When Josephine Baker Meets Les Mis in Paris: Ava DuVernay and David Oyelowo Cook Up a Heist Film That’s About to Break the Internet (and Your Zodiac Sign)
Added on December 16, 2025 inMovie News Cards
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Ever wonder what happens when the stars align just right over Paris? Well, on a Tuesday evening that seemed touched by a cosmic wink, Canal+ Group’s StudioCanal dropped some seriously sizzling news at their 2026 content lineup event. Picture this: a long-overdue Josephine Baker biopic finally coming to life, helmed by the talented Maïmouna Doucouré, who’s set to peel back the layers of the iconic star’s fierce glam and poignant vulnerability. Meanwhile, the creative constellation got brighter with announcements about Ava DuVernay and David Oyelowo’s upcoming modern thriller, Heist of Benin, promising a blend of history, identity, and high-stakes excitement. Oh, and let’s not forget the powerhouse panel for next year’s Les Misérables movie, boasting an ensemble cast ready to redefine a classic with none other than the likes of Olivia Colman and Andrew Scott stepping into the spotlight for Elsinore, a tale about the final, tragic Hamlet of Ian Charleson. Could it be that the cosmos were scripting the perfect drama on this night, where art, history, and star power danced under the Parisian sky? Buckle up, folks — the magic is just beginning. LEARN MORE.
Canal+ Group’s StudioCanal brought the buzz and some news updates to a big content preview event in Paris on Tuesday evening. The latest on a Josephine Baker biopic, a new Ava DuVernay and David Oyelowo collaboration and a panel for next year’s Les Misérables movie were among the talking points for fans and attendees.
During the Canal+ 2026 content lineup event in Paris, the studio revealed that Andrew Scott and Olivia Colman will star in Elsinore, a film about Ian Charleson, the Scottish star of Chariots of Fire, whose final role was Hamlet in a celebrated London theater production.
It also brought the latest on a project that the studio has been known to be developing, a feature film biopic about Josephine Baker, the legendary American-born French singer and dancer, written and directed by Maïmouna Doucouré (Cuties).
The project, which is understood to have the support of the icon’s children, will mark “the first time we’ll see a biopic about Josephine Baker,” event host Thomas N’Gijol emphasized when he invited Doucouré to the stage to share more about the biopic, including that it would start shooting in 2026.
The writer-director recalled meeting a young man, aged 15 or 16, a few months ago, who said he knew the name Josephine Baker – from the name of a swimming pool in his hometown. “Well, if with this movie, I’m able to have all these members of the young generation know about [Baker], this will be a positive thing,” Doucouré said.
“Just like everyone else, I knew Josephine Baker, the great artist and singer, the civil rights activist,” the creative said about her story’s focus. “And I really wanted to talk about her vulnerability, her doubts, her fears to [focus on] the woman behind the icon, the person behind this fame.”
Meanwhile, Anna Marsh, the CEO of StudioCanal and chief content officer and deputy CEO of its corporate parent Canal+ Group, shared on the Paris stage that DuVernay and Oyelowo, who collaborated on Selma, would be cooperating on the upcoming movie Heist of Benin, which she said was currently being developed. “It’s a modern thriller,” Marsh said. “It’s about history and identity during a high-risk modern heist and spectacular adventure.”
Also at Tuesday’s Paris event, members of the creative team behind Les Misérables discussed the film onstage, including writer-director Fred Cavayé and stars Vincent Lindon, Noémie Merlant, Tahar Rahim, Megan Northam, Benjamin Lavernhe and Marie Colomb. The ensemble cast also features Camille Cottin and more. “We are making a really huge event movie that will be THE Christmas family movie in France this time next year, and it stars the best of the best of French cinema,” Marsh told THR.
Cavayé shared that adapting a big and famous book like Victor Hugo’s was “a bit tricky.” But he felt like he was on cloud nine. “I was like an eight-year-old child playing with toy soldiers,” he said. “I had all the sets with a lot of extras and fantastic actors.”
Cavayé also emphasized: “The film is definitely not a remake of the previous adaptations. I tried to look for things that have not been addressed yet, so to speak.”
Northam offered that “it was really a dream team” that came together for the big production. And a co-star used similar words. “It’s a bit like a dream come true character,” Merlant said about playing Fantine. “It has just been done by many people, so I had to find how to be my own Fantine.” She concluded: “Shooting has been one of the best experiences, I would even say the best experience ever.”
Meanwhile, Rahim shared about playing Javert in Cavayé’s production: “His kindness is a great quality. It is kindness all around, and it is such motivation supporting such a large project.”
Lavernhe plays the greedy, evil Thénardier, but even he had a blast. “It was fun playing such a dirty person,” he said. And he shared about working with Cottin, who plays his wife: “They are really a duo, a toxic couple. There are people crushed by extreme poverty, and as a survival mechanism, they choose selfishness. We tried to make them not a caricature. We tried to find some depth in those dark characters. They are really a two-headed monster. So we had a lot of fun, and we fashioned them together.”
Lindon stars as Jean Valjean. And he said this about Les Miz. “It was the role of my life. And I hope I was up to it.” He also thanked Canal+, StudioCanal, industry folks and everybody else in attendance. “Thank you, all of you, from the bottom of my heart, because really, without you, there would be no cinema.”
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