Receivership proceedings against veteran independent producer-distributor Wild Bunch France were opened by Paris’ Commercial Court (Le Tribunal des Activités Économiques de Paris) on January 30 for a six-month observation period after the company defaulted on payments from mid-December 2025.
The proceedings affect Wild Bunch’s French activities, encompassing film production and distribution, and series divisions.
It does not apply to Wild Bunch’s activities abroad, particularly in Germany, Italy and Spain, and also does not apply to sales company Elle Driver, which sits under the Wild Bunch France banner.
The receivership means Wild Bunch France has six months to prove it has a viable business model and a fruitful upcoming slate as it undergoes a transformation spearheaded by CEO David Desplas, who took the reins in January of this year.
Challenges
Wild Bunch had a difficult 2025 that included setbacks at the box office for films in which the company had heavily invested, only to underperform, among them Thomas Kruithof’s Ablaze (115,000 admissions) and Sylvain Chomet’s A Magnificent Life (205,000).
It also released several underperforming arthouse titles, including Eva Victor’s Sorry, Baby (77,500 admissions) and David Moreau’s Other, which reached just 13,500 admissions when it came out last summer.
However, Elsa Bennett and Hippolyte Dard’s Better Days did well with 493,000 admissions.
In the meantime, the company continues to remain active in an attempt to avoid liquidation. Desplas confirmed it has no plans to shut down and is actively pursuing a revamped strategy moving forward.
“We plan to create new partnerships in either co-productions or co-distribution agreements, and we are looking to find outside forms of financing from private investors,” he told Screen.
Wild Bunch Distribution has six films in the pipeline that Desplas assured will reach French cinemas, including Wilfried Meance’s comedy L’Arnaqueuse starring Josiane Balasko, which has an April 22 release date, and Kent Jones’ Late Fame and Marion Le Corroller’s Species, which are both undated.
Desplas said the company planned to continue balancing its line-up with a mix of arthouse films and more commercial titles. “For every arthouse film released, we need to release a more commercial film to finance it.”
On the TV side, it is readying the anticipated six-episode TV series Alice starring Bérénice Béjo as pioneering female filmmaker Alice Guy, which it is co-producing with France Télévisions and HBO Max.
Desplas said the company’s production and TV divisions continue to thrive, but blamed its current debt challenges on a “problematic distribution context in 2025” that saw the country’s box office plummet 14% year on year.
“As big groups like Mediawan, Studio TF1 and Canal+ continue to dominate, if nothing changes, all of the independents will be forgotten,” he warned.
Desplas, however, added that he remained positive about the company’s future. “The receivership is just a first step. We are giving ourselves time and remain very active. I’m optimistic.”
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