"Emmanuelle": Noémie Merlant replaces Léa Seydoux in Audrey Diwan's film

Noémie Merlant will play the character of Emmanuelle in the feature film of the same name (provisional title) directed by Audrey Diwan, the latter announced on her Instagram account on Monday, February 13. Originally, it was Léa Seydoux who was to play the role, but “she was not the character as I imagined her,” the director, who is writing the screenplay with Rebecca Zlotowski, told Deadline.

Production is due to begin in September in Hong Kong – where the plot takes place – and sales will kick off at the Berlinale's European Film Market. The film will be shot in English, based on the erotic novel of the same name by Emmanuelle Arsan (1932-2005) and published in 1959. This same novel had been adapted in 1974 in an erotic film that became cult, directed by Just Jaeckin and carried by Sylvia Kristel. The rights to adapt the book have been acquired by the Chantelouve company (Hildegarde group), which is producing the film, alongside Rectangle Productions and Wild Bunch International.