Amazon and Netflix Are Already Preparing to Restart Productions in France

In mid-March, the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic brought Hollywood and global entertainment industries to a halt, shutting down film and TV productions across the world. But as cases in the U.S. are on the rise, life in countries across the Atlantic (and Pacific) are beginning to return to normal. Film and TV productions overseas are slowly resuming, with France becoming the next country to loosen restrictions enough for Amazon and Netflix productions to restart.

Variety reports that Amazon and Netflix productions that shoot in France are preparing to resume shooting as the country loosens restrictions that have been in place since going into lockdown in mid-March. This includes the Amazon drama Voltaire Mixte and Netflix’s Arsene Lupin starring The Intouchables‘ Omar Sy.

Voltaire Mixte, which follows an all-boys high school in the ’60s that starts welcoming girls, is expected to restart filming in mid-July in the south of France while Arsene Lupin, a modern-day reimagining of the iconic gentleman thief, won’t begin shooting until September, according to Variety. The latter series was filming in the Louvre when production stopped, but the famous French museum will reopen in June.

The slow restarting of production is possible due to the French government’s recent launch of a temporary indemnity fund created by the National Film Board (CNC) in collaboration with the regions and private partners, including banks, loan institutions and insurers. Not many details available about the fund, but culture minister Franck Riester said on May 6 that the fund will exceed €50 million ($54 million) and will be extended to film and TV productions that were halted during the pandemic. France’s health minister is also expected to greenlight sanitary guidelines for filming during the pandemic.

French films will also resume shooting in June, with two big-budget movies from Pathé, the period drama Eiffel starring Sex Education star Emma Mackey, and the World War II drama Adieu Monsieur Haffmann set to shoot in Paris.

France joins New Zealand and the Czech Republic as the latest country to cautiously resume shooting amid the pandemic. This helps Hollywood productions that are shot overseas, but it seems that domestically-shot films are still a ways away from resuming.

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