Principal photography for EuropaCorp and Relativity’s comedic action movie Malavita began today. The film is directed by Luc Besson (“Taken,” “Transporter”) and starring Oscar®-Winner Robert De Niro (“Limitless,” “Heat”), Oscar®-Nominee Michelle Pfeiffer (“Dark Shadows,” “People Like Us”), Oscar®-Winner Tommy Lee Jones (“No Country For Old Men,” “Men in Black”), Dianna Agron (“Glee,” “I Am Number Four”) and John D’Leo (“The Wrestler,” “Wanderlust”).
Collaborating with Besson behind the scenes is a creative below-the-line team including: director of photography Thierry Arbogast (“The Fifth Element”), production designer Hugues Tissandier (“Taken”), sound editor Ken Yasumoto (“The Transporter”), costume designer Olivier Bériot (“Taken”) and editor Julien Rey (“The Lady”).
The darkly comedic action film “Malavita” is the story of the Manzonis, a notorious mafia family who gets relocated to Normandy, France under the witness protection program. While they do their best to fit in, old habits die hard and they soon find themselves handling things the “family” way.
Filming commenced in Normandy and will continue in France at La Cité du Cinéma, where the brand new Studios de Paris are located. Additional shooting will take place in New York. The film will be completed in 2013 with Relativity handling US distribution as well as working with its foreign output partners on the film’s release in the UK, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Spain, Greece, Thailand and CIS. EuropaCorp will take on distribution in France and handle international sales.
The script is adapted by Besson from the book “Badfellas” by author Tonino Benacquista. Virginie Besson-Silla (“From Paris with Love”) from EuropaCorp is a producer. Relativity’s Ryan Kavanaugh (“The Fighter”) is also producing, while the studio’s Tucker Tooley (“Immortals”) will executive produce.
