- French director Alexandre Aja, who helmed the 2013 film Horns starring Daniel Radcliffe, will direct The Marquis, a 17th century period romance drama based on the true story of Marquis de Montespan, The Hollywood Reporter reveals.
Aja also wrote the script for the project, which is based on Jean Teule's novel Le Montespan. The film, which will be in English, centers on the relationship between the Marquis Louis Henri de Montespan and his wife Athenais, who became the mistress of Louis XIV. At the time, sharing your wife with the monarch was considered a source of prestige for aristocrats, but the Marquis, who was passionately in love with his wife, vowed to get his wife back at all costs.
Gaumont is producing with Paris-based LGM Cinema. Principal photography is expected to begin in late 2016 or early 2017 in Europe.
"This is the story of an extremely passionate couple who, for nearly 30 years, sought to free themselves from the muck of this hypocritical society they lived in," Aja said a statement. "She, through her blind ambition to become the true queen of France and he, never ceasing to display his love for her, defying everyone, even the Sun King himself. With relentless dark humor and tempestuous sensuality, Montespan tells the tragic love story about a man, his wife, and the king that came between them."
Aja is known for his work in horror, including 2010's Piranha 3D and 2006's The Hills Have Eyes remake. He most recently directed The 9th Life of Louis Drax, a thriller starring Jamie Dornan.
