French-Canadian cop movie getting U.S. remake

[LindbergMTL]

News Services

Published: Thursday, November 12, 2009

 

Sony Pictures has picked up the remake rights to the French-Canadian hit action-comedy Fathers and Guns.

 

The film centers on two cops, father and son, who can't stand each other. They're assigned to infiltrate an outdoor adventure group-therapy camp for fathers and sons.

 

The adaptation will be developed and produced by Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall. Denise Robert and Emile Gaudreault, producer and writer-director, respectively, of the original film, also will produce the remake.

 

 

Released in Quebec this past summer as De Pere en flic, the film gave Hollywood productions a run for their money. It took in two-thirds of the summer's ticket sales in French-language films in Quebec and outgrossed Hollywood fare by more than 50%. It's the highest-grossing French-language film ever released in Quebec and Canada.

 

http://www2.canada.com/albernivalleytimes/news/entertainment/story.html?id=45938921-1d30-43da-ab9a-aa17725365be

[ProposMontréal]

Je ne l'ai pas vu, mais une question, le film a battu Bon Cop, Bad Cop en revenue?

[ProposMontréal]

J'ai pas pu m'empêcher d'aller cherche quelques articles.

 

Source: Variety.

Quebec crowds in hysterics over 'Fathers and Guns'

Canuck French-lingo action comedy is second highest at local B.O.

By BRENDAN KELLY

Canuck French-language action-comedy "Fathers and Guns" -- "De Pere en flic," en francais -- is one of the most successful local films ever in the mostly French-speaking province of Quebec.

But its record-breaking success has many in the biz here scratching their heads. All agree it is an efficient commercial vehicle, but no one is quite sure why it has outperformed all expectations, becoming the second highest grossing local pic ever in Quebec.

 

The pic from Montreal writer-director Emile Gaudreault focuses on a father-and-son duo who are both cops on the Montreal police force, with the macho dad mostly ashamed of his nerdy son. They go off to a wacky self-help camp in the woods for dads and sons with issues.

 

"There’s no logical explanation for the success of this film," said Simon Beaudry, president of Montreal-based box office tracking firm Cineac. "Each week, you think it’s going to go down, and it doesn’t. Normally, films like this, with a big launch, go down 30% the second week. But the sales just kept coming week after week."

 

The movie has made a little more than C$10 million ($9.3 million) at the Quebec box office since its July 8 release, and it is now within sniffing distance of "Bon Cop, Bad Cop," another action-comedy, which holds the all-time record for ticket sales for a local pic here (with a gross in Quebec of $9.8 million).

 

The success of "Bon Cop" in 2006 was more easily explained. That pic was the first-ever fully bilingual mainstream pic, and it became a local sensation by making comic hay out of the always-contentious issue of English-French relations in Canada.

 

But "Fathers and Guns" is more conventional than "Bon Cop," Beaudry says. "It can’t be explained. It’s a social phenomenon. You had to see it this summer."

 

It has been a good summer for ticket sales for Quebec film -- almost entirely thanks to "Fathers and Guns," which accounted for two-thirds of all sales for local pics this summer. The film helped boost Quebec pic sales bigtime: Local films nabbed 17.8% of all ticket sales in Quebec this summer, up from 8.4% of all sales in the summer of 2008. Three other Quebec films topped the $1 million mark -- caper comedy "Sticky Fingers," sky-diving pic "Free Fall" and teen swimming drama "A vos marques -- .Party! 2" -- but none of those films even made it to the $2 million mark.

 

"Fathers and Guns" producer Denise Robert is most proud that her film handily topped the Hollywood competition. Pic topped the closest U.S. contender, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," by $3 million in Quebec.

 

But even Robert admits it’s a matter of "being at the right place at the right time with the right movie."

 

Patrick Roy, president of Alliance Vivafilm, which handled "Fathers and Guns," underlines the fact that the comedy stars two "mega-vedettes" (big stars) -- seasoned thesp Michel Cote and top-selling standup comic Louis-Jose Houde -- and that both pulled in their own crowd for the film. That helped the pic appeal to a very wide demographic.

 

Source: Variety

Sony arms itself with 'Guns'

Studio nabs remake rights to French-Canadian pic

By TATIANA SIEGEL

Sony Pictures is arming itself with the French-Canadian box office hit "Fathers and Guns."

Studio has acquired the remake rights, with Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall to develop and produce a redo alongside the original film's Denise Robert and Emile Gaudreault.

 

The action-comedy revolves around two cops -- a father-and-son team who can't stand each other. They are assigned to an investigation to infiltrate an outdoor adventure group/therapy camp for fathers and sons. Gaudreault wrote and directed the original film, and Robert produced.

 

Released in Quebec in early July as "De Pere en flic," the film, which starred Michel Cote and Louis-Jose Houde, opened at No. 1 in the province and stayed popular throughout the summer, becoming the highest-grossing French-language film ever released in Quebec.

 

Remake marks Kennedy and Marshall's first project at Sony since inking a first-look deal with the studio in March.

[Habsfan]

JE ne suis pas allé avoir ce film. Ça ne m'intéresse pas vraiment!

[Malek]

Tu devrais, vraiment drôle

[ProposMontréal]

Moi non plus il ne m'intéresse pas mais on peut être fier quand même.

[JFrosty]

C'est une bonne petite comédie. Pas un grand film, mais un bon divertissement.

[steve_36]

C'est un bon film cool. Pas un grand film mais quelque chose de très bien pour l'été. Moi, en autant qu'il y a Remy Girard et je suis acheteur.

 

La raison de son énorme succès commercial s'explique peut-etre par une campagne de marketing excellente. J'ai rarement vu une campagne de ce genre au Québec.