by Christophe Gans. In 2004, Gans is scheduled to begin filming another live action entitled Rahan.

Early in 2004 the following titles will also go into production : Tanguy et Laverdure a.k.a. Les chevaliers du ciel, produced by Outsider Productions and Mandarin Films, and based on the adventurous airmen created in 1959 by Albert Uderzo and Michel Charlier, and Iznogoud, created by Goscinny-Tabary, directed by Patrick Braoudé and produced by Vertigo. Iznagoud will star Michael Youn (whose La beuze was seen by over 2 million French filmgoers), comic duo Eric et Ramzy and Jacques Villeret.

(Translated from French)