With its impressive stunt scenes, pimped cars and groomed cops, Netflix’s “Lost Bullet” This film is a departure from French horrors that feature run down cops who are on the brink of retirement or depression.
Sara May (a Quebec native executive) is a key force behind the new wave of French action thrillers like The Hunger Games. She joined Netflix in 2018 as a Netflix Executive. “Lost Bullet” Franchises that were huge hits worldwide on the streamer.
The second opus, which was released on the platform two weeks ago, is the opus 2. “Lost Bullet” currently ranks as the most-watched non-English language movie on Netflix, and it’s also in the top 10 across 80 countries. This movie is also a top-rated film in over 80 countries, such as France, Morocco Saudi Arabia and Kenya.
Marseille is located in Southern France. “Lost Bullet 2” brings back the French cast including Alban Lenoir, Stéfi Celma and Pascale Arbillot. Lenoir (As shown above(also known as) who began his career in stunt work on films like “Taken,” plays a car mechanic turned small-time thug who gets recruited by the drug crime squad and exposes rampant corruption within the cop unit.
“Since the ‘Taxi’ franchise, whose first film came out nearly 20 years ago, there hadn’t been a big French-language action franchise,” said May, Netflix’s head of content acquisition in France. “With ‘Lost Bullet’ we’ve created a brand from scratch with an emerging director, Guillaume Pierret, and it has resonated with our subscribers not just in France but around the world, as if we had tapped into a real need,” Mai continued, and admitted that she had “a soft spot for action movies.”
“Lost Bullet” Follows a series of French high-voltage action stars that thrive on Netflix. Previous hits include Julien Leclercq’s “Braqueurs,” “Sentinelle” And “Earth and Blood,” as well as Franck Gastambide’s “Restless” and Louis Leterrier’s “The Takedown” with Omar Sy, which held onto the top spot on Netflix’s Top 10 non-English film list 10 days after launching.
“France has had a long tradition dating back to those great movies with Jean-Paul Belmondo, and later with films produced by EuropaCorp, such as ‘Taxi,’ and we could say that Netflix is reviving this trend,” May was the son of an artist family in Quebec. He previously worked in France as a buyer/seller for Embankment Films and TF1.
Years ago, French helmers like Olivier Marchal and Fred Cavayé were directing cop thrillers for theaters but these are now seldom being made for the big screen. However, May sees the possibility of France’s revival of this genre.
While the U.S. is known for delivering the biggest action blockbusters — think the “Fast & Furious” franchise — France has succeeded in importing its own brand of films with a “fragment of U.S. budgets” Thanks to it “artistry and know-how,” Pierret was praised by May who, in turn, praised Pierret “artisan” skills.
“There’s no green screen, no splashy VFX, the stunts are real, the characters have arcs and storylines,” said May, adding that working with emerging directors and producers has also been at the core of Netflix’s mandate in France.
Netflix, despite being criticized for Americanizing the taste of foreign viewers, has nonetheless played a major role in helping to boost local economies and finding talent from diverse backgrounds. May stated that the success of “Banlieusards,” a film directed by the French rapper Kery James and Leila Sy that landed on Netflix in 2019, paved the way for this new breed of bold France-made Netflix movies that aren’t mainstream but very locally grounded. A recent example is Romain Gavras’ “Athena,” This film premiered at Venice Film Festival.
One of Netflix’s biggest international markets — with more than 13 million subscribers — France is also the first European country where Netflix has committed to specific investment quotas in local series and films under the EU’s Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMS). May’s acquisitions have increased in scope for French-language content, and May is now able to do so.
May works alongside Sonia Aksil and Gaelle Marischi, France’s content acquisition manager, respectively.
The major differences for a film handled by Netflix’s acquisition or production units include the timing of the streamer’s involvement and the extent of its creative input. Projects in the final stages of development, or those that have been completed by May may be brought onboard. “We have a lighter creative touch, and we’re essentially letting the producers at the center stage of the process,” said May, adding that streamer can bring as much financing to a film whether it’s handled as an acquisition or as a production.
The Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMS) was launched in France. May now has the responsibility of creating a content portfolio across all genres and budgets. “We work on projects in many different ways now,” She said. “We participate in the financing and on some films we can take the first window for global rights or just for France.” The directive requires Netflix to contribute a percentage of its annual revenues to finance films that have been theatrically released. Netflix can then stream the movies 15 months later. It’s a big improvement from the previous 36-month window, but it’s still unreasonably long.
Netflix now has the ability to acquire pay-TV rights for new movies. However, Netflix must wait fifteen months to access them instead of six months following their release in cinemas. Netflix is currently negotiating windowing and other services like Amazon and Disney+ are awaiting a positive overhaul of the rules in 2023.
Some of the theatrical projects recently boarded by Netflix include Maiwenn’s upcoming period movie with Johnny Depp starring as Louis XV. Filming wrapped in France recently and Maiwenn will play Jeanne du Barry. She is a brave countess, who was once the mistress to the French king. Netflix currently has the rights to this movie, although it may be available in other countries. Other titles acquired by May’s team include Reem Kherici’s family film “Chiens et Chats” and JB Marlin’s “Salem,” the helmer’s follow up to the Cesar-winning “Shéhérazade.”
“The fact that we are now buying films at an earlier stage under the directive gives us the opportunity to broaden our movie offer and work with different kinds of producers,” May.
Under the new scheme, Netflix could very likely turn up in Cannes with a prestige director-driven film that would have its world premiere in theaters — a prerequisite to be considered for Cannes’ competition. “Everything is possible today,” May.
May expressed her desire to take on more projects going forward. “female heroes” Explore under-exploited French genres like “heart-wrenching romance dramas.” “Where is the French ‘Notebook?” May quipped.