Having kicked off in early June, shooting on Cédric Jimenez’s Johnny - a biopic on popular French music icon Johnny Hallyday with an announced budget of €45 million – is set to wrap on 7 October. It’s the filmmaker’s 7th feature after The Connection (1.5 million admissions in France), The Stronghold (screened out of competition in Cannes, nominated for seven César awards and boasting 2.2 million admissions in France), November (likewise screened out of competition in Cannes and nominated for seven Césars, and recording 2.39 million admissions in France) and Dog 51 (showcased out of competition in Venice last year and nominated twice at the Césars, with 1.38 million admissions in France), to name but three.

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The titular role is played by Benjamin Voisin (who won the Lumières Award for Best Actor via The Stranger, the Most Promising Actor César for Lost Illusions and the Acting Revelation Lumières for Summer of 85), with support from Noée Abita (awarded the Lumières Acting Revelation trophy and nominated for the Most Promising Actress César via Slalom; seen this year in Orange Flavoured Wedding), Nina Meurisse (nominated for the Most Promising Actress César and the Acting Revelation Lumières Award for Camille, not to mention the César for Best Supporting Actress via Souleymane’s Story; also set to be seen this year in Ce qui nous mène à toi) and Marie Colomb (nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Goya for The Beasts and seen this year in Les Misérables).

They’re joined by José Garcia (nominated for the Best Actor César via The Ax), Luigi Tancredi, William Lebghil (nominated for the Most Promising Actor César and the Acting Revelation Lumières Award thanks to The Freshmen, and set to star in Le joueur next year), Fred Testot (recently seen in Colours of Time and currently in cinemas in God Bless This Mess), Sami Outalbali (nominated for the Most Promising Actor César and the Lumières Acting Revelation Award by way of A Tale of Love and Desire, and starring in Species this year), and none other than Laura Smet (nominated for the Most Promising Actress César and the real-life daughter of Johnny Hallyday and Nathalie Baye).

Written by the director and Olivier Demangel (of Atlantics, Moulin and the mini-series Class Act), the screenplay retraces several decades of Johnny Hallyday’s career, from his beginnings in the 1960s up to his emblematic 50th-birthday show at the Parc des Princes in 1993 - an exceptional artistic and personal trajectory, marked by success, the stage and a unique relationship with his audience…

Johnny is being produced by Hugo Sélignac for Chi-Fou-Mi Productions, in co-production with StudioCanal (who will release the film in French cinemas on 30 June 2027, as well as steering world sales), TF1 Films Production, Jim Films and Belgian company Artémis Productions. Pre-purchased by Canal+, Netflix and TF1, the feature film’s director of photography is Nicolas Loir, while music will be composed by Guillaume Roussel (nominated for the 2022 and 2024 César Awards in his field).

For the record, Chi-Fou-Mi Productions are currently overseeing post-production on Minnie by Agnès Hurstel, as well as on Emmanuelle Bercot’s co-production L’Enragé (read our article).