Pathe, a France based production company and Vendome Pictures will be partnering in a limited series based on the famous Notre Dame Cathedral fire. The show will be based on The New York Times’ investigative reporting on how firefighters saved the historic cathedral and will follow in the footsteps of HBO’s recent smash hit Chernobyl and shoot mainly in English, with characters speaking a variety of languages.
The two companies signed a production partnership back in May; this will be their first foray into scripted series. Former Entertainment One production chief Xavier Marchant’s UK-based MoonRiver Content is also on board.
The trio snapped up the rights to The New York Times’ in-depth investigation about the series of events that led to the blaze and firefighters’ heroic actions to save the historic church from complete collapse. They will be working with the newspaper on the development of the series.
Pathe and Vendome inked a partnership deal earlier this year to develop feature films in English. The three-year pact was their first foray into English-language production after they worked on two French-language projects — last year’s Promise at Dawn, starring Charlotte Gainsbourg, and Michel Hazanavicius’ The Lost Prince, starring Omar Sy.
The first project out of the gate is Coda, a remake of the French smash hit La Familie Belier, with Patrick Wachsberger’s Picture Perfect on board to produce. The film will be written and directed by Sian Heder (Orange Is the New Black).