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Michel Blanc, a prominent French actor renowned for his versatility in both comedic and dramatic roles, died on October 4th from a heart attack following an allergic reaction. He was 72 years old. Blanc made his mark in the 1978 comedy “Les Bronzés” and its sequels, earning fame for his portrayal of an awkward bachelor. While comedy brought him widespread popularity, he worked hard to show his talents extended beyond it.

Blanc received critical acclaim for his dramatic turns, like winning Best Actor at the 1986 Cannes Film Festival for “Tenue de Soirée.” He also gained recognition for his skills as a writer, taking home a Best Screenplay award at Cannes in 1994 for his self-referential comedy “Grosse Fatigue.” Later in his career, he earned a César for Best Supporting Actor in the 2011 political drama “L’Exercice de l’État.”

Beyond acting, Blanc proved talented behind the scenes as well. He directed several successful films and wrote their scripts,...

Michel Blanc, the legendary French actor best known for his roles in the Les Bronzés films and Monsieur Hire, has died. He was 72.

He died early Friday morning at a Parisian hospital after suffering a heart attack the previous night, according to Agence France-Presse (Afp).

France’s President Emmanuel Macron also paid tribute to Blanc on X (formerly Twitter), writing, “He made us cry with laughter and moved us to tears. A monument of French cinema, Michel Blanc has gone. Our thoughts go out to his loved ones and his acting accomplices.”

Born on April 16, 1952, in Courbevoie (Hauts-de-Seine), France, Blanc had a passion for classical music from a young age. But he later changed direction and co-founded the Le Splendid troupe, a café-théâtre company, in the 1970s with his friends, Christian Clavier, Gérard Jugnot, Thierry Lhermitte, Josiane Balasko, Marie-Anne Chazel, Bruno Moynot and Claire Magnin.

As for his film projects,...

French actor Michel Blanc, best known for his roles in Le Splendid troupe comedy films like the 1978 cult classic Les Bronzés (French Fried Vacation) and its subsequent 1979 and 2006 sequels, died early Oct. 4 at 72 of a heart attack following anaphylactic shock, per the Agence France-Presse.

A fixture in French cinema, his death was mourned by president Emmanuel Macron, who wrote on X: “He made us cry with laughter and moved us to tears. A monument of French cinema, Michel Blanc is gone. Our thoughts go out to his loved ones and his acting accomplices.”

The French Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati, added in a statement: “This morning the sorrow is immense, as great as his talent. In front of the camera of Bertrand Blier, Robert Altman or Pierre Schoeller, Michel Blanc amazed us with the variety of his acting, but also with his talents as a director with films like “Marche à l’ombre...

Michel Blanc, the French actor best known for his role in “Les Bronzés” (“French Fried Vacation”), died Friday morning of a heart attack precipitated by anaphylactic shock. He was 72 years old.

Blanc’s death was shared by his family with Agence France-Presse. He was remembered online by French President Emmanuel Macron, who wrote on X, “He made us cry with laughter and moved us to tears. A monument of French cinema, Michel Blanc has gone. Our thoughts go out to his loved ones and his acting accomplices.”

Prime Minister Michel Barnier also shared a remembrance for Blanc. “We all have a little bit of Michel Blanc in us. From the offbeat confidence of Jean-Claude Dusse to the seriousness of Gilles in ‘L’Exercice de l’État’, he made us laugh and think. With his unforgettable role in ‘Je vous trouve très beau’ [‘You Are So Beautiful’], he knew how to move us. Today, like...

Michel Blanc, the French actor known for the “Les Bronzés” films and crime drama “Monsieur Hire,” has died. He was 72.

Blanc died early Friday morning after suffering a heart attack the previous night, according to Agence France-Presse (Afp).

Blanc was known for his role as the awkward bachelor Jean-Claude Dusse in the 1978 film “Les Bronzés” (“French Fried Vacation”), directed by Patrice Leconte. He starred in the 1979 and 2006 follow-up films to the cult French comedy.

Blanc was also revered for his dramatic performances in film, including in Leconte’s 1989 crime thriller “Monsieur Hire,” where he played the titular character. In 2012, Blanc received the César for best supporting actor for “L’Exercice de l’État” (“The Minister”), written and directed by Pierre Schoeller.

Blanc directed, co-wrote and starred in the 1984 film “Marche à l’ombre” and 2002’s “Summer Things.” Additional film credits include “Les Filles de Malemort” (1974), “Let Joy Reign Supreme” (1975), “The Best...

Movies That Made Me veteran guest and screenwriter Dan Waters discusses his favorite year of cinema (1989) with Josh Olson and Joe Dante.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

The Phantom Carriage (1921)

Love At First Bite (1979)

Hudson Hawk (1991)

Demolition Man (1993)

Heathers (1989)

Warlock (1989)

The Matrix (1999)

Johnny Mnemonic (1995)

Barry Lyndon (1975)

Jaws (1975)

Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)

Nashville (1975)

Born On The Fourth Of July (1989)

Dead Poets Society (1989)

Driving Miss Daisy (1989)

Field Of Dreams (1989)

My Left Foot (1989)

Crimes And Misdemeanors (1989)

Do The Right Thing (1989)

Drugstore Cowboy (1989)

Sex Lies And Videotape (1989)

Easy Rider (1969)

Midnight Cowboy (1969)

The Wild Bunch (1969)

Apocalypse Now (1979)

All That Jazz (1979)

Hair (1979)

Alien (1979)

Fight Club (1999)

Office Space (1999)

Magnolia (1999)

The Sixth Sense (1999)

The Blair Witch Project (1999)

American Pie (1999)

The Iron Giant (1999)

All About My Mother (1999)

Being John Malkovich (1999)

The Breakfast Club (1985)

Pretty In Pink (1986)

Dr. Strangelove (1964)

Say Anything… (1989)

Miracle Mile (1989)

True Love (1989)

Powwow Highway (1989)

Lawrence Of Arabia (1962)

Southside With You...

Highest honors go to this stylish, cinematically refined adaptation of a George Simenon thriller. Michel Blanc becomes a person of interest for a murder investigation mainly because he’s disliked and anti-social; Sandrine Bonnaire is the neighbor that he peeps at nightly, to stir his secret passion. Director Patrice Leconte directs with almost perfect control, turning the show into an emotional workout.

Monsieur Hire

Blu-ray

Cohen Film Collection

1989 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 79 min. / Street Date October 25, 2022 / Available from / 29.95

Starring: Michel Blanc, Sandrine Bonnaire, Luc Thuillier, André Wilms, Eric Bérenger, Marielle Berthon, Philippe Dormoy, Marie Gaydu, Michel Morano, Nora Noël.

Cinematography: Denis Lenoir

Production Designer: Ivan Maussion

Costume designer: Elisabeth Tavernier

Film Editor: Joëlle Hache

Original Music: Michael Nyman

Scenario, adaptation and dialogue by Patrice Leconte, Patrick Dewolf from the book Les fiançailles de M. Hire by Georges Simenon

Produced by Philippe Carcassonne, René Cleitman

Directed by Patrice Leconte

We’re fond...

Cohen Film Collection is gearing up for a number of newly restored releases, among them Simon Callow’s 1991 drama “The Ballad of the Sad Café” and a number of Buster Keaton works.

Part of New York-based Cohen Media Group, Cohen Film Collection restores classic films and re-releases them theatrically. It’s vast catalogue includes the Merchant Ivory collection, of which “The Ballad of the Sad Café” is a part.

Based on the 1951 novella by Carson McCullers, the film stars Vanessa Redgrave, Keith Carradine and Rod Steiger.

The George Eastman Museum in Rochester, New York, is currently finishing the restoration of the film, which Cohen Film Group plans to release next year.

“There’s still a number of features to go, so we’re working our way through those, including some of the films set in India, which I’m personally really interested in,” says Tim Lanza, Cohen Film Collection vice president and archivist.

For directing skill and sensual sophistication this psychologically intense murder tale equals or betters the most sophisticated American noirs. Julien Duvivier gives us Michel Simon as Monsieur Hire, a strange man loathed by his neighbors. Entranced by the woman he spies through his bedroom window, Hire doesn’t realize that she’s helping to frame him for murder, and then set him out like bait for a vengeful mob. The restored French classic is a beauty in every respect; the extras include a highly educational, must-see discussion of movie subtitling, by Bruce Goldstein.

Panique

Blu-ray

The Criterion Collection 955

1946 / B&W / 1:37 flat full frame / 98 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date December 18, 2018 / 39.95

Starring: Michel Simon, Viviane Romance, Paul Bernard, Charles Dorat, Lucas Gridoux.

Cinematography: Nicolas Hayer

Film Editor: Marthe Poncin

Special Effects: W. Percy Day

Original Music: Jean Weiner

Written by Julien Duvivier, Charles Spaak from a novel by...

Lila Avilés snagged the top prize at Friday night’s Morelia Intl. Film Festival closing ceremony with her debut feature, “The Chambermaid” (“La Camarista”), which world premiered at Toronto. It also took the Warrior of the Press award.

“Llegamos! Llegamos!” (“We made it! We made it!”), screamed Avilés all the way from her seat to the stage, before breathlessly explaining her excitement. “I used up all of my savings to make this film.”

Alonso Ruizpalacios’ “Museo,” starring Mexico’s most marketable actor Gael García Bernal, had the biggest impact on the public, scoring the Audience Award for best Mexican film. Best director also went to Ruizpalacios.

This year’s festival jury boasted a lineup as impressive as the competition itself. Led by writer-director Lynne Ramsay, the jury included filmmaker Patrice Leconte (“Monsieur Hire”), actor-director-producer Diego Luna, Efm founder Beki Probst and Academy Award-winning producer Adele Romanski.

The festival doled out...

Patrice Leconte at the launch of this year’s Mobile Film Festival in Paris, flanked by fellow jurors Amelle Chahbi and Ruben Alves Photo: Richard Mowe As a way of opening up the world of cinema to budding filmmakers who have talent, ingenuity and a smart phone the Mobile Film Festival has been nurturing opportunities for new generations for the past 13 years.

At a launch for the current edition in Paris, the festival’s founder Bruno Smadja said: “Smartphones are easily accessible by young filmmakers today, anywhere in the world, and with impressive filming quality. And the use of one same affordable technology by all participants gives the event its egalitarian and inclusive characteristic.”

The challenge set for all entrants is to tell a story in one minute. “This is what the audience likes and what convinces our jury in their selections: the motions these shorts manage to convey in only one minute.

Patrice Leconte at the launch of this year’s Mobile Film Festival in Paris, flanked by fellow jurors Amelle Chahbi and Ruben Alves Photo: Richard Mowe As a way of opening up the world of cinema to budding filmmakers who have talent, ingenuity and a smart phone the Mobile Film Festival has been nurturing opportunities for new generations for the past 13 years.

At a launch for the current edition in Paris, the festival’s founder Bruno Smadja said: “Smartphones are easily accessible by young filmmakers today, anywhere in the world, and with impressive filming quality. And the use of one same affordable technology by all participants gives the event its egalitarian and inclusive characteristic.”

The challenge set for all entrants is to tell a story in one minute. “This is what the audience likes and what convinces our jury in their selections: the motions these shorts manage to convey in only one minute.

Just back from the 2017 TCM Classic Movie Festival with a few thoughts and thoughts about thoughts. I certainly held my reservations about this year’s edition, and though I ultimately ended up tiring early of flitting about from theater to theater like a mouse in a movie maze (it happens to even the most fanatically devoted of us on occasion, or so I’m told), there were, as always, several things I learned by attending Tcmff 2017 as well.

1) TCM Staffers Are Unfailingly Polite And Helpful

Thankfully I wasn’t witness, as I have been in past years, to any pass holders acting like spoiled children because they had to wait in a long queue or, heaven forbid, because they somehow didn’t get in to one of their preferred screenings. Part of what makes the Tcmff experience as pleasant as it often is can be credited to the tireless work...

Next month, the folks at Rialto will begin touring Julien Duvivier’s 1946 film, Panique.

Duvivier made 70 films between 1919 and 1967, many of them landmarks of French cinema. His first postwar project, a noir adaptation of Georges Simenon’s Mr. Hire’s Engagement (later adapted by Patrice Leconte as Monsieur Hire), stars Michel Simon as a reviled voyeur framed for a murder by the girl he adores. Now widely considered the finest Simenon adaptation but criticized at the time for its bleakness, the long-unseen Panique has finally been given the vivid restoration it deserves.

Here are the dates and places where the film will open first:

January 20 – 31 – New York, NY – Film Forum

February 3 – 9 – Chicago, Il – Gene Siskel Film Center

February 11, 13, & 16 – Baltimore, MD – The Charles

While Panique is not yet streaming on FilmStruck alongside several other Duvivier films, we’ll keep our fingers crossed for this film to join the Collection one day.

The New York Film Festival’s diverse slate of programming included a Revivals slate, a series of the latest restoration and re-releases of essential cinematic classics. Some of the films included Robert Bresson’s final film “L’Argent,” Edward Yang’s second feature “Taipei Story” and Julien Duvivier’s long-unseen postwar film “Panique,” which will have a two-week run at the Film Forum this January. Watch an exclusive trailer for the restoration below.

Read More: ‘The Lion in Winter’ Restoration Trailer: Anthony Harvey’s Beloved Adaptation Gets 4K Freshening — Watch

An adaptation of Georges Simenon’s “Mr. Hire’s Engagement,” the film follows Monsieur Hire (Michel Simon), a reviled, aloof voyeur who’s framed for murder by the very girl (Viviane Romance) whom he adores. It was Duvivier’s first film in France after his stint working Hollywood during World War II, and though it was criticized at the time for its bleakness,...

The Film Society of Lincoln Center has announced the lineup for the Revivals section, taking place during the 54th New York Film Festival (Nyff). The Revivals section showcases masterpieces from renowned filmmakers whose diverse and eclectic works have been digitally remastered, restored, and preserved with the assistance of generous partners.

Read More: Ava DuVernay’s Netflix Documentary ‘The 13th’ Will Open 54th New York Film Festival

Some of the films in the lineup include plenty of Nyff debuts returning once again: Gillo Pontecorvo’s “The Battle of Algiers,” which was the the Nyff Opening Night selection in 1967, Robert Bresson’s “L’argent,” and Barbara Kopple’s “Harlan County USA.” Also included are a program of Jacques Rivette’s early short films, Edward Yang’s second feature “Taipei Story,” Kenji Mizoguchi’s “Ugetsu,” and Marlon Brando’s solo directorial effort “One-Eyed Jacks.”

The Nyff previously announced three of the films screening...

As much as we’re excited for the already enticing line-up for the 2016 New York Film Festival, their Revivals slate is always a place where one can discover a number of classics or revisit favorite films. This year is no different as they have newly restored films from Robert Bresson, Edward Yang, Jacques Rivette, Marlon Brando, Kenji Mizoguchi, and more. Check out the line-up below and return for our coverage this fall. If you don’t live in New York City, there’s a good chance a number of these restorations will travel in the coming months (or year) as well as get the home video treatment.

L’argent

Directed by Robert Bresson

1983, France, 83m

Robert Bresson’s final film, an adaptation of Tolstoy’s story The Forged Coupon, is simultaneously bleak and luminous, and sharp enough to cut diamonds. The story of a counterfeit bill’s passage from hand...

Oh my god - it's full of stars! Photo: Jassy Earl

Day seven of the Glasgow Film Festival began with classic film noir The Big Sleep, starring Humphrey Bogart as detective Philip Marlowe pitched against Lauren Bacall’s sultry femme fatale. There was a chance to catch up with films that had proved a hit with audiences earlier in the festival, such as Demolition and The Pearl Button, before the evening introduced an older classic. Part of the festival’s retrospective look at the work of Jules Duvivier, Panique, which features a superb performance by Michel Simon as the misfit made a scapegoat after a murder is committed, and which would go on to inspire Patrice Leconte’s much admired Monsieur Hire, proved a hit with cineastes and the curious alike. The print isn’t in great condition these days but it’s still a stunning film and its final...

Blue in the Face: Amalric’s Simenon Adaptation an Exquisite Enigma

Though actor/director Mathieu Amalric’s last directorial effort, On Tour (2010), landed him a Best Director win at the Cannes Film Festival, it never received Us distribution. Thankfully, his latest effort, an adaptation of Georges Simenon’s novel The Blue Room, won’t be subjected to the same neglect, as it’s an elegantly staged exercise of what could have easily been a straightforward nourish tale of adultery and murder. Pared down to a regal running time of barely eighty minutes, Amalric’s film is cinema of sensation, a puzzle of subtlety detailed accents and various, deliberate textures. Swift and intoxicating, by the time its final implications have been announced, what’s left is a sense of paralytic comprehension, a goading motivation for a second viewing. It’s depiction of an adulterous affair is icy, complicated, isolating, but...

Exclusive: John Wrathall script The Italian Chapel readied for 2015 shoot.

Andrew Bendel of the UK’s Blue Horizon Productions and Cristiano Bortone of Italy’s Orisa Produzioni are to co-produce Second World War love story The Italian Chapel.

Scheduled for a 2015 shoot, the film charts the love story between an Italian Pow in Scotland and a local woman.

The original screenplay by John Wrathall was previously selected for Working Title’s emerging writers scheme and has been developed by Blue Horizon with support from the BFI Film Fund.

Wrathall’s credits include the original screenplay for The Liability, starring Tim Roth and Peter Mullan, and Good starring Viggo Mortensen, which screened at Toronto and was released in the UK by Lionsgate.

Set during the Second World War, The Italian Chapel - based on true events - follows a reluctant private in Mussolini’s army who is captured by the British and sent to a windswept camp on...

The Classic French Film Festival celebrates St. Louis’ Gallic heritage and France’s cinematic legacy. The featured films span the decades from the 1920s through the 1980s (with a particular focus on filmmakers from the New Wave), offering a comprehensive overview of French cinema. Monsieur Hire will screen as part of the festival at 12pm Saturday, June 21st at the St. Louis Art Museum.

In a provincial French apartment block, Monsieur Hire (Michel Blanc) endures a solitary life of dull work as a tailor and vitriolic scorn from his neighbors. Hire’s only solace is an occasional night out bowling and his voyeuristic admiration of a neighbor, the ravishing Alice (Sandrine Bonnaire of “Vagabond”), a beautiful, free-spirited woman conducting a heated love affair through un-drawn curtains across the way. But when police discover the nude body of another young woman in a nearby vacant lot, Hire becomes the prime suspect...

The Belgian-born Georges Simenon (1903-1989) wrote over 200 novels (by Wikipedia's count) plus many shorter works. The New York Times estimates that number (including his memoirs and nonfiction works) as being between 400 and 500. Simenon's creation, Inspector Jules Maigret, who appeared in about 75 works, "ranks only after Sherlock Holmes as the world's best known fictional detective." (I'm not sure how Poirot feels about that.) Of course, such popularity could not be overlooked by the entertainment industry, and imdb.com has compiled a list of 132 movies and TV shows based on his oeuvre. And now the Anthology Archives, with Kathy Geritz and the Pacific Film Archive, is presenting 14 of these celluloid joys within the series appropriately entitled Cine-Simenon: George Simenon on Film, which runs until August 21st.

Before viewing the celluloid Simenon, I decided to nestle down with the textural Simenon, and within a week, I had plowed through five of his works,...

I've mentioned before how several years ago I created a list using Roger Ebert's Great Movies, Oscar Best Picture winners, IMDb's Top 250, etc. and began going through them doing my best to see as many of the films on these lists that I had not seen as I possibly could to up my film I.Q. Well, someone has gone through the exhaustive effort to take all of the films Roger Ebert wrote about in his three "Great Movies" books, all of which are compiled on his website and added them to a Letterbxd list and I've added that list below. I'm not positive every movie on his list is here, but by my count there are 363 different titles listed (more if you count the trilogies, the Up docs and Decalogue) and of those 363, I have personally seen 229 and have added an * next to those I've seen. Clearly I have some work to do,...

I've mentioned before how several years ago I created a list using Roger Ebert's Great Movies, Oscar Best Picture winners, IMDb's Top 250, etc. and began going through them doing my best to see as many of the films on these lists that I had not seen as I possibly could to up my film I.Q. Well, someone has gone through the exhaustive effort to take all of the films Roger Ebert wrote about in his three "Great Movies" books, all of which are compiled on his website and added them to a Letterbxd list and I've added that list below. I'm not positive every movie on his list is here, but by my count there are 362 different titles listed (more if you count the trilogies and Decalogue) and of those 362, I have personally seen 229 and have added an * next to those I've seen. Clearly I have some work to do,...

By Todd Garbarini

It has been said that if you want action films, look no further than Asian and American cinema; and no one makes a mystery or a satire like the British. The same can be said about the French when it comes to love stories, and while our Seine-strutting amis can also whip up slapstick comedies like few can (think Louis De Funes donning a beard, black hat, and impersonating a rabbi), they rarely fail to deliver captivating examples of both of these beloved genres.

Patrice Leconte, best known to American audiences for Monsieur Hire (1989) and The Hairdresser’s Husband (1990), gives us The Perfume of Yvonne (1994), now available on DVD from Severin Films. Based on the 1975 novel Villa Triste by Patrick Modiano, the film introduces us to Victor Chmara (Hippolyte Girardot of Manon of the Spring among many others), who is recalling the events that transpired in his...

Nov. 12th: Celebrating the birthdays of the filmic and famous

1840 Auguste Rodin, sculptor... still waiting on a biopic though Gerard Depardieu did play him in Camille Claudel (1988). In his honor today, get naked and strike a memorable pose.

1922 Kim Hunter, "Stellaaa!"

1929 Grace Kelly, princess

1942 Wallace Shawn, "inconceivable!"

1945 Neil Young, musician

1947 Patrice Leconte, director (Ridicule, The Widow of St. Pierre, Monsieur Hire, etcetera)

1958 Megan Mullally, Karen no more

1963 Susumu Terajima, Japanese actor

1973 Radha Mitchell, actress. Melinda²

1978 Alexandra Maria Lara, international schauspielerin

Finally, let's hear it for one-time Oscar nominees Ryan Gosling, turning 29 today, and Anne Hathaway, turning 27. Will it be tricky for them to find worthy follow ups to Half Nelson and Rachel Getting Married? Being in demand, which they both unquestionably are, is different than finding challenging three-dimensional parts. Hathaway has 10 projects somewhere on that long and volatile road to the screen the most exciting of which, from an acting standpoint,...

ORLANDO -- IFC Films has acquired all U.S. rights to Patrice Leconte's French comedy My Best Friend (Mon meilleur ami), starring Daniel Auteuil.

The feature, which had its world premiere as a gala presentation in September at the Toronto International Film Festival, follows an unlikable antique dealer (Auteuil) who falsely claims to have a best friend. When his skeptical business partner (Julie Gayet) doubts he has any at all and challenges him to arrange an introduction, he frantically seeks out the help of an outgoing taxi driver (Dany Boon) to learn how to make a friend.

" 'My Best Friend' will appeal to the masses and be supported with an impressive level of marketing and distribution expertise," said IFC Entertainment president Jonathan Sehring, who had the option to acquire the film for his IFC First Take day-and-date program but chose the IFC division known for bigger releases. "This acquisition further exemplifies our commitment to aggressively growing our theatrical release slate for 2007 with larger, commercial films."

Leconte's films have been a proven draw in a tough domestic market for foreign films. His credits include 1989's Monsieur Hire, 1996's Ridicule and 2004's Intimate Strangers (Confidences trop intimes).

The film was produced by Olivier Delbose and Marc Missonnier through their Fidelite Prods., and co-produced by TF1 Film Prods., Wild Bunch and Lucky Red. Leconte wrote the original screenplay with Olivier Dazat and Jerome Tonnerre.

ORLANDO -- IFC Films has acquired all U.S. rights to Patrice Leconte's French comedy My Best Friend (Mon meilleur ami), starring Daniel Auteuil.

The feature, which had its world premiere as a gala presentation in September at the Toronto International Film Festival, follows an unlikable antique dealer (Auteuil) who falsely claims to have a best friend. When his skeptical business partner (Julie Gayet) doubts he has any at all and challenges him to arrange an introduction, he frantically seeks out the help of an outgoing taxi driver (Dany Boon) to learn how to make a friend.

" 'My Best Friend' will appeal to the masses and be supported with an impressive level of marketing and distribution expertise," said IFC Entertainment president Jonathan Sehring, who had the option to acquire the film for his IFC First Take day-and-date program but chose the IFC division known for bigger releases. "This acquisition further exemplifies our commitment to aggressively growing our theatrical release slate for 2007 with larger, commercial films."

Leconte's films have been a proven draw in a tough domestic market for foreign films. His credits include 1989's Monsieur Hire, 1996's Ridicule and 2004's Intimate Strangers (Confidences trop intimes).

The film was produced by Olivier Delbose and Marc Missonnier through their Fidelite Prods., and co-produced by TF1 Film Prods., Wild Bunch and Lucky Red. Leconte wrote the original screenplay with Olivier Dazat and Jerome Tonnerre.

LONDON -- French director Patrice Leconte said Wednesday that he is eyeing his first English-language project, a remake of his 1989 hit Monsieur Hire. "I am expecting an English-language draft of the script from a British writer next week," Leconte said in an interview. "But it will depend on the draft and whether it works in English." Leconte, who was in London for Unifrance's French Film Tour, declined to name the screenwriter. He said he expects the new script to differ significantly from the original while maintaining the thriller's core themes. Monsieur Hire, which starred Michel Blanc and Sandrine Bonnaire, tells the story of a reclusive man suspected of murder who obsessively watches a young woman in her apartment.