“DIn the corridors of the Louvre, a mysterious being lurked. We call it… Belphegor. We remember the images of the Belphegor of our childhood, the elegant and sleepwalking Juliette Gréco, a dark and masked silhouette mysteriously wandering at night in the Galeries du Louvre. A Paris of the Sixties, where Yves Rénier was investigating in a black and white setting, creating one of the most legendary series in television history.
Sixty years after Claude Barma’s cleaning soap opera, adopted by ten million viewers – a report for the time -, the demon born beneath the pen of Arthur Bernède, in 1927, returned to a contemporary adaptation, signed Nils Antoine Sambuc (In remedy) and Jérémy Mainguy (Panda, pink bracelets). And this time, it’s to MAX subscribers and M6 viewers that Belphegor is for.
They are about fifty, on April 24, to be busy within the darkness of the mansion situated on rue Alfred de Vigny, close to Parc Monceau, the primary place to shoot this new adaptation – the place we movie within the massive eating room, on the second flooring. We closed the curtains, stocked the chandeliers with pink lamps. In the middle of the room sits the Belphegor masks, backed by the mirror.
“Engine … Action! Shake Jeremy Mainguy »We shoot the final scenes, spoiler ban. Actress Shirine Boutella springs in the frame. For Belphegorshe became Hafsa, a young restaurateur at the Louvre, just hired, modern and Cartesian. Until the day when everything changes: old mask, nightmares, disappearances … “She is confronted with the inexplicable, says Aude Albano, the producer of the collection. It utterly upsets her. She will do every thing to know what is going on to her. And it endangers her. »»
“It’s a new story”
“It is the engine of the quest, it is at the center of the story,” added the actress, who got here to hitch us between two catches. At 35, she has by no means seen the unique collection. Neither Greco nor Marceau are a part of his RAM. “I like to begin from scratch. Without comparability. Without concern. For me, it is a new story. And she is. Nothing to do with the sixties cleaning soap opera, Belphégor model 2026 ventures elsewhere: extra fashionable, extra intimate, extra disturbing too. On the border of the supernatural, with out ever switching to the pure implausible. “It’s a step aside,” breathes Jeremy Mainguy. “We do not know what’s actual. If Hafsa loses foot or not. And that is what we love. »»
Even the ghost has modified its face. No extra caricatural cape, malice and wickedness. Now, Belphegor attracts from Mesopotamian myths, on the aspect of Baal Ségor, God of storm and contradictions. “There are a thousand Belphegor possible,” explains the producer. “Ours is neither good nor dangerous. Like Baal, he escapes the bins. The masks is a complete invention – as a result of archaeologically, Baal is represented in a statuette, typically with lightning in hand.
It is now not a query of scareing, however of destabilizing. “Many people have been terrorized by the original series,” lights up the producer. We wish to pay tribute to them, whereas attracting a brand new viewers. In this rereading, Belphegor turns into extra summary, much less demonstrative. “Baal is both mischievous and benevolent, an ambiguous god, as well as our Belphegor,” provides Jérémy Mainguy. “What pursuits us is that this ambiguity. »»
The Louvre as we have now by no means seen
And then there’s the decor. Le Louvre. National monument, world heritage, a “mille-feuille de epochs”, as Aude Albano likes to explain. He’s the primary character. “We turned night in corridors,” says Shirin Boutella. Sometimes we actually received misplaced, as in a dream. It’s loopy, blows the actress. She had already identified the Louvre model Lupine. But there, she says, that is one thing else: “The Louvre, the night, empty … Silence, the greatness … You feel tiny. You look up under the pyramid, and you say to yourself: “Wow. I’m fortunate to do that job. Even thrill for Vincent Elbaz, goalkeeper of the museum within the collection. “I also signed for that, he laughs. To find myself alone, at night, in the room of the Greek statues … or in front of the Mona Lisa, in the dark. She was barely visible. It was fascinating. »»
But the real surprise is elsewhere, behind the stolen doors which are foreign to us. Where behind the scenes: workshops, cellars and reserves of the museum … “We needed to point out the again of the decor”, shares Aude Albano. But also the thousands of people who work there. Conservatives, security, guarding staff … It’s a real hive. And that is rare. »»
Pathé wishes to seduce the international
The result? A Belphegor more anchored in its time. With this new version, Pathé, which achieves its first foray into the serial format, has the ambition to seduce beyond French borders. “Internationally, it’s not a reputation that’s essentially identified,” admits Aude Albano. “But the place is common. The Louvre is a logo that everybody acknowledges. »»
Especially for the reason that rehabilitation of French novels, of Lupine At Count of Monte-Cristopassing by The three musketeershave made their means within the hearts of spectators – even when the comparability stops there. “Lupine, for example, it’s action, rhythm, a chase in Paris, illustrates Shirine Boutella. We are elsewhere. In something much more interior, almost organic. »»
To uncover
The kangaroo of the day
Answer
It stays to be seen whether or not this reincarnation will have the ability to seize the essence of the parable that has made its legend. For the director, there is no such thing as a doubt about it: “Ghosts are common. There will not be a single ghost -free civilization. And then it’s a story on the soul of Paris, and on the soul briefly. We cross the town on all flooring of society. It may be very fashionable, very present. Almost social. And deeply human. It’s very thrilling. »»
The collection Belphegor is deliberate for 2026.
https://www.lepoint.fr/culture/louvre-dans-les-coulisses-de-belphegor-la-serie-culte-de-retour-en-2026–18-05-2025-2589847_3.php