Yahoo Lifestyle EuropaCorp Back in Action With Film Slate, Nears TV Co-Production Deal With Federation Studios Label (EXCLUSIVE)
After slowly returning to production in the wake of a restructuring, EuropaCorp, the company founded by “The Professional” director Luc Besson, is now fully back in action with several French and international films in the pipeline. These include the Snoop Dogg sci-fi movie “The Last Man,” and “Disorder,” a thriller starring Dylan Sprayberry (Teen Wolf”) and Thalia Besson who plays Geneviève in “Emily in Paris” season 4.
The banner, which is best known for its high voltage franchise movies such as “Taken,” “The Transporter” and the Scarlett Johansson movie “Lucy,” is also about to ramp up its output in the scripted TV space. EuropaCorp is nearing a deal with a Federation Studios label to team on the development and production of series based on its best known IP’s, Variety has learned. Although a “Lucy” spin-off was previously in development, it’s not believed to be part of the franchises that are being currently explored for TV adaptations.
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EuropaCorp’s new English-language thriller in the works in “Disorder,” which sees Dylan Sprayberry play Parker Decker, who after committed a crime, is placed in an all-boys correctional facility using unorthodox methods. The film, that’s now in the last stretch of production, is being pitched as a teen-twist on “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.”
Besson is also keeping busy following his comeback movie, “Dogman,” which world premiered at the Venice Film Festival. He’s reteamed with actor Caleb Landry Jones on “Dracula,” an adaptation of Bram Stoker’s’ Gothic classic that also stars Christoph Waltz. Paris-based Kinology is selling international “Dracula” the film. While it’s recently wrapped shooting, Besson is already plotting a science-fiction movie, “The Last Man,” a “Planet of the Apes”-inspired film starring and co-produced by Snoop. The project could be in the same vein as “The Fifth Element,” one of Besson’s biggest hits which weaved fantasy, action and comedy.
“2024 was a pivotal year for EuropaCorp, enabling us to consolidate our renewed activity following the release of DogMan in 2023, selected at the Venice Film Festival,” said Jean-Marc Lacarrère, a former Canal+ Group executive who joined as CEO in February.
The executive pointed out three films were shot in 2024, including “Dracula” which is due for release in 2025, as well as “Hell in Paradise,” Leila Sy‘s women-powered thriller starring Nora Arnezeder and Maria Bello.
“In line with this dynamic, the company continues to develop new projects in a variety of formats, spanning feature films, series and platform units, while working with outside producers via delegated co-production agreements, in order to significantly increase its business volume in France and internationally for 2025 and beyond,” Lacarrère said.
Owned by Vine Alternative Investments since 2020, EuropaCorp is collaborating with several established French producers on a wide range of projects, including an untitled feel-good teen movie co-produced with the outfit Nolita, and starring young actors alongside French comedian Manu Payet. That project will start shooting in the summer. EuropaCorp is also working with the production banner Windy Production on “Les Glenans,” an adventure movie that will be directed by Eric Capitaine.
The company has also dived in documentary with “Trump, Dieu et les siens,” an investigative docu directed by Laurence Haim, a journalist who has covered US. politics for 25 years and charted the behind-the-scene of Trump’s Presidential campaign.
EuropaCorp’s upcoming film releases also include “June & John,” a romantic comedy which Besson shot during the pandemic with a cast led by Don Scribner, Myles Cranford, Honey Lauren and Jonathan Peacy. The movie will come out in the Spring in France.
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