French film studio Pathé has announced the cast of the fifth film in the hit series "Asterix and Obelix", based on the comics by René Goscinny and Albert Ouderzo.

According to Deadline, the tape, called "Asterix and Obelix: Celestial", will be the first project of the franchise without the participation of Gerard Depardieu.

The central roles in the film went to Guillaume Canet, Gilles Lelouch, Vincent Cassel and Marion Cotillard.

They will play Asterix, Obelix, Caesar and Cleopatra, respectively.

Also involved in the film are Pierre Richard, Jonathan Cohen, Ramsay Bedia and other actors.

In addition, the footballer of the Italian club Milan Zlatan Ibrahimovic will take part in the filming.

He will play the role of the Roman Caius Antivirus.

For the athlete, this work will be his debut in the cinema.

The director's chair of the project was taken by actor and director Guillaume Canet.

Previously, he directed films such as Forever Young, Little Secrets and Don't Tell Anyone.

For the latter, the director was awarded the Cesar Prize.

Philippe Mechlin and Julien Herve worked on the script for the film.

The music for the film will be composed by rock musician Mathieu Shedid.

Asterix & Obelix: Celestial Empire will be the highest-budget francophone project among films scheduled for production in the near future.

Its budget will be € 60 million.

The filming of the tape was supposed to take place in the summer and autumn of 2020, including in China.

In preparation for the production process, the project team has already flown there several times.

On one of these trips, French President Emmanuel Macron joined the filmmakers - then the film project was presented to the Chinese authorities, and its authors received permission to film in the country.

It was expected that the film will be released under the title "Asterix and Obelix: Silk Road", and its action will unfold in 50 BC.

around the daughter of the Chinese emperor Xuan-di.

According to the scenario, she escapes to Gaul, where she seeks help from Asterix and Obelix, who received superpowers thanks to a magic potion.

“This is a costume film set 2,000 years ago, so we will build a (whole -

RT

) village and shoot grandiose battles, which will require numerous extras;

we also need a lot of visual effects, and, of course, an all-star cast with several cameos, ”said Alain Attal, one of the producers of the project.

Filming was postponed for almost a year.

They will start next week and will take place in France and Morocco.

Whether the change of locations influenced the plot has not yet been reported.

  • © Still from the film "Asterix and Obelix: Mission Cleopatra"

The first comic book by Rene Goscinny and Albert Ouderzo "Asterix and Obelix" hit the shelves in 1961.

Since then, 38 more volumes have been released and 15 animation and game projects have been filmed as part of the franchise.

The most popular was a series of feature films with Gerard Depardieu as Obelix.

Asterix has been played over the years by Christian Clavier, Clovis Korniak and Eduard Baer.

The first part, Asterix and Obelix vs. Caesar, directed by Claude Zidi, was released in 1999.

She received low ratings from viewers - the film's rating on the Rotten Tomatoes portal is 42%.

At the same time, the picture earned $ 105.6 million at the box office.

The second part of the series - "Asterix and Obelix: Mission Cleopatra" in 2002 became more successful.

It was directed by Alain Shaba, and Monica Bellucci joined the cast as the Egyptian queen.

The film earned more than $ 128 million at the box office and was warmly received by the audience: film critics awarded it 86% "freshness", and the viewer rating currently stands at 79%.

The box office success was accompanied by the release of the third film - "Asterix at the Olympic Games".

In the 2008 film, in addition to the leading actors, Alain Delon, Franck Dubosque, Monique Cruz, as well as athletes Jerome Le Bannet, Michael Schumacher, Jean Todt, Zinedine Zidane, Amelie Mauresmo and others starred.

The tape grossed almost $ 132 million, but was greeted with a cool audience.

The premiere of the latest film in the series - "Asterix and Obelix in Britain" - took place in 2012.

He also did not receive widespread approval and earned $ 61.3 million.

The streaming service Netflix is ​​currently working on an animated series about the adventures of Asterix and Obelix.

Alain Chabat, a screenwriter and director of the film “Asterix and Obelix: Mission“ Cleopatra ”, participates in the creation of the project.

The premiere is expected in 2023.