Fostering the growth in France of fantastic, horror and science fiction films and series is the stated ambition of the new production company Wild West.
This genre cinema label was launched on Wednesday by producers and distributors Vincent Maraval (Wild Bunch) and Thierry Lounas (Capricci).
To read also: The ultimatum of Canal + to the French cinema
Installed in Bayonne and Bordeaux, Wild West will be dedicated "
100% to genre cinema in the broad sense
", that is to say also to detective, thriller or superhero films, specifies the management in a press release. The company will propose each year "
a dozen projects of feature films and series
" for "
purposes of financing, remake, or concept of series
", she added.
All will have "
been the subject of a one-year development within the So Film Residence (writing)
", a creative laboratory based in Bordeaux, initiated in 2016 by Thierry Lounas, director of the monthly
So Film
and the production company Capricci. The first project to have emerged from this residency,
La Nués
- on a farmer trying her hand at breeding edible grasshoppers which turned out to be greedy for blood - was released on June 16 in theaters.
Wild West unveiled Wednesday "
a dozen projects of films and series already scripted
".
Among them,
Les mains d'Orla
, a fantastic thriller written by Dominique Baumard, with Melvil Poupaud.
The actor plays there a virtuoso pianist who lost his hands in a car accident and finds himself seized with murderous impulses after a revolutionary transplant.
A special effects studio
Also on the rails, the series
Cygnes
, written by Dominique Baumard and Mathieu Mégemont and directed by the latter, "
a supernatural thriller with psychedelic flights
", with actor Karim Leklou (
Hippocrate
). Or
Incarnation
, a film by Mael Le Mée with India Hair (
Mandibles
,
Poissonsexe
), about a young girl in artificial flesh.
The launch of Wild West is accompanied by that of Bordeaux digital, a “
special effects studio which will be closely linked
” to its productions.
"
Wild West offers a French genre cinema
" telling "
the world of today
" and leaving "
the codes of the genre
", assures Thierry Lounas, quoted in the press release.
"
It is also a great laboratory for a new generation of filmmakers who are no longer necessarily screenwriters of their films,
" he adds.
French genre cinema has experienced a revival since the release in 2016 of
Grave
by Julia Ducournau, also director of
Titanium
, selected in competition at Cannes this year.