Florian Zeller, a world-acclaimed playwright who made his directorial debut with the Oscar-winning film “The Father” starring Anthony Hopkins, has joined the Académie Française, a prestigious French literary society founded in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu.
Created during the prolific reign of Louis XIV, the Académie Française has played a significant role in shaping French culture, preserving and updating the country’s language, grammar and usage over time.
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The 40 members of the Académie Française, called “immortals,” are famous writers, philosophers and scientists, such as Victor Hugo, Corneille, Edmond Rostand, Jean Cocteau and Eugene Ionesco. At the age of 46, Zeller is the second youngest member ever elected by the society, following Rostand, the author of “Cyrano de Bergerac,” who was 33 when he joined in 1901.
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Zeller is currently in pre-production with his third feature, ““The Son” with Hugh Jackman. A psychological thriller, “Bunker” will start filming in Spain next month with Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem, alongside Stephen Graham (“Adolescence”). The film revolves around an architect who accepts a morally ambiguous project — building a survivalist bunker for a tech billionaire — and his wife, who begins to question their marriage after 17 years together.
“The Father” and “The Son” are part of a trilogy of plays by Zeller that have traveled around the world. He’s written a dozen more plays. The Paris native author and filmmaker also runs Blue Morning Pictures, a production company that’s part of Mediawan, with Federica Sainte-Rose. Zeller’s upcoming production credits include “Alone Together,” Adria Arjona (“Splitsville”).
