France tv distribution has released a first image of John Malkovich and Fanny Ardant in Gilles Legardinier’s comedy-drama Mr. Blake At Your Service! as it gears up to launch sales on the title at Cannes later this month.
The film is adapted from Legardinier’s best-selling French novel Complètement Cramé! and sees Malkovich stars as a recently widowed British businessman who takes a job as a butler in a manor house in northern France, in a bid to get closer to the memory of his late French wife. His life takes an unexpected turn as he navigates the eccentric behaviour of the lady of the manor played by Fanny Ardant and the other household staff. Emilie Dequenne and Philippe Bas co-star.
Bidibul Productions, Henon’s Luxembourg company with Lilian Eche, is a joint producer on the production with France’s Superprod. The production shot in Brittany and London this spring and is in post-production. Universal Picture International France has acquired French rights and is planning a 2023 release.
Malkovich and Ardant previously appeared on the big screen together in the 2015 period drama Casanova Variations.
“Reuniting John Malkovich and Fanny Ardant, these two huge stars, was our wish from the beginning of this beautiful adventure. To see them playing opposite one another is simply fabulous. They form the ideal ‘couple’ even if John Malkovich is playing the butler to Fanny Ardant,” said Luxembourgish producer and screenwriter Christel Henon, who collaborated on the adaptation of the novel.
“The film is aimed at an older audience,” Henon continued. “Given Gilles Legardinier’s fame, the success of the novel and the quality of the film as well as the involvement of Universal Picture International, we’re sure it will find an audience in France and other French-speaking territories. We’re convinced that the film can also travel further, not only thanks to the international casting but also the universal story.:
The feature marks the directorial debut of writer and former cinema publicist Legardinier.
“Seeing one of my books adapted to the big screen wasn’t an obsession for me. I’ve always said I’d prefer it not to be done rather than for it to be done badly. But with the producers Christel Henon and Liiian Eche and this perfect casting, the planets aligned,” said Legardinier.
“Everyone came for the story, for what it awakens in us, and I loved making this once solitary adventure now a collective adventure. It is an absolute chance born from a sincere feeling in which the whole team recognized itself. Seeing my characters come to life in the guise of John Malkovich, Fanny Ardant, Émilie Dequenne, Philippe Bas and Eugénie Anselin is an absolute privilege,” said Lagardinier.
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