Yahoo Lifestyle ‘November’ Director Cedric Jimenez on Weaving Thriller, Social Commentary and AI Themes in ‘Chien 51,’ a Paris-Set Dystopian Film (EXCLUSIVE)
After directing a pair of contemporary thrillers “The Stronghold” and “November,” French director Cedric Jimenez is diving into genre for his next movie, “Chien 51,” a dystopian film that once again explores the work and minds of cops but this time in a near-future environment ruled by AI.
“Chien 51,” which reteams Jimenez with French producer Hugo Selignac at Chi-Fou-Mi (a Mediawan company) and distributor Studiocanal, is based on Laurent Gaudé’s 2022 futuristic thriller novel by the same name.
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The movie marks Jimenez’s most ambitious movie to date and boasts a budget in the €40-million ballpark. The 18-week shoot took place on location in Paris, as well as in Marseille and in a studio where set were built. One of 2025’s most anticipated French movies, “Chien 51” will boast extensive visual effects and stylish set designs with some spectacular scenes involving up to 500 extras.
On the eve of the EFM, where Studiocanal will introduce the project to buyers, Jimenez said he was drawn to making a bigscreen adaptation of “Chien 51” as soon as he read the book because he felt compelled by the mix of thriller, social commentary and technology.
Rather than setting the film in far-off future, Jimenez said he envisioned “Chien 51” in a world that amplifies present-day societal trends that he perceives, including growing social divides and restrictions on freedom, as well as the AI in public services.
Jimenez, who penned “Chien 51” with “November” co-writer Olivier Demangel, says not everything in the book was adaptable in a movie, but adds that he and Demangel “kept the senses, atmosphere, the characters, the themes of the novel.”
Set to be completed in July, the film unfolds in a not-so-distant Paris. The city is divided into three zones that separate social classes, with checkpoints regulating movement between them. An AI called Alma has revolutionized the police system and controls it. It recreates crime scenes and calculates the probability of guilt, influencing the direction of investigations. When Alma’s inventor is murdered, Salia and Zem, two cops from different zones who are polar opposites, are forced to collaborate on the investigation.
“Chien 51” is headlined by two of France’s most bankable actors, Adèle Exarchopoulos (“Beating Hearts”) and Gilles Lellouche (“The Stronghold”).
“My starting point is really the augmented present, which means that we use the societal and technological trends that already exist,” says Jimenez. “It’s the principle of dystopia and it’s the opposite of utopia, so it’s about imagining a society that’s very close to our own, taking elements that are strong and amplifying them and criticizing all the same,” the filmmaker says, adding that he “wanted to make the film very realistic, so that it could relate to today’s society and engage audiences.”
The division of Paris in different zones isn’t so fictional, says Jimenez, because while “separations don’t exist physically, people no longer mix and there are several worlds in the same city. This is the case in Marseille, it’s the case in Paris.”
Jimenez says the police in the film is guided by AI, which “gives scenarios of the highest probability of crimes, effectively people from their free will.”
The helmer’s last two films also revolved around police protagonists. “The Stronghold” starred Lellouche as a cop working in Marseille’s toughest neighborhood and is inspired by the 2012 case of members of the anti-crime brigade were indicted and sentenced to prison. “November,” meanwhile, stars Jean Dujardin as the boss of a highly-secretive police brigade that tracked down the assailants of the 2015 Paris attacks. Both movies were commercial hits and world premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.
“With ‘Chien 51,’ it forms a bit of a trilogy,” says Jimenez. “What’s interesting about the police is that they’re at the heart of society. That’s why they stir up a lot of debate and a lot of passion,” he says.
“It’s certainly an interesting subject to delve into, and cinematographically, it interests me too,” he continues.
Yet, the fundamental difference between “Chien 51” and his last two pics is that “it’s pure fiction, not inspired by real events.”
He says he “wanted to switch to pure fiction” for a while, after helming “La French,” which was also inspired by the true story of a judge (played by Dujardin) who risked his own life to dismantle a drug ring in Marseille in the 1970’s, followed by “The Stronghold” and “November.”
“Dealing with a material that is totally fictional is liberating and at the same time it means that you’re dealing with an infinite number of possibilities, but Olivier (Demangel) and I had fun “inventing back stories, creating their relationships, inventing so many things.”
Jimenez says “Chien 51” is, however, similar to his previous work in the sense that that it’s both immersive and character-driven. “I like spectators to live films and not just watch them, so we’re still using the same grammar as in ‘The Stronghold’ and ‘November’ but with a different subject, obviously with big sets, with all these dystopian elements, with more emphasis and fictional characters.”
The film will also be “certainly more spectacular,” and visceral with “a lot of tension, whether it’s through action or emotions,” he says.
The city of Paris will play a key role in the movie, but Jimenez quips that “it’s not the Paris of ‘Amelie Poulain.'” “It’s unmistakable, but all the more so because it’s a somewhat reconstructed Paris. It’s a Paris that’s very recognizable, but at the same time, it’s also dystopian because of these checkpoints and certain settings.”
After “Chien 51,” Jimenez says he’s done making movies about the police. Indeed, his following movie will be a biopic of late French crooner Johnny Halliday which he’s writing with Demangel and hopes to start filming in the spring of 2026.
“The films that have made the biggest impression on me are about iconic musicians. When I was young, the movie on The Doors struck me. And I I’ve always wanted to make a film about a rockstar and Johnny is extraordinary because he’s the quintessential French rock star,” he says. The Johnny Halliday movie is currently in development at Selignac’s Chi-Fou-Mi outfit.
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