Gerard Depardieu has joined the cast of “Kalach,” a French-language movie directed by Yves Renier that is being touted at the American Film Market by Pascal Diot’s Onoma International.
The €15 million ($22 million)-budgeted gangster cop thriller script marks Onoma’s first tentative steps into bigger-budget commercial moviemaking, the company said.
Renier collaborated on the script with Franck Henry, a former gangster who spent more than 10 years in jail. He has been tasked with infusing the story with true-to-life gangster gems.
The film revolves around Kalach, a gangland boss who gets out of prison and needs to raise cash.
Depardieu will play a cop in the film, which is in preproduction. He joins Gerard Lanvin, who will play Kalach; Francois Berleand, who will play a gay nightclub owner; and Mathilde Seigner, the gangster’s love interest.
Onoma’s Fabien Westerhoff said the movie is part of a push by the company to back more commercial, genre-driven fare through its relationship with Noe Prods., the company behind “No Man’s Land.”
“Kalach” is scheduled to shoot in France and Thailand, with delivery penciled in for the end of 2008.
