While the original novel is set in Oran in the 1940s, this adaptation is set in... in 2029, in a society "barely" out of "the wave of Covid epidemics" and facing a plague "much more formidable", according to the statement of France Télé.
The project for this four-part series was unveiled more than two years ago by the public broadcasting group.
"It is a boldness in which we believe, in the context that we are currently experiencing both the rise of radicalism on all sides" and the health crisis, had then explained Stéphane Sitbon-Gomez, its director of antennas and programs.
"While we have learned to live with the seasonal variants of Covid, we discover in this southern city a new variant of the plague bacillus called YP2. In the absence of treatment, the central government decided, in order to spare the rest of the country, to seal off the city; then to apply a mysterious +Plan D + of which we will gradually discover the monstrous springs, "it is specified in the press release.
French-Moroccan actress and singer Sofia Essaïdi at the 75th Cannes Film Festival, May 25, 2022 © LOIC VENANCE / AFP/Archives
Filming will begin on April 17 under the leadership of Antoine Garceau, already director of another literary adaptation for the public service, "The elementary particles", broadcast last year on France 2 and inspired by the eponymous novel by Michel Houellebecq.
© 2023 AFP