The final clapperboard slammed today on Le Roi Soleil, the second feature film by Vincent Maël Cardona after Magnetic Beats [+lee también:
crítica
tráiler
entrevista: Vincent Maël Cardona
ficha de la película] (awarded the SACD Prize at the 2021 Directors’ Fortnight, the 2022 César for Best First Film and the Male Acting Revelation Lumière that same year). Eye-catching names in the cast include Pio Marmaï (nominated for the 2019 and 2022 Best Actor Césars via The Trouble With You [+lee también:
crítica
tráiler
entrevista: Pierre Salvadori
ficha de la película] and The Divide [+lee también:
crítica
tráiler
entrevista: Catherine Corsini
ficha de la película], selected in the category of Best Supporting Actor in 2023 and 2024 for Rise [+lee también:
tráiler
ficha de la película] and Yannick [+lee también:
crítica
tráiler
ficha de la película], and hitting screens this year in L’Attachement), Lucie Zhang (nominated in 2022 for the Best New Hope César and Acting Revelation Lumière thanks to Paris, 13th District [+lee también:
crítica
tráiler
ficha de la película], and recently seen in A Real Job [+lee también:
crítica
tráiler
entrevista: Thomas Lilti
ficha de la película]) and Sofiane Zermani (known under his rapper name Fianso, at his best in last year’s After the Fire [+lee también:
crítica
tráiler
ficha de la película] and Spirit of Ecstasy [+lee también:
crítica
tráiler
entrevista: Héléna Klotz
ficha de la película], and soon to grace Le salaire de la peur, Reine mère and Barbès d’or). The cast further includes Panayotis Pascot (who turned heads in Deerskin [+lee también:
crítica
tráiler
entrevista: Quentin Dupieux
ficha de la película] and My Stupid Dog [+lee también:
crítica
tráiler
ficha de la película], and was recently well-received in the series Grace of Heaven), Portugal’s Maria De Medeiros (notably named Best Actress in Venice 1994 and recently seen in Moral Order [+lee también:
tráiler
ficha de la película]), Joseph Olivennes (who previously worked with the director on Magnetic Beats and is soon to feature in La vallée de fous) and Némo Schiffman (Promise at Dawn [+lee también:
tráiler
ficha de la película]).

Written by Olivier Demangel (Atlantics [+lee también:
crítica
tráiler
entrevista: Mati Diop
ficha de la película], Towards the Battle [+lee también:
crítica
tráiler
ficha de la película], Father & Soldier [+lee también:
crítica
tráiler
ficha de la película]) and Vincent Maël Cardona, the story takes us to a shabby OTB pub in the early hours of the morning where one of the regulars wins the lottery worth 244 million euros. Another customer holds up the shop after stealing a gun from a police officer. A shot is fired, leaving the winning ticket ownerless. The remaining customers see it as an opportunity and the curtains are drawn: they may as well make the most of the situation and come to an arrangement. Locked inside the bar, they pass the point of no return. Who will come out of it alive?

Le Roi Soleil is produced by Christophe Barral and Toufik Ayadi on behalf of SRAB Films and by Marc-Benoît Créancier for Easy Tiger, in co-production with France 2 Cinéma and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Cinéma. Also pre-purchased by Canal+ and Ciné+, the film was shot over the course of eight weeks with Brice Pancot heading up photography. Set design comes courtesy of Marion Burger and editing is entrusted to Flora Volpelière (awarded the 2020 César in her speciality for Les Misérables [+lee también:
crítica
tráiler
entrevista: Ladj Ly
ficha de la película]). Distribution in France and international sales will be steered by StudioCanal.

For the record, SRAB Films are currently overseeing post-production on Dao by Alain Gomis (produced alongside Les Film du Worso – read our article) and Les Règles de l’art by Dominique Baumard (article). Easy Tiger, for their part, are finalising post-production on Houda Benyamina’s Toutes pour unes (Mousquetaires).