The French are coming! Asterix the Gaul is finally to cross the Atlantic, with a little help from Harvey Weinstein.
Variety reports that the comic book hero is to make his US debut with the stateside release of the forthcoming French film Asterix and Obelix: Mission Cleopatra.
Miramax has acquired US rights to the picture and, at the same time, picked up Asterix and Obelix Vs Caesar. The US was one of only two territories where the first film was not previously released (the other was Japan).
The 1999 hit, starring Gerard Depardieu and Christian Clavier, was the most expensive French film ever made and also the most successful. Over 25 million people went to see it worldwide.
Depardieu and Clavier also star in the follow-up, with Monica Bellucci as the Egyptian queen. Both films are produced by Frenchman Claude Berri.
Miramax apparently plans to open the second film first, although a release date has not been set.
"It has been a long process," foreign sales agent Jacques-Eric Strauss told Variety. "But we are very happy that Asterix is finally going to the States and that Miramax is distributing. This deal proves that when we make ambitious French or European films it is possible to interest the rest of the world, including the US."
• More on the Asterix films.
