Mathieu Kassovitz adapts The Beast is Dead!, the comic book about the Second World War and the Occupation by Calvo

The spy Paul Lefebvre from the Bureau des Légendes returns behind the cameras to bring to fruition the major project he has been carrying out for 20 years: the adaptation of the comic book by Edmond-François Calvo, The Beast is Dead! He has just confirmed its completion to the Deadline site.

Published in 1944, the album, written by Victor Dancette and Jacques Zimmermann, was the first to mention the Shoah in a comic strip. "The beast is dead! imagine World War II with animals. The Nazis are wolves who prey on the vermin, the rabbits, who represent the victims of war. The story focuses on two rabbits who search for their family who have been kidnapped. And during their journey, they discover adventures and other rabbits who join their cause,” summarizes the filmmaker.

For his adaptation, Mathieu Kassovitz is considering a film combining live action and animation. “I'm shooting the film with real locations and sets, then the animal characters will be added,” he explains to Deadline. The feature film will be shot in English.

Currently starring in Les Rois de la piste, Mathieu Kassovitz puts on his director's hat, thirteen years after his last feature film: Order and Morality. The three-César filmmaker will be accompanied by screenwriter Caroline Thompson for this ambitious project. The budget is $30 million.

“We are now in the design phase and are looking for financiers and want to start production by the end of the year,” he says. This project will be Mathieu Kassovitz's third English-language film after Gothika and Babylon AD. Mathieu Kassovitz is also preparing a musical comedy version of his film La Haine, scheduled for the end of 2024.