Other Angle picks up rights for Bus Palladium and Les Beaux Gosses

Bus Palladium, the first film to be directed by screenwriter/actor Christopher Thompson, stars Marc-Andre Grondin, Arthur Dupont, Elisa Sednaoui and Geraline Pailhas. The $9.9m (Euros 7.5m) film follows the break-up of a French rock group spurred on by its two charismatic leaders.

Produced by LGM partners Jean-Baptiste Dupont and Cyril Colbeau-Justin, the film started principal photography last week for a 12 week shoot in Paris, the south of France and Spain. StudioCanal will release it in France early next year.

Thompson, the son of director Daniele Thompson, is well-known for his work as an actor and writer on such films as Change Of Plans and Orchestra Seats. He was nominated for a writing Cesar for the latter.

The sales company has also picked up Riad Sattouf’s first film Les Beaux Gosses. Produced by Anne-Dominique Toussaint with Pathe and Studio 37, the film is a coming-of-age tale about an adolescent boy and his efforts to fit in amongst a varied cast of characters. Noemie Lvovsky, Irene Jacob, Emmanuelle Devos and Valeria Golino co-star.

The film, which will be released by Pathe in June, will be screened at the Cannes Marche, according to Other Angle founders Olivier Albou and Laurence Schonberg.

Meanwhile, Other Angle’s first title La Premiere Etoile, the first film from Lucien Jean-Baptiste and released in France by Mars Films, has sold 700,000 tickets in its first two weeks of release.

Mars released the film on 268 screens in its first week which led to an impressive 450,000 admissions. Eighty screens were added for the second week and the film is expected to cross the coveted 1m admissions mark in its third week.

The film has been sold to Films de l’Elysee in Benelux, Frenetic in Switzerland and Seville in Canada.