Andy Serkis To Direct/Showrunner Biopic Series About Madame Tussaud
Andy Serkis has been tapped as director and showrunner for ‘Madame!‘, a biopic series about the untold story of Marie Tussaud who founded the world-famous wax museums.
The story will follow Tussaud’s life from 18th Century Paris, where she honed her craft during the age of enlightenment, the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror, before travelling to England to launch the museum in 1835 and putting the business before everyone else. The extraordinarily pioneering businesswoman built her business from scratch, along the way sacrificing relationships with nearly everyone close to her (including her own children), exchanging love for her legacy.
“This is no straight-up period drama, it is a hilariously crazy, no holds barred, anarchic, punk caper conjured from the curiously twisted mind of a fabulously post-truth executioner’s daughter!” commented Serkis. “Marie knows one thing very clearly – if you’re going to tell your own life story, make it entertaining, even if you have to make it up, and whatever happens, cut out the boring bits….”
The series is being funded by Newen Connect, the sales and distribution arm of Newen Studios, owned by French media company TF1 Group. It will be co-developed by Newen and Imaginarium Productions, the company co-founded by Serkis and Jonathan Cavendish, alongside Felicita Films’ Marie Guillaumond.
“Teaming up with The Imaginarium UK anchors the strategy of Newen Connect to support producers in the development and research of financing for ambitious co-production projects,” adds Newen Connect CEO, Rodolphe Buet. “We cannot wait to present the series to partners and to discover the life of Marie Tussaud on screen through the remarkable vision of Andy Serkis.”
At this stage, we have no idea when or where ‘Madame!‘ may land in the UK (or the USA), but we’ll let you know when we hear more. If you want to keep track of this or any other show, you can add them via our Never Miss system, and you’ll be notified when it gets a UK premiere date.
