Season 4 of Netflixs hit show Emily in Paris and Amazon Primes Etoile are two of the high profile U.S. productions tentatively scheduled to start shooting in January in the French capital ahead of the Olympic Games.
With the WGA strike over and SAG-AFTRA preparing to resume negotiations with studios, time is of the essence for producers who are hoping to slot their shoots before the start of the massive sports celebration this summer. From June to September, all shoots will be barred in Paris, while access to some posh areas around the Concorde and Trocadero will be restricted starting in March.
Emily in Paris Season 4 was initially scheduled to start shooting in the summer at the Cit du Cinema studios, where the last three seasons were filmed. But the Cit du Cinema has been booked for the Olympic Games starting in mid-November, so the series will shoot at the nearby Studios Monjoie. The exteriors, meanwhile, will film on location in the streets of Paris.
Netflix had no comment on the matter when asked by Variety.
When it comes to securing locations in Paris its first come first served, so its a bit of a rat race right now. Most places are already saturated, said a key line producer who works on major U.S. shoots in Paris.
Michel Gomez, who heads Mission Cinema, the French org that coordinates shoots in Paris, said iconic places like Palais Royal or the Louvre are already booked up for the first months of the year.
Between 2016 and 2022, the number of shoots in Paris have doubled due to the output of streamers and the volume of series being produced, Gomez said. And whereas a film would stay for 20 days in Paris, a series will shoot for six months, so its a much bigger scale. He also pointed out a series of the scope of Emily in Paris hires between 100 and 150 crew members.
While the scripts of this new season of Darren Stars Emmy-nominated romantic comedyhave not yet been finalized, some of it is expected to take place in Rome, Italy. Lily Collins, who plays an American expat navigating a complicated love life and a moody French boss, teased that her character might go on a Roman holiday at the streamers Tudum fan event in June.
Season 3, which partly shot in St. Tropez and launched on Netflix on Dec. 21, boasted a queer storyline and a love triangle, as well as a cliffhanger involving a pregnancy. Within six days after launching, it garnered 117.6 million hours viewed and landed in the Top 10 in 93 countries.
Another delayed series slated to start filming in Paris in January is Etoile, a ballet drama created by Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino, the team behind The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Ordered by Amazon Prime for two seasons, the series takes place in New York and Paris. Call My Agent! star Camille Cottin had to drop out of the project due to a scheduling conflict. The rest of the cast, Luke Kirby (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), Simon Callow (Outlander), Lou de Lage (The Innocents) and David Alvarez (West Side Story), are believed to still be on board. The series will shoot at the studios in Epinay-sur-Seine.
Meanwhile, The Killer, Universal Pictures remake of John Woos classic action film, is also set to reprise filming in January with Lupita Nyongo and Omar Sy. The Killer paused filming in July due to the SAG-AFTRA strike.
Studios and streamers are well positioned to secure top locations in Paris thanks to early planning, but smaller French productions will inevitably have to relocate outside of Paris or, worst-case scenario, delay their shoots. The National Film Board has flagged several alternate locations for filming in regions surrounding Paris, notably in Versailles, Vincennes, Saint-Mand, Courbevoie, Marly-le-Roi and Saint-Germain-en-Laye, as well as more than 20 studios across France.
France hosted 287 film shoots in 2022, on par with pre-COVID levels. In addition to its landmark locations, the country boasts a competitive tax rebate plan of 30% on eligible spendings, and a 40% rebate for projects using significant VFX work.