Muse & Gaumont Present Jack of Diamonds

MONTREAL: Muse Entertainment and Gaumont have started principal photography on a back-door pilot for the series Jack of Diamonds, which will be distributed by ZDF Enterprises.

Jack of Diamonds follows as a master jewel thief teams up with a young tennis pro to help those cheated by a corrupt insurance company. The cast is led by Jean-Yves Berteloot (The Da Vinci Code), who stars as the French master thief. Co-starring as his apprentice in crime is John Bregar (Family Biz). The series pilot is being produced for Canwest Global and France 2. It will be distributed in Germany and internationally by ZDF Enterprises.

Director Hervé Renoh commented, “Jack of Diamonds will be cinematic in scope and depth, like a feature film, but with the fast pace and rhythm of a modern TV show. Peter Hume’s writing has the richness, characters’ complexity and plot twists of a feature film yet retains the fluidity and clarity of episodic television. With large TV screens and home cinema sound systems, audiences have grown to expect images and entertainment found in the best feature films—even in a TV pilot.”

Writer, showrunner and executive producer Peter Hume added, “Jack of Diamonds is the kind of fun, action filled adventure I’ve always loved. It’s got laughs, a few heartbreaking moments and lots of thrills. With the incredible Jean-Yves Berteloot and John Bregar as our leads, we’ve found the perfect talent to bring the series to life.”

Producer Jesse Prupas said, “Jack of Diamonds stole my heart.” He continued: “I just love the concept of thieves romping through private clubs and mansions stealing from the wealthy -doing bad things for all the right reasons.” Prupas added: “The opportunity to work on international co-production of this calibre with our fantastic partners at Gaumont has been really rewarding and will hopefully lead to much future collaboration.”

Executive producer Christian Davin of Gaumont, the founder of Alphanim, noted, “I loved the concept at once as a comedy thriller and as a tale about how to be good even when acting badly in a challenging and paradoxical world. It is a fantastic opportunity for Gaumont and Muse Entertainment to share an ambitious project of international reach with strong series’ potential and pursue this fruitful collaboration into other projects. This production is a chance for France 2 to innovate with the broadcasting of a prime time drama shot in English with very significant and well balanced French content.”