European Films

 

Allocine reports that this year’s French Shooting Star Mélanie Laurent has been cast as Cinderella in the new film from director Marc Esposito simply titled Cendrillon (Cinderella). She will be joined by Sophie Marceau (Anthony Zimmer) as the fairy godmother, Catherine Jacob (Dikkenek) and Jean Reno (La tigre e la neve / The Tiger and the Snow) as the king in this retelling of the fairytale from Charles Perrault. In 2001 French director Olivier Dahan (La môme / La Vie en Rose) already brought one of Perrault's stories to the screen in Le petit poucet (Tom Thumb), with Catherine Deneuve in the role of the queen.

Laurent shot to fame last year with her star-making turn in Je vais bien, ne t'en fais pas (Don’t Worry, I’m Fine) from Philippe Lioret. The dark story of a sister (Laurent) looking for her twin brother who has gone missing was a surprise boxoffice hit in France and sold over one million tickets.

Laurent can next be seen as Isabelle Huppert’s daughter in the drama L’amour cachée (Hidden Love) from Alessandro Capone. It screens in competition at the upcoming Rome Film Fest.

Esposito founded the popular French cinema magazine Studio before turning to directing. His latest film is Le Coeur des hommes 2, a sequel to his successful 2003 feature Le Coeur des hommes (Frenchmen), which will be released in France later this month.