Ted Lasso star Phil Dunster, Corey Mylchreest (Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story) and Emilia Schüle (Marie Antoinette) have signed for action-spy thriller Blake & Mortimer: The Yellow M.
Directed by French director Cédric Nicolas-Troyan (The Huntsman: Winter’s War, Furies, Kate), the feature is an English-language, live action adaptation of best-selling graphic novel franchise Blake and Mortimer by Edgar P. Jacobs.
The franchise, which has sold 20 million copies worldwide and been translated into 15 languages, revolves around the adventures of MI5 Captain Francis Blake and his scientist friend Philip Mortimer. Mylchreest will play Blake opposite Dunster as Mortimer.
Mister Smith Entertainment will launch international sales in Cannes on the French-Belgian-UK co-production, currently slated for a September 2025 start of principal photography, shooting mostly in the UK and Belgium. CAA is representing the US rights. Belga will distribute the film in Benelux.
The official synopsis reads: “Europe, 1941. Nazi Germany develops the Omega Wave: a dangerous mind-control weapon capable of bending human will. MI5 Captain Blake and physicist Mortimer join forces to destroy it. The lab goes up in flames and the weapon is lost… or so they believe. Twelve years later, in 1953 London, a string of unexplained deaths grips the city. A shadowy figure known as “M” surfaces, armed with the Omega Wave. With the Queen’s coronation days away, Blake and Mortimer, two old friends, reunite on a deadly mission.”
Nicolas-Troyan has co-written the screenplay with Jan Kounen (Doberman) and Jay Ferguson.
“The ingenious and vivid storytelling in ‘The Yellow M’ graphic novel series masterfully combines action, adventure, mystery, fantasy, sci-fi, comedy, and romance, with a classic buddy story at its core,” he said.
The French director made his feature debut with epic fantasy The Huntsman: Winter’s War, starring Charlize Theron, Chris Hemsworth, and Emily Blunt, followed by action thriller Kate, with Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and then Netflix Original series Furies, which went on to rank as the second most-watched French-language show ever on the platform, just behind Lupin.
Blake & Mortimer: The Yellow M is produced by Patrick Vandenbosch (The Queen’s Corgi) and Jean-Jacques Neira (Bonhoeffer) for Belga Studios, in addition to Nicolas-Troyan and Meg Thomson at Globalgate Entertainment.
“We’re incredibly excited to be boarding The Yellow ‘M’ for international sales. Oscar-Nominated Cédric Nicolas-Troyan brings a proven track record of delivering visually striking, high-energy storytelling that perfectly suits this iconic source material. With a thrilling script, a rich cinematic world, and the promise of a dynamic young cast, we see enormous global potential in this project and can’t wait to introduce it to buyers,” said Mister Smith Entertainment’s David Garrett.
