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“Fast X” and “Lupin” director Louis Leterrier will make his animation debut with “The Chimera Brigade,” an action/sci-fi series that pulls from European folklore and pop culture and turns a simple comic-book premise: What if Marie Curie’s discoveries help birth the world’s first superheroes?
Leterrier will co-direct with Antoine Charreyron (“Batwheels”), while Ron Dyens of Sacrebleu Productions acts as lead producer. The project is adapted from an award-winning comic series written by Serge Lehman and Fabrice Colin and illustrated by Gallic artist Gess.
Taking place between the two world wars in a steampunk (or more precisely, radiumpunk) vision of Paris evocative of Jules Verne and “The Rocketeer,” the series sets a Gallic and Teutonic superhuman squads against one another in a race to prevent – or accelerate – the next global conflict. Like a continental counterpart to Alan Moore’s “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen,” the series folds in figures from European literature and mythology, including Doctor Mabuse, the Golem of Prague and Dietrich-esque femme fatale known as the Blue Angel.
“Being raised in Europe in the 1980s and 90s, I was perfectly situated at the crossroads of so many cinematic languages, influences and genres,” Leterrier tells Variety.
“This melting pot heavily influenced my films and TV shows, and I guess that’s what made them resonate with audiences worldwide. The European lore is so deep, so complex, with stories and characters rooted in centuries of varied traditions of storytelling. Its immense power will never cease to inspire artists from all around the globe. I’m lucky that this has been my playground since birth.”
“We plan to incorporate many techniques from live-action and motion capture to offer dynamic and sensitive animation,” explains Antoine Charreyron. “For the fight scenes, we’ll draw inspiration from storyboards and rehearsals with stunt choreographers like Patrick Vo, who has worked on the latest James Bond films and ‘Fast X’, enriching our storyboards with ideas not typically found in animation. We have a real desire to combine different media and talents to make the brigade a visually unique and spectacular work.”
“We want to create a grand adventure spectacle, set in a world with its own unique codes, highlighting original and inspiring characters who defend humanistic values,” Charreyron continues. “The series speaks to what heroism truly is and how one engages in resistance. In this complicated period, and as history seems to repeat itself endlessly, saying that together we can change things despite our differences is an important message we hope to share with as many people as possible.”
