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PRODUCTION France

Ares: Ola Rapace in a futuristic world

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- The Swedish actor is toplining Jean-Patrick Benes’ film, which is currently being shot, and is staged by Albertine Productions and sold by Gaumont

Ares: Ola Rapace in a futuristic world
Swedish actor Ola Rapace

Given that French film production very rarely ventures into futuristic territory, Jean-Patrick Benes’ Ares [+see also:
trailer
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]
, which has been filming in the Paris region since 20 October, is certainly piquing some curiosity. The second feature by the director, following Vilaine [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
(which was a surprise success in 2008, taking 1 million admissions in France), is not lacking in originality in terms of the cast either, given that it is being toplined by Swedish actor Ola Rapace (who turned heads in the role of one of the bad guys in Skyfall [+see also:
film review
trailer
making of
film profile
]
, and was also popular in such titles as Beyond [+see also:
trailer
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]
, I Am Yours [+see also:
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trailer
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]
and Tommy [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
). He is joined by Micha Lescot (a very prominent stage actor who was seen recently on the big screen in Saint Laurent [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Bertrand Bonello
film profile
]
, among other movies), Belgian actor Thierry Hancisse (a member of the Comédie Française, nominated for the Magritte Award for Best Actor in 2011 for The Boat Race [+see also:
trailer
interview: Bernard Bellefroid, directo…
film profile
]
), Hélène Fillières (star of the TV series Mafiosa), Swedish actress (of Spanish descent) Ruth Vega Fernandez (With Every Heartbeat [+see also:
trailer
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]
, Call Girl [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
) and young actress Eva Lallier.

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Written by Jean-Patrick Benes together with Allan Mauduit (who co-directed Vilaine), the story is set at some unspecified time in the future, simply known as “Tomorrow”. The world order has changed completely. With 10 million people unemployed, France is now one of the world’s poorest countries. Its population teeters between rebellion and resignation, and finds a way to let off steam by watching ultra-violent fights on TV, in which performance-enhancing drugs are lawfully administered to the participants. All of the pharmaceutical companies have their own teams of champions who are benefitting from the latest advances being made in this field. But Ares is no champion; he is a fighter in his twilight years who needs money to get his sister out of prison. And so his coach suggests that he take an experimental drug that is meant to enable him to win all of his upcoming fights, as long as he survives the injections. Ares agrees to be a guinea pig, but that is just the start of the experiments...

Produced by Mathieu Tarot for Albertine Productions, Ares is benefitting from co-productions by Cinéfrance 1888 and Gaumont, as well as pre-purchases by Canal+ and Ciné+. The eight-week shoot will see Louis Leterrier acting as line producer and Jérôme Alméras (In the House [+see also:
film review
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]
, Quai d'Orsay [+see also:
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trailer
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]
, nominated for the David di Donatello Awards in 2014 for Human Capital [+see also:
trailer
interview: Paolo Virzì
film profile
]
) as DoP. Distribution in France (the theatrical release is scheduled for 1 September 2015) and international sales are handled by Gaumont (which officially launched pre-sales at the AFM).

In September, Albertine Productions unveiled Gemma Bovery [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Anne Fontaine (which took 570,000 admissions in France), and the outfit also has Christian Vincent’s L'hermine [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
(read the news) in production, starring Danish actress Sidse Babet Knudsen (Borgen) and Fabrice Luchini.

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(Translated from French)

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