'One Cut Of The Dead' Is Getting A French Remake From The Director Of 'The Artist'

2011's The Artist, the black-and-white paean to the silent film era, doesn't hold much of a place in the film conversations of today. But the movie certainly struck a chord with Oscar voters the next year, winning Best Actor for Jean Dujardin, Best Director for Michel Hazanavicius, and ultimately winning Best Picture.

Now, the filmmaker behind that cinematic anomaly has set his sights on a remake of the low-budget Japanese horror comedy One Cut of the Dead, which is about a film crew that encounters real zombies while making a zombie movie – or at least that's how it appears at first. You really, really should watch it. The new film, which is being shot in Hazanavicius's native France, is called Final Cut, and it will star one of the leads of The Artist.

ScreenDaily (via Bloody-Disgusting) reports that a One Cut of the Dead remake, which is called Z (Comme Z) in French and Final Cut in English, has begun production on the outskirts of Paris, with Hazanavicius behind the camera. Romain Duris, who is starring in a new ambitious two-movie adaptation of The Three Musketeers, is playing the lead role of the director of a B-movie that's falling into chaos "who seems to be the only one invested with the necessary energy to keep the low-budget zombie film afloat." Here's the trailer for the Japanese original:

The report also says that Bérénice Bejo, who was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her work in The Artist, has joined the cast of Final Cut. She also happens to be Hazanavicius's wife, and their daughter, Simone Hazanavicius, has also joined the cast, making this something of a family affair. They'll be joined by Grégory Gadebois, Finnegan Oldfield, Matilda Lutz, Sébastian Chassagne, Raphaël Quenard, Jean-Pascal Zadi, Lyes Salem, and Luana Bajrami.

"The brilliant concept of the original film, a dream cast, a light and highly motivated crew, all of this makes me thrilled to be making this movie, about shooting a movie," the director said.

His other directing credits include the well-liked spy spoof OSS 117 movies, a war film called The Search, a movie about the acclaimed filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard called Godard Mon Amour, and a The Fall-esque family adventure starring Lupin actor Omar Sy called The Lost Prince, among others. He has not made another Hollywood movie since The Artist had its big moment in the sun (not that making Hollywood movies is the end-all, be-all of filmmaking), but if this remake becomes an international crossover hit like the original Japanese movie, I'll be curious to see if Hollywood comes calling.