, may herald a new era for remakes spearheaded by French producers with Hollywood ties and European financing.
“Remaking a film for the U.S. and entering the English-language world is a particular challenge for a French producer, and the reasons are not only cultural but also financial because the U.S. has a different approach to financing,” says Dimitri Rassam . “CODA” — about a hearing girl who struggles to break away from her deaf family — was an eye-opening exception. The film was celebrated at Sundance as an authentic American story with mass appeal, even though it didn’t feature major stars or a well-known director and was made by French producers — albeit not just any French producer.
“Historically, the U.S. is a tougher market because there are thousands of projects around, and France has been behind Israel, Scandinavia, the U.K. and Spain in terms of coming up with strong drama concepts for remakes,” says Federation Entertainment’s Pascal Breton.
Never.