Lionsgate Boards Rachid Bouchareb’s ‘Belleville Cop’ Starring Omar Sy – Cannes
Lionsgate has boarded international sales on multi-language action comedy Belleville Cop, starring French actor Omar Sy and directed by Rachid Bouchareb.
Sy, who starred in French box office hit The Intouchables, is joined by Luis Guzman, Algerian actress Biyouna, Julie Ferrier, Frank Gastambide and Diem Ngyen. Project is currently in production on location in Paris and Miami. Larry Gross is penning the script and Davis Films’ Samuel Hadida will produce the title with Tessalit Films. Hadida’s Metropolitan FilmExport will release the project in France in late spring 2018.
Sy stars as Baaba Keita, who loves Belleville, a working-class neighborhood in Paris where he’s built his entire life and where his beloved mother reigns as queen. As a cop, he’s refused all promotions in order to stay there. Even his girlfriend is tired of watching him getting nowhere. When his childhood friend Roland comes to visit from Miami to warn him about the drug trade taking over their neighborhood, Baaba wants to find out more, but his buddy gets killed before he can say anything else. To avenge his friend, Baaba packs his things and his mother and moves to Miami where, to see his investigation through to the end, he’ll team up with an American cop, Ricardo (Guzman), who doesn’t like the fact that Baaba doesn’t go by the book.
“We are thrilled to be working with our long-time partners Metropolitan on this fun and exciting buddy cop film taking place in Paris and Miami,” said Lionsgate’s Motion Picture Group Chairman Patrick Wachsberger and EVP of International Sales Crystal Bourbeau, who brought the project to Lionsgate.” “This multi-lingual film is a new and fresh take on the classic buddy cop genre sure to entertain audiences worldwide.”
Sy gained prominence with his role as the caretaker in international hit The Intouchables, where he won a Cesar Award for Best Actor. He’s had roles in X-Men: Days of Future Past and Jurassic World. Bouchareb has had two features selected for competition in Cannes: Hors La Loi and Indigenes, for which he won a Cesar for Best Screenplay.
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