Variety reports that Black Panther breakout Letitia Wright will star in an American remake of the 2017 French comedy drama Le Brio. Wright will also serve as the film’s executive producer along with John Legend to produce through his Get Lifted Film Company banner.
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The original Le Brio was directed by Israeli-born French director Yvan Attal. The film follows the story of a young French-Arab woman named Neïla Salah, portrayed by singer-actress Camelia Jordana, who came from an underprivileged neighborhood. Due to her dream of becoming a lawyer, she enrolls herself in university. In her first day, she experiences a racism-tainted public humiliation done by her prejudiced professor Pierre Mazard played by award-winning French actor Daniel Auteuil. Because of the incident, the school’s president forces Mazard to be Salah’s coach for an annual speech contest in order to make amends with what he did.
Known French producer Dmitri Rassam (The Little Prince) and Mike Jackson are the film’s producers with Endeavor Content to finance the film.
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“With Get Lifted Film Company’s great creative input, the remake will have more of a political bend than the French film to reflect the current tense climate and race relations in U.S.,” Rassam said. “Ultimately, the film will show how sharing knowledge can help build bridges between people from different generations and backgrounds, as well as help people overcome their own prejudices and anger,”
The remake won’t focus on the speech contest but it is expected to explore the complicated relationship between a student and a professor who come from different ethnic and social backgrounds. The film will start its production next year in 2019.
(Photo Credit: Getty Images)
