Oscar-Winning Director’s New Film Stars François Civil, Bérénice Bejo in Jekyll & Hyde Saga!

It’s confirmed, Michel Hazanavicius is set to adapt Arthur Dreyfus’s novel, La Troisième Main. He has been developing the project with Thomas Cailley, whose second feature film, the fantasy drama Le Règne Animal, made a significant impact in 2023.

As reported today by Satellifact, François Civil and Bérénice Bejo will lead the cast of the film, which began shooting on June 8. This marks the eighth collaboration between the filmmaker and his partner, Bérénice Bejo. However, it will be the first time for the actor known for playing D’Artagnan, who has never before shared the screen with the actress.

The Oscar-winning director of The Artist in 2012, and François Civil previously crossed paths in the film by Raphaël Quenard and Hugo David, I Love Peru.

This fantasy drama with historical elements takes place during World War I. It follows a 14-year-old boy who, under the bombardments in the Besançon area, is severely injured. Taken in by a mad scientist practicing horrific grafts in his cellar, the boy soon discovers a third hand growing from his navel.

Honored at the 30th edition of the Film Editors’ Day held at the end of last September, Michel Hazanavicius described his project: “It’s a very dark story about a soldier during World War I who, after being wounded at Verdun, finds himself in the lab of a mad German scientist, with a third hand grafted onto his abdomen. This hand will be extremely violent. Sometimes it saves his life, but it will also ostracize him from society.”

An allegory about the violence that those who have been to war must live with.

“It’s kind of an allegory about the violence that war veterans must live with, the violence embedded deep within them. And how one carries one’s own enemy within. It’s written like a tragedy disguised as a fantasy film, somewhat in the style of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.”

Following Coupez! in 2022, Michel Hazanavicius continues his exploration of genre cinema with this new fantastical project. With a budget of 14.2 million euros, La Troisième Main is produced by Les Compagnons du Cinéma and Studiocanal, which will also handle its distribution. Its release is scheduled for 2027.