Michel Hazanavicius‘ horror-comedy, “Z (Comme Z)” (known as “Final Cut” in the U.S. thus far), was supposed to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, but when things went virtual, sale agents Wild Bunch International pulled the film from the fest. Arguably, it has a better slot now as it was announced as the opening night film of the Cannes Film Festival out of competition.
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Hazanavicius is, of course, known for his 2011 black and white silent film, “The Artist,” which won the Academy Award for Best Picture at the 84th Academy Awards and won him the Oscar for Best Director too. His latest is a French remake of the 2017 Japanese film “One Cut of the Dead” and is a meta horror-comedy and meta film about a small film crew shooting a low-budget zombie movie. Things go bad when they are attacked by real zombies.
The cast stars Romain Duris, Bérénice Bejo, Grégory Gadebois, Finnegan Oldfield, Jean-Pascal Zadi, Matilda Lutz, Sébastien Chassagne, Raphaël Quenard, Lyes Salem, and Simone Hazanavicius.
Here’s the official synopsis:
In a disused factory, a Z-grade horror film shoot is in full swing. Jaded technicians, uninvolved actors… only the director seems to possess the necessary energy to give life to this umpteenth low-budget zombie movie. During the preparation of a particularly difficult shot, filming is disrupted by an eruption of the real living dead. In front of the camera, everything looks more-or-less normal. Behind it, the crew is freewheeling to save the film while following their one and only watchword: DON’T CUT!
“Z (Comme Z”) will raise the curtain on the 75th-anniversary edition of Cannes on May 17, and the festival runs May 17-28. The film will be released in France on June 15. Watch the first trailer below.