Marie Antoinette is an upcoming French-British historical drama television series created and written by Deborah Davis, writer of The Favourite. It is based on the life of the last queen of France before the French Revolution who was 14 years old when she became Dauphine of France upon her marriage to the heir apparent, Louis-Auguste. The first season of the series is scheduled to premiere in 2022 and will consist of eight episodes. German actress Emilia Schüle will play the titular role.[2]
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| Original language | English |
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| Production location | Versailles Studios de Bry-Sur-Marne |
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| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Slap" | Pete Travis | TBA | TBA |
| 2 | "Rival Queens" | Pete Travis | TBA | TBA |
| 3 | "The Choice of a Princess" | Pete Travis | TBA | TBA |
| 4 | "Queen of France" | Pete Travis | TBA | TBA |
| 5 | "Rebel queen" | Geoffrey Enthovan | TBA | TBA |
| 6 | "Deus ex Machina" | Geoffrey Enthovan | TBA | TBA |
| 7 | "The Austrian" | Geoffrey Enthovan | TBA | TBA |
| 8 | "Queen of Hearts" | Geoffrey Enthovan | TBA | TBA |
After the final season of Versailles aired, it was announced Canal+ had commissioned Deborah Davis to write an eight-part series centred on Marie Antoinette.[3] Alongside Banijay Studios and CAPA Drama the French production company planned to create an English language series with the aim to distribute to a wide international audience in a similar fashion to Versailles.[4] In October 2021, it was announced that the BBC had pre-bought the series and the British broadcaster would be part of the production and distribution process.[5] Vogue and Variety reported the series is being created by an all female writing team and would offer a "feminist take" on Marie Antoinette's life.[6]
Casting was announced in September 2021 with Schüle attached to play the lead role.[7] She will be joined by an international cast including Louis Cunningham, Jack Archer, Jasmine Blackborow, Gaia Weiss, James Purefoy, Marthe Keller, Roxane Duran, Crystal Shepherd-Cross, Caroline Piette, Oscar Lesage, Liah O'Prey, Jonas Bloquet, Nathan Willcocks, Paul Bandey, Laura Benson and Yoli Fuller.[8][9][10]
In September 2021 it was announced filming had begun. Variety and Deadline reported that alongside the studios of Bry-Sur-Marne, filming would take place at locations that include the Châteaux of Versailles, Vaux-le-Vicomte, Palace of Fontainebleau, Lésigny, Champs and Voisins.[11][12]
Marie Antoinette is scheduled to premiere on the French network Canal+ in Autumn 2022.[13]
In July 2022 it was announced that the series would be distributed through BBC First in Australia and air on streamers Foxtel and Binge.[14] The entire series will be released on November 22nd.[15]
In October 2022 Banijay announced PBS had pre-bought the series with a planned Spring 2023 release. [16]
The air date for the UK, Australia and further international release is TBA.