Every once in a while, I get asked about the status of Leos Carax’s next film, but given the secretive nature of the French filmmaker, not much info has leaked out, so far. That is, until a few days ago.
Casting calls keep popping up in France for Carax’s next film, to shoot in Paris, starring Adam Driver and Léa Seydoux. The listings say production is set to commence in mid-2026.
No plot details have been revealed at this time, and given Carax’s past history, I doubt we’ll know much about the film until it nears release.
We first heard about this project when French producer Charles Gillibert told Cahiers du Cinéma that Carax’s next film would have a bigger budget than his last effort, “Annette,” which reportedly cost around $16M.
Last year, Carax released his docu-fiction “It’s Not Me,” a reflective 59-minute “essay film” which quietly premiered out of competition at Cannes and went on to stream exclusively on MUBI. It was the kind of elliptical, self-aware work you’d expect from Carax, whose output is as rare as it is uncompromising.
Carax, ever the slow burner, has only made six features since his 1984 debut “Boy Meets Girl.” His credits include “Mauvais Sang” (1986), “The Lovers on the Bridge” (1991), “Pola X” (1999), “Holy Motors” (2012), and, of course, “Annette” (2021), which opened the Cannes Film Festival and won him the festival’s Best Director prize.
A new Carax film doesn’t come often. When it does, the world of cinema tends to stop and pay attention.