09/05/2005

Yesterday, in Sardegna, the third episode of the French cult spoof Les Bronzés, entitled Amis pour la vie and directed by Patrice Leconte, started shooting. This €35M film is surely one of the biggest French productions of the year ; it relies on the same merry pranksters who played in the previous episodes (Les Bronzés in 1978 and Les Bronzés font du ski in 1979) and ensured their success, namely Gérard Jugnot, Michel Blanc, Thierry Lhermitte, Christian Clavier, Josiane Balasko, Dominique Lavanant and Marie-Anne Chazel. The seven comedians, who started their carrier by performing together a comic show at the theatre Le Splendid, had attracted 2.3 millions French spectators when Les Bronzés (adapted from their play Amour, coquillages et crustacés) was first released. The second episode, also by Patrice Leconte (Les Bronzés font du ski) sold 1.3 tickets but the troup decided not to make another sequel and chose to make another cult comedy instead, Le Père Noël est une ordure. 26 years later, they have changed their minds again : Les Bronzés are back with Ornella Muti as a guest star.

Les Bronzés 3: Amis pour la vie is produced by Les Films Christian Fechner and co-produced by TF1 Films Production. It was also pre-bought by TPS for the impressive sum of €7M. As a consequence, Canal + refused to participate, finding the price too high, which is unfair competition and could cause a dangerous inflation for other films. The film is distributed by Warner Bros which will release it in France on the 1st of February 2006. Roissy Films will handle international sales.
The film will all be shot in May and June in the North of Sardegna, in Gallura, near Baja Sardinia, Palau, Porto Cervo, Porto Rotondo, and the Cala di Volpe (=‘the peer of foxes’) where the set will settle for three whole weeks.

(Translated from French)