Millimages Launches Pre-Production of Animated Feature Film LASCARS 2
Millimages, one of the oldest independent animation studios and IP developers in Europe, has announced the start of pre-production on the second feature film in the LASCARS series.
15 years after the first movie, the sequel to José and Tony’s adventures – this time set in Marseille – is now in pre-production. Millimages produced a first series of Lascars 60 x 1′ shorts in 1998, which became a cult phenomenon thanks to episodes such as ‘Baston de Regards’, ‘Cigarette’ and the fan favourite ‘Jfais dla thai’. In 2009, the first feature film attracted over 500,000 cinema admissions and was screened during the Critics’ Week at the Cannes Film Festival that year.
“Lascars is iconic, a real generational marker with an enduring notoriety in France. We’re thrilled to be doing this much-demanded sequel! This concept has inspired several films and series in the French audiovisual landscape, and it’s a source of pride to be back with the original teams, top-quality animation and humor that is as biting as ever,” says Bonnie Lener, Producer and Head of Development.
Today, at the historic Millimages studio in the 11th arrondissement of Paris, the storyboard and animatics for the second Lascars film are under way, setting up the first building blocks for the production of this eagerly-awaited feature.
Pitched at Cartoon Movie 2023, the project met with immediate enthusiasm from the industry and public alike: the teaser, leaked after its presentation, amassed over 700k views on X (Twitter), and was replayed on the pop culture website Konbini.
The screenplay is written by the original team (Ismael Sy Savané, Boris Dolivet and Alexis Dolivet), and will be directed by Laurent Nicolas, who also directed season 1 of the series. For the voice casting, the plan is to bring back some of the original voices, such as the main duo (dubbed by Ismael Sy Savané and Vincent Cassel), and to also open up the cast to new actors from today’s comedy scene.
10 years after their first adventures, the Lascars leave Condé sur Ginette for the suburbs of Marseille. Their goal: to track down Tony’s mother, who is believed to be holding an old inheritance worth several million euros! But with José about to become a father, and Tony sinking further and further into a loser life, their mission quickly degenerates…
Key partners on board to date include: Umédia and Apollo as co-producers with Apollo handling worldwide distribution of all media, and HBO’s streaming service MAX as the broadcast partner in France.
The objective for Producer Bonnie Lener and General Manager Adrien Moretto is to complete the production launch in the second half of 2025.
