“Asterix and Obelix: The Middle Empire” has finally been released in theaters. On this occasion, here are five things to know about Guillaume Canet’s film.
Asterix and Obelix: The Middle Empire by Guillaume Canet
With Guillaume Canet, Gilles Lellouche, Vincent Cassel…
What is it about ? We are in 50 BC The Empress of China is imprisoned following a coup fomented by Deng Tsin Quin, a traitor prince.
Helped by Graindemaïs, the Phoenician merchant, and by his faithful warrior Tat Han, Princess Fu Yi, only daughter of the Empress, fled to Gaul to ask for help from the two valiant warriors Asterix and Obelix, endowed with superhuman strength thanks to their magic potion.
Our two inseparable Gauls of course agree to help the Princess to save her mother and liberate her country. And here they are all on their way for a great adventure to China.
But Caesar and his powerful army, always thirsty for conquest, have also taken over the leadership of the Middle Empire…
Why not in China?
Christophe Brachet
At the start of the project, Guillaume Canet traveled to China several times to meet potential co-producers. He also planned to shoot some scenes there. But the director quickly realized that he was going to come up against censorship: “There were a lot of things the authorities didn’t like about the script, especially the humor.”
“We couldn’t talk about pandas for example! I felt it was going to be difficult, especially since the diplomatic situation got complicated with the drama of the Uyghurs and I didn’t see us taking part in official screenings, taking pictures , take the actors, etc., taken hostage in a certain way in this whole context…”
“At one point, it dawned on all of us that we had to give up the Chinese option and make the film in France, which in my opinion was extremely courageous on the part of Pathé and the producers. And indeed, we worked 100% here, whether for the sets, the costumes, the special effects, the studios or the exteriors in Auvergne…”he recalls.
5th Asterix movie
Christophe Brachet
Asterix and Obelix: The Middle Empire is the fifth live-action film from the work of René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo, after Asterix and Obelix against Caesar (1999), Asterix and Obelix: Mission Cleopatra (2002), Asterix at the Olympic Games (2008) and Asterix and Obelix: In Her Majesty’s Service (2012). However, unlike the four feature films mentioned above, this fifth installment is not adapted from a comic strip.
On the box office side, the first Asterix had 8,948,624 admissions on French soil, the second 14,559,509, the third 6,817,803 and the fourth 3,820,404. In addition, the budget of the film directed by Guillaume Canet is estimated to 65 million euros. By way of comparison, Asterix and Obelix against Caesar had cost 42 million, Asterix and Obelix: Mission Cleopatra 50 million, Asterix at the Olympic Games 78 million and Asterix and Obelix: In the service of Her Majesty 61 million.
The Cassels and Asterix…
Christophe Brachet
Jean-Pierre Cassel played Panoramix in Asterix at the Olympic Games in 2008. It should also be noted that Vincent Cassel’s ex-girlfriend, Monica Bellucci, played Cleopatra in Asterix and Obelix: Mission Cleopatra by Alain Chabat in 2002!
Zlatan in the game!
Christophe Brachet
Asterix and Obelix: The Middle Kingdom marks the first steps of footballer Zlatan Ibrahimovic in a live-action fiction feature film. The saga has, in the past, already called upon prodigies of the round ball, in particular Zidane and Neymar. Guillaume Canet says:
“Initially, I contacted him through a guy called Bob who I had met when he was at PSG. I got his contact details and left him a message… It’s Zlatan who calls me back directly, I talk to him about the film, about his character as César’s body-guard and then he says this extraordinary sentence to me: “How can César play César’s body-guard?” before to laugh!”
Capricious weather…
Christophe Brachet
The battle sequences were shot in Auvergne in difficult climatic conditions. Guillaume Canet and his team were even forced to stop filming because of the weather. Costume designer Madeline Fontaine recalls:
“It represents 15 days of hard work reduced to nothing or in any case shifted … There, it’s a whole chain of collaborators who must agree. Each costume was labeled with the name of the extra, hotels had been reopened to accommodate more than 600 people…”
In addition, the Gallic village was entirely built outdoors in Brétigny-sur Orge: “It’s not shot on a green screen, it doesn’t look like cardboard or an amusement park: it really smells of granite and the seaside!”says Guillaume Canet.