Future Cinema Guest: 5 Things You Need to Know About SF Comedy Made in France

Adapted from the web series

Le Visiteur du Futur by Francois Descrax is adapted from the web series of the same name, which he wrote and directed. It has 4 seasons and amassed 45 million views, comics, novels and even a board game. The director recalls:

“It all started in 2009, in my small student room. With my friend, Florent Dorin, who plays the guest, we wanted to do science fiction. We loved it. We had in mind movies like Back to the Future and Terminator. , but we really didn’t have the opportunity to implement these kinds of ideas.”

The birth of film

Francois Descac wanted to make this movie since the end of season 4 of the web series. Over the years, the latter has really become more and more important: “We knew we weren’t going to do a season 5, so I closed a lot of the intrigue to allow the guest to continue elsewhere. It was in 2014. .”

“It took me almost seven years to find the right way to bring the visitor to the cinema. We needed a story that would be a continuation of what we had been creating for several seasons and that could appeal to everyone at the same time. Feeling in the format of a feature film,” confides the director.

fan film?

If he, of course, wanted to satisfy the fans of the series, François Descac did not want to make a movie for the fans. Instead, he tried to find a balance, establish a different point of view and change the rules a little. He specifies:

“I believe that the film speaks to both the fans and the people discovering the world in this way. There are winks, details that are right there to ‘reward’ those who have followed the whole series. But the film puts everyone on the same level, very quickly. .”

SF, comedy and drama

Florent Dorin, who portrays the hero of the web series, will reprise his role for the feature film. He explains, “I think what I really like about him is that we’ll never know who he is. I really like the idea that he’s both a superhero and a completely unstable and annoying guy.”

“He always wants to do his best, but he clearly lacks wisdom and insight. And above all, he has a very misplaced ego, which is necessarily very funny and touching. The character was born as a genius. And then, slowly. Little by little, we have to give He has more consistency, more stakes.”

“need to cope”

During the writing process, Francois Descrax was told by his producers, “Don’t limit yourself. Don’t think about money. Write the film as if you had twelve million.” Despite this, the filmmaker still had to adapt to a limited budget of 4 million euros and few supplies. He recalls:

“The whole experience of the Internet and television at that time was very useful for me. Whether writing or directing, I always had to adapt and find ways to bring to life what I wanted to imagine. And that’s thanks to my team. We worked together over the years and learned to be together.”

World War I stage design testifies to this “spirit of convenience”: in the latter, 20 extras had to be looped to give the impression that there were hundreds of them. Among them, only two were stuntmen, and they had to simulate dozens of falls!