Cannes 2014: Drafthouse Films Picks up LA FRENCH

Drafthouse Films has announced they picked up the U.S. rights to Cedric Jimenez’s crime thriller La French, which just premiered at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.  Described as “the European flipside to William Friedkin’s The French Connection,” the film stars Jean Dujardin (The Artist) as a young magistrate setting out to take down organized crime in France.

Drafthouse plans to screen the film in it’s original 35mm format, and will also be releasing a limited number of VHS copies when it hits home video.  La French will be released in theaters January, 2015.  Look below for the full press release.

CANNES, FRANCE –  Drafthouse Films has acquired the US distribution rights to Cedric Jimenez’s period crime thriller “La French” starring Jean Dujardin.   A dazzling eight minute promo reel debuted at this week’s Cannes Film Festival, resulting in a prebuy bidding war for distribution rights in multiple territories.  This deal marks the first collaboration between Gaumont and Drafthouse Films.

La French was produced by Alain Goldman and Legende Films, was directed by Cedric Jimenez and stars Jean Dujardin as Pierre Michel opposite Gilles Lellouche as mob boss Gaetan Zempa.

While in Cannes to promote the movie, Dujardin told Variety “La French” was the first film he decided to do after winning an Oscar for “The Artist.”

“One of our goals is to get young audiences excited about foreign language film,” says Drafthouse Films founder and CEO Tim League. “We combed the market and devoured the official selections. Nothing excited us more than La French.”

Cecile Gaget, head of Gaumont Intl. who negotiated the deal said “we want to launch La French, a movie we consider to be a milestone in French genre cinema, with a director-friendly partner who understands how cool this movie is.  We think Drafthouse Films is the perfect match.”

“I am proud that La French is going to be released by Drafthouse, said director Cedric Jimenez. “They defend “cinema de qualité” with passion and talent. We are extremely excited to work with them.”

La French was shot on 35mm and will be screened theatrically in select venues in 35mm along with a collection of vintage 35mm classic crime trailers curated by Cedric Jimenez (DCPs will also be available).  Drafthouse Films also plans a limited edition VHS release for the film in addition to traditional DVD, Bluray and digital formats.

The deal was negotiated by Cecile Gaget and Yohann Comte from Gaumont  International and James Shapiro and Tim League from Drafthouse Films.