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Xavier Gens, the popular genre filmmaker behind Netflix‘s hit shark movie “Under Paris,” “Mayhem!” and “Gangs of London,” will next direct “Lady Chang.” The Thailand-set psychological thriller will be headlined by up-and-comer Anais Parello (“Under Paris”). Studiocanal will distribute in France and will handle international sales.
The film will also star Pascale Arbillot and Anne Marivin, as well as Franck Dubosc (“Rolling to You”), an actor well known for starring in successful French comedies who will make a rare incursion in a non-comedic role.
“Lady Chang” is produced by Vincent Roget via his and Gens’ Same Player outfit, and co-produced by genre specialists WTF films. Set to start shooting on location on May 12 for nine weeks, the film has also been acquired by Amazon Prime Video, as well as the broadcaster France Televisions and pay TV channel OCS. It will shoot in English, French and Thai.
The film follows Léna, a former French war photographer who is traumatized by the loss of her team during her last mission and sets off to rebuild her life in a region of Southeast Asia known as the Golden triangle. She becomes a volunteer at an elephant sanctuary run by Erika, a fellow expat who has been living in Asia for seven years. There, she meets Tangwa, a Burmese woman who starts helping her to overcome her PTSD. “But nothing goes as planned and Lena’s demons resurface, involving her in various forms of trafficking. Lena has no choice but to fight for what she believes is right, to the detriment of her safety and that of those around her,” reads the synopsis.
Gens penned the original screenplay with “Gangs of London”‘s co-writer Gareth Evans. He said “Lady Chang” “will have the same DNA as ‘Gangs of London,’” the BAFTA-winning and Emmy-nominated series revolving around an ex-undercover cop turned gangster who becomes a top-level criminal.
The director said it “will boast epic action scenes, lush cinematography and an exotic backdrop.” It will also be gonzo thriller in the same vein as “Mayhem!” which starred Steven Yeun of “The Walking Dead” as an attorney who gets wrongfully fired on the same day that an airborne virus starts infecting the corporate tower of his major law firm. “Mayhem!” was sold by Studiocanal around the world, including in the U.S. where it was picked up by Shudder and RLJ Entertainment.
The French director’s most recent success of “Under Paris” which dropped on Netflix last June, just a month before the start of the summer Olympics in Paris, and featured triathlon athletes who get devoured during a swimming race in the Seine. The movie, which was praised by horror master Stephen King on social media, scored the best launch for a non-English language film on Netflix with 41 million views in its five first days on the service and ranked first on the streamer’s top 10 for non-English language films across 93 countries. Gens says he’s currently at script stage on the sequel of “Under Paris.” Gens’s many credits also include episodes of “Lupin,” the streamer’s other smash hit.
