Baz Luhrmann talks about his film Joan of Arc, which will soon be filmed in France

“He’s been thinking about it for 30 years!”

After Milla Jovovich at Luc Besson and Lise Leplat Prudhomme at Bruno Dumont, a new Joan of Arc is going to show up at the cinema. And it should be spectacular, since it's the American Baz Luhrmann who will stick to it. The director ofElvis And Romeo + Juliet has even been working on the project for a long time. Very long time.

“He's been talking about it for over 30 years” confides his wife and creative partner Catherine Martin in Variety, specifying that his version will be based on “Blood Red, Sister Rose”, the 1974 novel written by Thomas Keneally, also author of “Schindler’s List”.

“I almost did Alexander the Great, then at one point I went the Napoleon route, but ultimately I realized I was waiting for the right moment to tell the story of Joan of Arc “, describe Baz Luhrmann before clarifying his point of view: “It's the ultimate coming-of-age story, about a teenage girl, set in a 100-year war. She is a young girl who comes from a small town and who manages to say to this 25-year-old king: “We will be able to unify the country, and you will be king!” » It's this inspiration, this elevation. It's a bit like today. The current generation must make its place like the previous generation before it. It must bring new voices and new energy to the table“.

The title role has not yet been cast and Luhrmann explains that, “like for Elvis, I follow my own process. It's the same process where I have no bias and I identify all possible talents, and I do the job. It is a process of exploration. This is what I'm doing at the moment.“

For his part, Catherine Martin is identifying important places in France linked to Jane d'Arc, notably his hometown, Domrémy. “It's quite fascinating because everyone talks about her as a shepherdess, but in fact her father was the leader of the town, and they had the only stone house. So there was a certain level of sophistication in this household. And I think it's a fascinating topic, particularly in a time where I think young people feel very marginalized. I think Jeanne felt the same way. And as I have a teenage daughter, I realize that when teenage girls put their minds to it, they can do anything, they can change the world!“

No release date announced yet.