PARIS– Isabelle Huppert, who has just won a Gotham award for her performance in Paul Verhoeven’s “Elle, is set to play a femme fatale in Benoit Jacquot’s “Eva.”
A psychological thriller, “Eva” is adapted from James Hadley Chase’s novel which turns on a beautiful, yet lethal woman, to be played by Huppert.
The French star will play opposite Gaspard Ulliel, a leading French actor who was last seen in Xavier Dolan’s “It’s Only the End of the World,” which won Cannes’ Grand Prize.
The novel was previously adapted into a 1962 movie directed by Joseph Losey with Jeanne Moreau in the title role.
The role of “Eva” seems a right fit for Huppert who has earned critical acclaim for her performance in the Cannes-competing “Elle” as a perverse woman orchestrating a masterful revenge plan against the man who raped her.
“Eva” will be Huppert’s next film. It will start shooting in mid-January in Paris, Lyon and Annecy.
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Produced by Paris-based Macassar Productions, “Eva” was penned by Jacquot and Gilles Taurand, a renown screenwriter whose credits include such classics as Andre Techine’s “Wild Reeds,” as well as Jacquot’s “Farewell, My Queen.” Arte France Cinema has just boarded the film as a co-producer.
“Elle” represents France is the foreign-language Oscar race. Sony Pictures Classics, which is handling the film’s awards campaign, is also said to be positioning Huppert for a best actress Oscar nomination.
