"Tell No One" and "District B13" Remakes in the Works

[J_UNTITLED]

From Variety...

EuropaCorp, Luc Besson and Pierre-Ange Le Pogam’s French-based finance, production and distribution powerhouse, is close to inking a deal with two U.S. majors to make an English-language remake of “Tell No One.”

Original French-language pic, about a doctor grieving for his dead wife who discovers she may still be alive, was a surprise hit in the U.S. where it grossed over $6 million for newbie distrib Music Box.

The remake will likely start shooting by the end of the year.

EuropaCorp is also in negotiations with a U.S. partner for an English-language remake of “Banlieue 13,” about an undercover policeman and former criminal trying to infiltrate a gang armed with a neutron bomb.

The remake will be re-titled “Brick Mansion.”

The company, which is celebrating the success its pic "Taken" after it topped the U.S. box office during Super Bowl weekend, also has a brace of high-profile French projects in the pipeline.

Set to go into production soon is Jean Reno-starrer “L’immortel,” a true story about a 50-year-old retiree in Marseilles who was shot 22 times but miraculously survived. Project will follow his attempts to discover the identity and motivation of the perpetrators of the crime against him.

“It’s our Clint Eastwood French film,” quipped Europacorp managing director Pierre-Ange Le Pogam. “It’s a sophisticated film. It’s very physical but it also questions why we like violence so much.”

The 20 million Euro ($26 million) revenge thriller will be helmed by Gallic thesp-turned-helmer Richard Berry (“La Boite Noire”).

Europacorp is also prepping a 15-20 million Euro French-language adaptation of U.S. author Douglas Kennedy’s book “The Big Picture.”

Pic’s French working title is “L’homme qui voulait vivre sa vie.”

Europacorp has been developing the script for two years

Project is about a successful lawyer whose life turns upside down and finds himself on the run with a new identity.

French helmer Eric Lartigau, who scored a big hit with 2006 romantic laffer “Prete-moi ta main,” will direct the project, which should start lensing by the end of May.

Europacorp has increasingly established itself as one of Europe’s premier production powerhouses, regularly financing big budget projects entirely in-house.

“It makes sense that Europe now comes higher compared to the U.S.,” added Le Pogam. “In Europe we have beautiful professionals and a structure to help finance and constantly elevate the quality of films. You can see in the last ten years French cinema became much more professional than before.”