‘The Count of Monte Cristo’ Tops ‘Emilia Pérez’ in France’s César Nominations – Hollywood Reporter
Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood ReporterSubscribe for full access to The Hollywood ReporterThe new adaptation of the classic revenge tale, starring Pierre Niney, scored 14 Cesar nominations compared to 12 for Jacques Audiard’s Oscar front-runner.
By
Scott Roxborough
Europe Bureau Chief
The Count of Monte Cristo, Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patellière’s retelling of the classic French revenge tale, is the front-runner for this year’s César Awards, scoring 14 nominations, including in the best film and best directing categories.
The period drama, starring Pierre Niney, beat out Jacques Audiard’s Oscar frontrunner Emilia Pérez, which got 12 noms, and Beating Hearts, Gilles Lellouche’s contemporary reimagining of Romeo and Juliet featuring François Civil and Adèle Exarchopoulos, which earned 13 nominations.
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Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de la Patelliere’s lavish adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’ classic was the biggest French box office hit of last year, drawing close to 10 million viewers for a $40 million local take. Globally, the film has grossed more than $75 million.
Sean Baker’s Palme d’Or winner, and Oscar contender, Anora, is up for the Cesar for best foreign film, against Academy Award hopefuls including Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance, Mohammad Rasoulof’s The Seed of the Sacred Fig, Ali Abbasi’s The Apprentice and Jonathan Glazer’s 2024 Oscar winner The Zone of Interest. The Cesar Academy categorizes films as French according to their country of origin from a production point of view, not according to language or the nationality of the directors. The Spanish-language Emilia Pérez is a majority-French production, The Substance, which has a French director in Fargeat, was financed by Universal-owned Working Title.
Audiard’s Cannes Jury Prize-winning genre-bending musical crime drama enters the Cesar race with plenty of awards momentum, after sweeping the European Film Awards, winning four Golden Globes and leading the Oscar race with 13 nominations.
Notable among the acting nominees is Abou Sangare, nominated for Male Breakout Performance in Souleymane’s Story, who took home the best actor honor at last year’s European Film Awards.
Just under 5,000 members of the French film academy will vote for the Cesars, with the first round of voting from Jan. 2-28 and the final round scheduled for Feb. 5-28. The 49th César Awards ceremony will take place at Paris’s l’Olympia concert hall on Feb. 28.
2025 Cesar Nominees
Best FilmThe Count of Monte Cristo produced by Dimitri Rassam, Jerome Seydoux, directed by Matthieu Delaporte, Alexandre de la Patelliere
Emilia Pérez produced by Pascal Caucheteux, Jacques Audiard, Valerie Schermann, directed by Jacques Audiard
La Panache produced by Marc Bordure, Robert Guediguian, directed by Emmanuel Courcol
Souleymane’s Story produced by Bruno Nahon, directed by Boris Lojkine
Misericordia produced by Charles Gillibert, directed by Alain Guiraudie
Best DirectorGilles Lellouche for Beating HeartsMatthieu Delaporte, Alexandre de La Patellière for The Count of Monte CristoJacques Audiard for Emilia PérezBoris Lojkine for Souleymane’s StoryAlain Guiraudie for Misericordia
Best ActressAdèle Exarchopoulos in Beating HeartsKarla Sofía Gascón in Emilia PérezHafsia Herzi in BorgoZoé Saldana in Emilia PérezHélène Vincent in When Autumn Comes
Best ActorFrançois Civil in Beating HeartsBenjamin Lavernhe in Le panacheKarim Leklou in Jim’s TalePierre Niney in The Count of Monte CristoTahar Rahim in Monsieur Aznavour
Best Supporting ActressÉlodie Bouchez in Beating HeartsAnaïs Demoustier in The Count of Monte CristoCatherine Frot in MisericordiaNina Meurisse in Souleymane’s StorySarah Suco in Le panache
Best Supporting ActorDavid Ayala in MisericordiaBastien Bouillon in The Count of Monte CristoAlain Chabat in Beating HeartsJacques Develay in MisericordiaLaurent Lafitte in The Count of Monte Cristo
Female Breakout PerformanceMaïwenn Barthélémy in Vingt DieuxMalou Khebizi in Diamant BrutMegan Northam in RabiaMallory Wanecque in Beating HeartsSouhela Yacoub in Planet B
Male Breakout PerformanceAbou Sangare in Souleymane’s StoryAdam Bessa in Les FantômesMalik Frikah in Beating HeartsFélix Kysyl in MisericordiaPierre Lottin in Le panache
Best Original ScreenplayStéphane Demoustier for BorgoEmmanuel Courcol, Irène Muscari for Le panacheBoris Lojkine, Delphine Agut for Souleymane’s StoryAlain Guiraudie for MisericordiaLouise Courvoisier, Théo Abadie for Vingt Dieux
Best Adapted ScreenplayMatthieu Delaporte, Alexandre de La Patellière for The Count of Monte CristoJacques Audiard for Emilia PérezMichel Hazanavicius, Jean-Claude Grumberg for The Most Precious of Cargoes
Best Original SoundtrackJon Brion for Beating HeartsJérôme Rebotier for The Count of Monte CristoClément Ducol, Camille for Emilia PérezAlexandre Desplat for The Most Precious of CargoesLinda Courvoisier, Charlie Courvoisier for Vingt Dieux
Best SoundCédric Deloche, Gwennolé Le Borgne, Jon Goc, Marc Doisne for Beating HeartsDavid Rit, Gwennolé Le Borgne, Olivier Touche, Laure-Anne Darras, Marion Papinot, Marc Doisne, Samuel Delorme for The Count of Monte CristoErwan Kerzanet, Aymeric Devoldère, Cyril Holtz, Niels Barletta for Emilia PérezPascal Armant, Sandy Notarianni, Niels Barletta for Le panacheMarc-Olivier Brullé, Pierre Bariaud, Charlotte Butrak, Samuel Aichoun for Souleymane’s Story
Best CinematographyLaurent Tangy for Beating HeartsNicolas Bolduc for The Count of Monte CristoPaul Guilhaume for Emilia PérezTristan Galand for Souleymane’s StoryClaire Mathon for Misericordia
Best EditingSimon Jacquet for Beating HeartsCélia Lafitedupont for The Count of Monte CristoJuliette Welfling for Emilia PérezGuerric Catala for Le panacheXavier Sirven for Souleymane’s Story
Best Costume DesignIsabelle Pannetier for Beating HeartsThierry Delettre for The Count of Monte CristoVirginie Montel for Emilia PérezIsabelle Mathieu for Monsieur AznavourAnaïs Romand for Sarah Bernhardt, The Divine
Best Production DesignJean-Philippe Moreaux for Beating HeartsStéphane Taillasson for The Count of Monte CristoEmmanuelle Duplay for Emilia PérezStéphane Rozenbaum for Monsieur AznavourOlivier Radot for Sarah Bernhardt, The Divine
Best Visual EffectsCédric Fayolle, Hugues Namur, Émilien Lazaron for The BeastOlivier Cauwet for The Count of Monte CristoCédric Fayolle for Emilia PérezStéphane Dittoo for Monsieur Aznavour
Best First Film
Diamant Brut directed by Agathe Riedinger, produced by Priscilla Bertin, Judith Nora
Les Fantômes directed by Jonathan Millet, produced by Pauline Seigland
Le Royaume directed by Julien Colonna, produced by Hugo Selignac, Antoine Lafon
Un P’Tit Truc En Plus directed by Artus, produced by Pierre Forette, Thierry Wong
Vingt Dieux directed by Louise Courvoisier, produced by Muriel Meynard
Best Animated Film
Flow directed by Gints Zilbalodis, produced by Ron Dyens
The Most Precious of Goods directed by Michel Hazanavicius, produced by Patrick Sobelman, Florence Gastaud, Michel Hazanavicius
Wild Ones directed by Claude Barras, produced by Laurence Petit, Barbara Letellier, Carole Scotta
Best Documentary Film
The Beauty of Gaza directed by Yolande Zauberman, produced by Bruno Nahon, Yolande Zauberman
Bye Bye Tiberias directed by Lina Soualem, produced by Jean-Marie Nizan
Dahomey directed by Mati Diop, produced by Eve Robin, Judith Lou Levy
Ernest Cole, Photographer directed by Raoul Peck, produced by Raoul Peck
The Bertrand Farm directed by Gilles Perret, produced by Denis Carot, Ulysse Payet
Madame Hofmann directed by Sebastien Lifshitz, produced by Muriel Meynard
Best Foreign Film
Anora directed by Sean Baker
The Seed of the Sacred Fig directed by Mohammad Rasoulof
The Apprentice directed by Ali Abbasi
The Substance directed by Coralie Fargeat
The Zone of Interest directed by Jonathan Glazer
Best Fiction Short Film
Boucan directed by Salome Da Souza, produced by Jean-Etienne Brat, Lou Chicoteau
What Belongs to Caesar directed by Violette Gitton, produced by Jules Reinartz
The Man Who Wouldn’t Stay Silent directed by Nebojsa Slijepcevic, produced by Noelle Levenez
Queen Size directed by Avril Besson, produced by Bastien Daret, Arthur Goisset, Robin Robles, Christophe Audeguis
Best Animated Short FilmLoïc Espuche for Beurk!Cynthia Calvi for GigiFlorence Miailhe for Butterfly
Best Documentary Short FilmElena López Riera for The Southern BridesSara Ganem for Little SpartacusMaya Abdul-Malak for A Lost Heart and Other Dreams of BeirutSign up for THR news straight to your inbox every daySign up for THR news straight to your inbox every daySubscribe for full access to The Hollywood ReporterSend us a tip using our anonymous form.
