''The Beast'' (french: La Bête) is an upcoming French-Canadian

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

romantic drama Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey ...

film directed by

Bertrand Bonello Bertrand Bonello (; born 11 September 1968) is a French film director, screenwriter, producer and composer. His background is in classical music, and he lives between Paris and Montreal. His work has also been associated with the New French Extre ...

from a screenplay by Bonello, Guillaume Bréaud and Benjamin Charbit, freely inspired by

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...

' 1903 novella '' The Beast in the Jungle''. It stars

Léa Seydoux Léa Hélène Seydoux-Fornier de Clausonne (; born 1 July 1985) is a French actor. Known for her roles in both French cinema and in Hollywood she's received various accolades including the Cannes Film Festival's Trophée Chopard in 2009 as well ...

and George MacKay. The film is expected to be released in 2023.

Plot

In the near future where emotions have become a threat, Gabrielle finally decides to purify her DNA in a machine that will plunge her into her past lives and rid her of all strong feelings. She then meets Louis and feels a powerful connection, as if she had always known him. The story unfolds over three distinct periods: 1910, 2014 and 2044.

Cast

as Gabrielle * George MacKay as Louis

Production

Development

On 20 January 2021, French magazine ''

Les Inrockuptibles ''Les Inrockuptibles'' () is a French cultural magazine. Started as a monthly magazine in 1986, it became weekly in 1995. Now it is a monthly again, since 2021. In the beginning, rock music was the magazine's primary focus, though every issue in ...

'' reported that on 14 January 2021, Arte France Cinéma had allocated support for

's next film, ''La Bête'', a sci-fi melodrama starring

Gaspard Ulliel Gaspard Thomas Ulliel (; 25 November 198419 January 2022) was a French actor. He was known for having portrayed the young Hannibal Lecter in ''Hannibal Rising'' (2007), fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent in the biopic '' Saint Laurent'' (2014 ...

and

. The film is a co-production between France's Les Films du Bélier, Arte France Cinéma, My New Picture, and Canada's Sons of Manual. Ad Vitam will release the film in France, and international sales will be handled by Kinology. Bonello started writing the screenplay in 2017 with

and

in mind for the lead roles, after working with them in the 2014 film '' Saint Laurent''. The screenplay, freely inspired by

' 1903 novella '' The Beast in the Jungle'', was written by Bonello with contributions from Guillaume Bréaud and Benjamin Charbit. Filming was postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

and was scheduled to start in April 2022. In the meantime, Bonello directed the film ''

Coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal wake-sleep cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. Coma patients exhi ...

'' (2022) instead, which featured Ulliel in the last movie he filmed and the last work he finished. Ulliel died on 19 January 2022 following a skiing accident, and the filming for ''The Beast'' was delayed again. On 13 February 2022, Bonello told

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

that he would likely recast Ulliel's role with a non-French actor. On 16 May 2022, ''Variety'' reported that British actor George MacKay was cast as the male lead. It was also reported that the film will take place in Paris and California, will be shot in French and English, and that filming was scheduled to start in August 2022. On 4 September 2022, Léa Seydoux told ''

Deadline Deadline(s) or The Deadline(s) may refer to: * Time limit, a narrow field of time by which an objective must be accomplished Arts, entertainment, and media Comics * Deadline (DC Comics), a fictional villain * ''Deadline'' (magazine), a British ...

'' that George MacKay learned French for the film and that filming will resume in late October.

Filming

Filming started in Paris on 22 August 2022.

References

External links

*
''The Beast''
at UniFrance {{DEFAULTSORT:Beast (2023 film) Upcoming films 2023 films 2023 drama films French romantic drama films French science fiction films Canadian romantic drama films Canadian science fiction films 2020s French-language films English-language French films Films set in Paris Films shot in Paris Films shot in California Films directed by Bertrand Bonello Films with screenplays by Bertrand Bonello Arte France Cinéma films Films based on works by Henry James Films based on British novels Films set in 1910 Films set in 2014 Films set in 2044 Film productions suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic Films impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic 2020s Canadian films 2020s French films