Rising French actor Raphael Quenard has signed to star as legendary French rock star Johnny Hallyday in a buzzy, as-yet-untitled biopic from Hugo Selignac’s Mediawan-owned Chi-Fou-Mi Productions.
November and The Stronghold filmmaker Cedric Jimenez will direct the feature that is set to start shooting in 2026 for a planned release on December 8, 2027 to coincide with what will be the 10 year anniversary of the singer and actor’s death in 2017.
Jimenez is penning the script with his November co-writer Olivier Demangel. The project is being billed as the “official” Hallyday biopic by the rocker’s widow Laetitia Hallyday who has previously described the film “a tribute to the rocker and the man” in Paris Match.
Known as the ”French Elvis,” the famed crooner died aged 74 after a half century-spanning career during which he released nearly 80 albums, sold more than 110 million records and acted in several films including Jean-Luc Godard’s Detective and Patrice Leconte’s The Man On The Train. The film will track the star’s life from childhood until his death.
Quenard won both the Cesar and Lumiere most promising actor awards earlier this year for his role in Junkyard Dogs. He is fresh off a double billing at Cannes in both opening night film The Second Act and competition title Beating Hearts, both Chi-Fou-Mi productions, the latter co-produced with Tresor Productions.
Another Hallyday film titled Phénix is in the works from director Jalil Lespert headlined by Belgian actor Matthias Schoenaerts.
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