At the turn of the last century, an inventor had a revelation.
Inspired by the cinematic pioneering of the Lumière brothers, industrialist Léon Gaumont had already immersed himself in motion pictures, running a modest camera business that soon skyrocketed after taking the advice of a young employee who asked, “In order to boost sales, why not also offer something to watch?”
From that spark, the French movie industry was born.
“Creativity fuels progress,” says Gaumont CEO Sidonie Dumas. “Léon Gaumont started as an engineer, but his collaboration with directors like Alice Guy transformed his inventions into cinema — because technology only moves forward when there’s a story to tell.”
This year, Gaumont celebrates its own story: 130 years as the world’s first and longest-running film studio, marking the occasion with a century-spanning retrospective and an ambitious international slate.
Domestically, it has reissued nearly 600 cinematic treasures from a catalog of over 1,600 titles — among them “8 ½,” “The Fifth Element” and “Eyes Without a Face” — while, internationally, the studio behind recent hits like “Narcos,” “Lupin” and “The Taste of Things” is doubling down on its identity as a premium, cross-media brand.
“At 130 years old, we were born with cinema,” says Dumas. “But we’re not just sitting on a catalog or gazing into the past. We’ve always told great stories — and we’ve always stayed one step ahead of the times.”
More integrated into the international landscape than ever before, the company has recently gone through a period of transition, responding to the global downturn by streamlining U.S. operations in 2020 before parting with longtime vice CEO Christophe Riandée in 2024.
Overseen by Dumas and headquartered a step outside of Paris, Gaumont tackles production, distribution and sales, while operating subsidiaries in the U.K., Germany, Italy, the U.S. and Latin America. The company also houses a film restoration archive, a production services arm under Gaumont Television and Gaumont Classique, a streaming platform dedicated to French black-and-white cinema.
And though the studio’s marguerite daisy logo had long been associated with Gallic exhibition, Gaumont liquidated its theatrical holdings in 2017, funneling the proceeds towards greater audiovisual development in the U.S. and Europe.
“My focus has always been on production, not real estate,” Dumas says of her company’s strategic pivot. “So we doubled down on storytelling. Today, our mission is to produce across all formats.”
By the time of that pivot, the company’s international television division had found success with series like “Hannibal” and “Narcos,” while its French team was busy developing “Lupin,” a modern spin on the charismatic thief.
In keeping with what Dumas calls “the spirit of the times,” Gaumont continues to develop and produce series and features for streamers, broadcasters and theatrical release — in all cases leveraging a storied past to position itself as a heritage brand for upscale fare.
That signature is clearly evident in a pair of upcoming English-language features.
Now in post, Olivier Assayas’ “The Wizard of the Kremlin” follows Vladimir Putin’s rise through the lens of the spin doctor who helped orchestrate it. As with its 2017 Armando Iannucci satire “The Death of Stalin,” the film revisits Russian history with auteur pedigree and a starry cast — led here by Alicia Vikander, Jude Law and Paul Dano — showcasing the kind of high-profile, director-driven titles Gaumont hopes to offer the international market with greater regularity.
Meanwhile, “High in the Clouds,” a long-anticipated animated musical co-created and voiced by Paul McCartney, is finally off the ground.
A passion project for both the former Beatle and much of the Gaumont brass, the film languished in development for years before the studio came on board in 2017 to offer a creative reboot. After several more false starts, Gaumont officially relaunched the title in 2023, bringing on director Toby Genkel and Oscar-winning composer Michael Giacchino. Reframed as a European co-production — with animation handled in-house — the film is now slated for a 2027 release. It has already secured significant pre-sales in over 30 territories and will mark Gaumont’s first animated feature in a decade.
“These are fantastic projects, but you have to take a deep breath before diving in,” says Dumas, citing the long production timeline of 2017’s “Ballerina.” “We’ll certainly make more animated films,
but it won’t be our principal focus — we need to keep our pipeline running at a steady pace.”
As a distributor, Gaumont aims to release 10 films per year, with an eclectic mix of mainstream comedies, prestige dramas and auteur cinema. Many of these stem from close partnerships with producers like Quad Films (“Ballerina,” “The Death of Stalin”), Curiosa Films (“The Wizard of the Kremlin”) and Mandarin (“The Residence”) — and all with a shared commitment to creative risk-taking.
To that end, the studio started the year with a wager, betting that crowd-pleasing star Franck Dubosc could cut against type in a frosty crime thriller. The gamble more than paid off, lending the fittingly titled “How to Make a Killing” an additional resonance once the film banked 1.5 million admissions and 30 global sales.
“There’s no formula for success,” says Dumas. “We’re creating prototypes, not mass-produced copies. Today’s audiences are incredibly demanding; they go to the cinema to discover something new. To keep a brand like Gaumont alive, we have to keep experimenting and taking risks.”
At this year’s Cannes festival, the studio will premiere the Yann Gozlan-directed, Cécile de France-led sci-fi thriller “The Residence” in an out-of-competition slot, while its international sales execs will bring a number of projects to the market.
Gaumont’s slate includes “The Orphans,” an action spectacle from renowned stunt coordinator Olivier Schneider (“No Time to Die”); “Black to the Future,” a space comedy from local funnyman Jean-Pascal Zadi (“Beating Hearts”); and “Rays and Shadows,” a World War II drama about the moral compromises that lead to collaboration starring Jean Dujardin and August Diehl and directed by César-winner Xavier Giannoli.
The lineup also features new works from some of France’s most prominent and internationally recognized directors. In Cannes, Gaumont will launch sales for “Just an Illusion,” a 1980s-set coming-of-age comedy starring Louis Garrel and Camille Cottin that was directed by longtime studio collaborators Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache, who have called Gaumont home since their breakout hit, “Intouchables.”
Last but not least is “The Stranger,” an adaption of Albert Camus’ landmark novel led by rising stars Benjamin Voisin (“Carèm”) and Rebecca Marder and helmed by François Ozon.
“Ozon has this rare capacity to master every genre and style,” says Alexis Cassanet, Gaumont’s EVP of international distribution and co-productions. “Given our history and catalog, working with him to adapt the most widely read book in French literature just makes sense. We’re absolutely convinced it will be a major film.
“We don’t carry a specific label,” Cassanet continues. “But Gaumont is, above all, a French studio and pioneer in cinema, so our choices must reflect that identity. Right now, we’re collaborating with some of the best European directors across a range of styles, while remaining open and adventurous. We avoid being boxed into one type of cinema — and this year’s Cannes lineup reflects that philosophy.”
