Prime Video France is doubling down on homegrown originals across scripted, film and unscripted — and is pushing further into new event formats with “Mascarade,” a creator-led French format that builds on the streamer’s hit “LOL” franchise, as well as premium series such as “Animal Sauvage,” a six-part adaptation of Joël Dicker’s bestselling novel “Animal Sauvage.”
The later starts shooting in a few says and is directed by Vincent Maël Cardona (“Magnetic Beats”) with a prestige cast led by Noémie Merlant, Matthias Schoenaerts, Pauline Clément, Pierre-Yves Cardinal and Quim Gutiérrez.
Prime Video also announced an exclusive partnership with Dicker to adapt two more international bestsellers from his catalogue, including “L’Énigme de la Chambre 622” and “Le Livre des Baltimore.”
Unveiled Thursday during Prime Video’s “Prime Original Stories” presentation at Café de l’Homme over the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Dicker partnership reflects Prime Video’s growing appetite for locally rooted IP with built-in audience awareness, Thomas Dubois, head of French Originals at Prime Video, told Variety ahead of the presentation.
“France is a territory where there is a very strong relationship between audiences and authors, between viewers and the stories they already know from books, cinema, comedy or digital culture,” he said. “The opportunity for us is to take those worlds and build them with the right level of ambition. A project like ‘Animal Sauvage’ lets us work with a major literary voice, a strong director and an exceptional cast, while still making something that feels very Prime Video.”
“Mascarade,” meanwhile, is being positioned as a new original unscripted swing for the streamer in France. Produced by Mediawan Prod H.O.T., the show is fronted by YouTube creator Loris Giuliano, who has 1.9 million subscribers, and was created from an idea by Giuliano and Tom Aguilar. It invites eight major French stars to attend Giuliano’s birthday party while physically and vocally transformed through technology. Their goal is to avoid being unmasked before dawn.
“Loris Giuliano is extremely funny,” Dubois said. “We hope it will be our next ‘LOL’ and get adapted internationally.” He said the show has “a bit of investigation, there is laughter, there is a game element. In the writing, we are almost brushing up against escape-game territory.”
The streamer is also accelerating its scripted ambitions locally and ramping up its investments. It’s moving forward with “Paris 18,” produced by Iconoclast and created by Elias Belkeddar and Audrey Diwan, the director of Venice’s Golden Lion-winning “Happening.” Dubois described it as a thriller set against the backdrop of a “Parisian neighborhood at the crossroads of destinies, cultures and imaginations.”
Another scripted project, “Les Justiciers,” is based on an original idea and synopsis by Philippe Lacheau (“LOL”), Julien Arruti, Pierre Dudan and Pierre Lacheau, and will tell how unlikely people can become the heroes nobody needed but everyone was waiting for.
“At Prime Video, we like to create long-term relationships with the talent we work with. There is one relationship in particular that has been built over the last few years with Philippe Lacheau,” said Dubois of the actor, producer and host for “LOL,” who also produced a film for Prime Video in France a few years ago. “We wanted to find a new playground together,” Dubois added, pointing the “LOL” franchise spans six seasons and two spinoffs.
Dubois said the new announcements build on the strategy Prime Video laid out last September, when it leaned into New Romance, fresh faces and emerging talent with titles such as “Campus Drivers,” “Toi + Moi,” Paul Mirabel’s scripted comedy “Paul” and Rebecca Zlotowski and Agathe Riedinger’s fashion-world series “Glamsquad.”
“When we spoke in September, we put forward a very clear strategic angle around New Romance, new faces and helping new talent rise,” Dubois said. “What we wanted to show now is that the strategy is expanding. We are still backing young audiences and new talent, but we are also moving into more premium series, more ambitious adaptations and formats that can create a real event locally.”
On the film side, Prime Video announced “B.A.D.G.E,” a buddy-cop-style comedy produced by Mediawan-owned Les Films entre 2&4 (co-headed by Jonathan Cohen) and Making Prod, with Marina Foïs and Alison Wheeler starring, and Simon Astier directing.
The streamer unveiled “Stunt,” an action comedy written and directed by Franck Gastambide, who stars opposite Jean-Pascal Zadi, Sofiane Zermani, Valeria Galviz and José Garcia. The film is produced by Kowloon Film with Autodidakte, also part of Mediawan.
Prime Video is also expanding its unscripted slate beyond “Mascarade.” “Les Fumiers – Bienvenue à la ferme,” produced by ITV Studios France and narrated by Ragnar Le Breton, will follow eight content creators as they leave their urban lives and social media routines behind to work on four very different French farms.
Dubois said the breadth of the new slate reflects the way Prime Video is trying to define itself in France, where the service has leaned into films, comedy specials, event unscripted and young-skewing scripted content rather than simply chasing volume.
“The strength of our (service) is that it can be a destination for formats, films, comedy, romance, premium drama, literary adaptations and new voices. What matters is that each project has a reason to exist on Prime Video, that it speaks to an audience and that it can create conversation.”
The upcoming film slate also includes “Masterplan,” a heist comedy starring Stanley Tucci which marks Prime Video’s first French-Italian Original film.
During the Paris showcase, Prime Video also revealed the first images and teaser of “Glamsquad,” revealing that Catherine Deneuve and popular singer Theodora star in the series, alongside Arcadi Radeff, Antonia Buresi, Lucie Goudeau and Natacha Krief. The six-part series follows young talents trying to break into the fashion and beauty world, from Fashion Week to the Cannes Film Festival.
Dubois also underlined the parity and diversity of talent behind the camera within its slate. “In 2026, nearly one out of every two series and films is produced by a woman, and 50% of our writers are women. It was important for us to mark that framework,” he said, citing previous collaboration with female directors, such as Maïmouna Doucouré and Mélanie Laurent.
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