EXCLUSIVEVertigo Prods., the company behind last year's huge French hit "Would I Lie to You?," has announced plans to open a U.S. office and produce a string of English-language remakes of French pics with U.S. partners.
Among the company's projects will be remakes of two of its most successful French titles, "Would I Lie to You?" (La Verite si je mens) and "When the Cat's Away" (Chacun cherche son chat).
"Lie," which starred Richard Anconina and Richard Bohringer, had better than 5 million admissions in France and was the No. 1 French film in 1997, with a gross of $28 million.
The original version of "Cat" was released in the U.S. by Sony Pictures Classics last year, where it took in almost $2 million.
"We are looking to produce films in the U.S. together with a U.S. distributor or partner," Vertigo principal and co-founder Manuel Munz said.
According to Vertigo, it intends to invest as much as $100 million in Stateside production over the next 18 months to two years. The remake of "Lie" will be budgeted at around $25 million and the remake of "Cat" is budgeted at $10 million.
Also in the works is the English-language drama "Bikila," about the first African athlete to win a gold medal at the Olympics. That project is being developed with French major Gaumont.
Vertigo currently is shooting its first Stateside feature, the $5 million farcical comedy "Live Virgin," starring Bob Hoskins, Robert Loggia, Mena Suvari, Gabriel Mann, Sally Kellerman and Esai Morales. The film is the first feature of former French fashion photographer Jean-Pierre Marois.
"Virgin" is being produced by Munz and Vertigo's Aissa Djabri and Farid Lahouassa, and co-financed by French digital platform TPS and terrestrial net M6. CLT-Ufa Intl. has all rights to the film outside the U.S. and France.
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