Michel Hazanavicius: Last News

Originally planned to open the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year before the worsening Covid situation forced the festival to again go virtual, Oscar-winning writer-director Michel Hazanavicius made the right decision in insisting his comedy Final Cut (Coupez!), about the making of a low-budget bad zombie movie, should be presented with a full house in a theatre, thankfully not to be watched on your computer at a prestigious film festival. In holding out for the real thing he scored big as it was chosen as the opening-night out-of-competition film of the 75th Cannes Film Festival.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film CriticThe last time the Cannes Film Festival dropped a zombie comedy into its coveted opening-night slot, it was 2019, and the movie ­— Jim Jarmusch’s “The Dead Don’t Die” ­— was no big whoop, but it served its purpose. It got this most highfalutin’ of festivals rolling on an agreeable note of macabre cheekiness. Since that was only three years ago, you may wonder why the Cannes programmers decided to open this year’s festival — the hallowed 75th edition — with another rib-nudging absurdist zombie comedy.

After a canceled 2020 edition and a scaled back gathering last year, the Cannes Film Festival kicked off Tuesday with an eye turned to Russia’s war in Ukraine and a video message from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Final Cut,” directed by Michel Hazanavicius on opening night. This year’s Cannes is also the biggest film event to be hosted since the start of the pandemic, bringing together the festival and market crowds.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaWith “Final Cut,” Oscar-winning filmmaker Michel Hazanavicius has to convince audiences that he’s a very bad director. At least for the first 20 minutes or so of the movie within a movie. You see, “Final Cut,” a remake of the 2017 Japanese cult favorite, “One Cut of the Dead,” initially unspools as a low-budget zombie film, one produced with few frills and even less talent.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentGerman actor Oliver Masucci and French star Fanny Ardant have joined the cast of Roman Polanski’s new movie “The Palace,” which will surely be a subject of controversy at the Cannes Film Festival where distribution rights are being sold.The ensemble drama, which had already cast Mickey Rourke, will be headlined by Masucci, the German actor who appeared in “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” and the Netflix series “Dark,” and Ardant, the esteemed French star of “La Belle Epoque” and “8 Women.” Budgeted at €13 million ($13.9 million), the movie is currently shooting on location in Gstaad, Switzerland, and is being sold by Wild Bunch International, the powerhouse behind several movies competing at Cannes, notably Arnaud Desplechin’s “Brother and Sister,” Claire Denis’s “Stars at Noon” and the opening night film “Final Cut” from Michel Hazanavicius. The key crew includes Oscar-winning music composer Alexandre Desplat, along with Polanski’s regular cinematographer Pawel Edelman, who previously worked with Polanski on “An Officer and a Spy,” “The Pianist,” “Oliver Twist” and “The Ghost Writer,” as well as set designer Monica Sironi (“Volare”).“The Palace” is produced by Luca Barbareschi at Eliseo Entertainment company, and co-produced by CAB Productions in Switzerland and Lucky Bob in Poland.Penned by Polanski and Jerzy Skolimowski, the movie takes place at a palace in Gstaad on New Year’s Eve in 1999.

The Cannes Film Festival said Monday that it backs the decision by French filmmaker Michel Hazanavicius to change the name of his film, which originally carried the title Z (Comme Z) and will open the 75th edition of the festival next month.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentMichel Hazanavicius’s zombie comedy “Z (Comme Z),” which is set to open the Cannes Film Festival next month, has been renamed “Coupé” in France.The decision to change the movie’s French title follows a letter from the Ukrainian Institute to the director and the Cannes Film Festival, as revealed by Variety, pointing out that “Z” is a pro-war symbol of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and had been used in pro-Russian demonstrations across Europe.The letter from the Ukrainian org, which was signed by its managing director Volodymyr Sheiko, said that changing the film’s title would be a “gesture against the barbarity, violence and terror of the Russian army.”In a statement on Monday, Hazanavicius said he will rename the movie “due to the symbolic charge that the letter Z has gained … and following the plea by Ukrainian filmmakers. “The title was perhaps funny when [I] completed the film several months ago but it isn’t at all today and I can’t bear it,” he added.“My film is meant to bring joy and I wouldn’t want it to be associated in any shape or form to this war.

Marta Balaga The Ukrainian Institute has issued an official letter to the Cannes Film Festival and French director Michel Hazanavicius asking them to rename his opening night movie “Z,” which the org claims is a pro-war symbol of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.In Russia, “Z” is considered a pro-war symbol that has also been used in pro-Russian demonstrations across Europe. The symbol has recently been adopted by some Russian figures taking part in world events, such as gymnast Ivan Kuliak who, while in Qatar for a World Cup event, sported a “Z” on his chest while standing on a podium next to Ukrainian athlete Illia Kovtun.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentAfter several hours of heated debates, Iris Knobloch, the former boss of WarnerMedia France and Germany, has been chosen by the board of the Cannes Film Festival to become its first female president, as Variety has learned . She will succeed Pierre Lescure who was re-elected for a third term in June 2020 and is planning to step down after the upcoming edition.The German-born, Paris-based executive was elected by the board of directors of the Association Française du Festival International du Film, which brings together public authorities and film industry professionals, amid much controversy in France.

Martin Dale ContributorOn average French films allocate under 3% of their total budget on VFX, according to a report on employment in the French VFX sector presented at PIDS Enghien in Paris by the French film and TV agency CNC.The report, produced with market research firm Audiens, found that for films budgeted at over €15 million ($17 million), the VFX spend rises to an average 11.8% of budget.The data suggests that the number of French films using VFX has increased over the past decade. In 2020, 108 of 131 French feature films had recourse to VFX expenses in their overall budget.

The zombie comedy from the Oscar winning The Artist filmmaker will no longer play Sundance as the festival eliminates its live-edition and opts for virtual given the Omicron calamities of late.