The Paramount+ platform arrives in France, in particular via Canal+; we have selected three new series to discover on this new VOD service
It’s a new streaming platform that has been added to the list of those already available to French viewers: since December 1, Paramount+ has been available via Canal+ for €7.99 per month (or €79.99 per year), but it is also included at no extra cost for subscribers to the Ciné Séries pack or with the Canal+ Friends & Family offer. There is already an impressive catalog of films, documentaries and series, which should be further enriched in the coming weeks.
On the series side, Paramount+ offers Showtime programs (Dexter, Billions, Yellowjackets, Shameless, Homeland, Twin Peaks…), CBS (Experts, Magnum), MTV, Comedy Central (South Park), or Nickelodeon for children (Spongebob, Paw Patrol). And of course, original Paramount creations (including the French series The signal, based on the novel by Maxime Chattam, currently under development) and new series in France such as the prequel to Yellowstone, 1883or the adaptation of American Gigolo. Among these, we have already selected three, to discover now or soon.
The Offer, behind the scenes of the film The Godfather
10 episodes of around 50′. Available now.
What is The Offer? After a bitter failure at the box office, producer Al Ruddy (Miles Teller) tries to relaunch his career by adapting The Godfather, a book that was then a hit in bookstores, in which Mario Puzo (Patrick Gallo) tells the story of Don Corleone, godfather of the Italian-American mafia. While Marlon Brando (Justin Chambers) is chosen to interpret the main role and that the direction is entrusted to the young filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola (Dan Fogler), the film project is already causing controversy. The Italian-American community feels stigmatized and the New York “Capi” do not like the way they are portrayed in the book, and they will do everything to stop the film. It is to count without the determination of Ruddy, who will in particular ensure the support of the godfather Jo Colombo (Giovanni Ribisi). We still have to convince Paramount to finance the project, find filming locations, manage delays and budget overruns…
The 50th anniversary of The Godfather did not go unnoticed by Paramount, which produced the film in 1972. Along with a restored theatrical version, the studio added to its platform The Offer, a series that tells the story behind the film. Budget problems, casting debates, difficulty finding sets, artistic differences… but also pressure from the Italian-American community and in particular from organized crime families, who considered literary representation stigmatizing. This is the version of Albert S. Ruddy, the producer of the film, that the series tells us, from the beginnings of the project to the Oscars, including filming in Sicily – a version contested by other personalities. The offer sometimes looks a little academic, it uses all the clichés and all the expected passages – a bit like a litany of known anecdotes or a reconstruction of the legend that surrounds the film, more fantasized than realistic. But it doesn’t matter, because it’s an entertaining series, which happily recreates the world of cinema of the 1970s and where we meet Al Pacino, Marlon Brando, Ali MacGraw, Robert Redford, Diane Keaton, James Caan, Frank Sinatra,… And above all it gives you a furious desire to see again The Godfather.
The First Lady, cross portraits of three first ladies of the United States
10 episodes of around 50′. Available now.
What is The First Lady? Their names are Eleanor Roosevelt (Gillian Anderson) Betty Ford (Michelle Pfeiffer) and Michelle Obama (Viola Davis); all three served as first lady of the United States, following the election of their respective husbands to the presidency. Alongside Franklin Roosevelt (Kiefer Sutherland), Gerald Ford (Aaron Eckhart) and Barack Obama (OT Fangbenle), each had to find their place, reconcile private and public life, in the context of their time. Presidential campaigns, entering the White House, political decisions, life after the presidency: each played a role, alongside her husband.
Driven by an excellent cast (special mention to Michelle Pfeiffer), The first lady retraces the crossed paths of these three women who were married to the President of the United States. We follow their intertwining stories, each episode alternating scenes dedicated to each of them, both chronologically and thematically. Eleanor’s commitment during the Second World War, her complex relationship with her sick husband; Betty’s alcoholism and her difficulty finding her place; the way Michelle puts her career on hold… But also recurring issues from one era to another, such as sexism and racism, media pressure, marital relations, the demands of a role they did not necessarily choose. Sometimes a little messy, often uneven, the series is nevertheless interesting in the way it traces the lives of these three emblematic women in three distinct eras, all three different in many respects and similar in others. A dive into contemporary history, through a different perspective.
Tulsa King, Sylvester Stallone as mafia gangster
10 episodes of around 40′. Available in early 2023 and already renewed for a season 2
What is Tulsa King? Dwight Manfredi (Sylvester Stallone), a member of a powerful New York mafia family, is released from prison after 25 years behind bars. While he expects to find his place within the organization, he is quickly disillusioned when he discovers that, more embarrassing than anything else, he will be exiled, sent to Tulsa. In this city of Oklahoma, his mission is to launch criminal activities. As soon as he arrives, Dwight sets to work, starting by racketeering the owner (Martin Starr) of a dispensary that sells cannabis. But an old school mafia unsuited to the time, Dwight will find it all the more difficult to impose himself as his arrival has attracted the attention of the authorities and former rivals, while in New York, certain members of the family have grievances against him…
Tulsa King is a surprising series, which operates a bit of a synthesis between the worlds of its two creators: on the Terence Winter side, Italian-Americans involved in illegal activities and on the Taylor Sheridan side, the heart of the United States with cities surrounded by prairies, ranches and deserts. And that’s how an Italian-American mobster lands in Tulsa. But unlike Yellowstone Where Boardwalk Empire, Tulsa King is undeniably a comedy that favors the humorous side. Even if we guess that the criminal intrigue will take on importance, even if a more dramatic side is emerging, particularly in the way the hero tries to reconnect with his daughter whom he has not seen for years. , the first three episodes airing at the moment rely heavily on the maladjustment of a 75-year-old New York gangster in Oklahoma in 2022, after 25 years in prison. The story is sometimes outrageous, not always very believable… but the mechanism works and we have a great time. A fortiori thanks to an amazing Sylvester Stallone, in a tailor-made role. And with a first episode that broke viewing records, the series has just been renewed for a second season.
Three series to watch… on Paramount+ | VL Media