After Monte Cristo, the directors will adapt The Cursed Kings for cinema in 2026

The first project from producer Dimitri Rassam’s new structure? A film adaptation of Maurice Druon's best-selling medieval epic. With Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patellière directing.

The producer Dimitri Rassamalready at the head of his own production company Chapter 2, has just launched Yapluka, a new production and distribution structure supported among others by M6 and Pathé. The producer's ambition is to build with Yapluka “a strong and ambitious European line-up”, as he explains. in an interview with Variety. And to begin with, Rassam plans an adaptation of Cursed Kings in the cinema – finally, for the moment of the first book in the literary saga (seven volumes published between 1955 and 1977) by Maurice Druon, entitled The Iron King. The history of France in the 14th century, with Philippe le Bel, Templars, plots, nobles, knights of torture… and one of George RR Martin's big inspirations for Game of Thrones.

The Cursed Kings has already been adapted twice for television, in 1972 by Claude Barma and in 2005 by Josée Dayan in a large fresco bordering on the nanar (with psyche decorations by Philippe Druillet!). The Rassam version will be produced, as it should be, by Matthew Delaporte And Alexandre de La Patellièrescreenwriters of Three musketeers (6 million admissions in two films) and directors of Count of Monte Cristothe latter having reached 9.3 million admissions in France this year.

Waiting for news from the third film The Three Musketeers which could arrive in 2027place in the Druonverse, after the Dumasverse. “We will support this new franchise with Chapter 2, Fargo Films and Pathé Films”explains Rassam to Variety. “It will be an adaptation of a series of books that I have dreamed of bringing to the big screen since I read them as a teenager thirty years ago.”

A little fun fact for the road? Gérard Depardieu played in The Cursed Kings in 2005 (he played the last Grand Master of the Templars, Jacques de Molay), in The Count of Monte Cristo on TV in 1998, and he played Porthos in The Man in the Iron Mask with DiCaprio the same year…

In short, to return to our subject, no casting yet, nor release date (filming should begin in 2026) for this Cursed Kings new generation, but given the generics of Three musketeers and of Monte Cristoyou have to expect some heavy stuff. The Variety article notes in passing that this will be Delaporte/de La Patellière's first English-language project, so expect something international. And thank you to Dimitri Rassam for giving us the (provisional) final word: yapluka.