The gripping and eerily realistic thriller is represented internationally by Paris-based sales company SND When Alexandre Smia began writing “Jupiter,” his gripping feature directing debut about a newly elected French president confronted with the possibility of nuclear war with Russia, Joe Biden was still in the White House. A year and a half later, as the film prepares to world premiere out of competition at the Venice Film Festival, the geopolitical landscape around it has moved with unsettling speed, making “Jupiter” feel more timely than Smia ever imagined. Produced by Hugo Sélignac and Nicolas Dumont’s Chi Fou Mi Productions, one of France’s leading production outfits part of Mediawan, “Jupiter” stars Denis Ménochet as Paul Archambault, a newly elected French president summoned to the Jupiter command post, the highly secretive anti-atomic bunker beneath the Élysée Palace, after an assassination attempt against the Russian president triggers a rapidly escalating international crisis.
Russia blames Ukraine and threatens retaliation, leaving Archambault and his political and military advisers facing an impossible choice as nuclear war looms. And that’s what’s completely frightening: it’s totally plausible.” For decades after France became a nuclear power in 1960, Smia argues, the country essentially remained a spectator during global nuclear confrontations. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine changed that.
For a first-time feature director, it’s an unusually ambitious swing, but Smia is already well-versed in geopolitical fiction, having previously co-written episodes of the hit spy thriller series “The Bureau” and Martin Bourboulon’s Afghanistan evacuation thriller “13 Days, 13 Nights.” Politics, he says, has fascinated him since adolescence, and the nuclear threat gave him the impulse to step behind the camera. Beyond how disturbingly timely it is, it’s an absolutely fascinating subject and contains extraordinary cinematic material.” Surrounding Ménochet, Smia pulled together a stellar French ensemble. Kateb’s character drew partly on Henry Kissinger and Robert McNamara, while Dominique Blanc’s character was inspired in part by Madeleine Albright.
Sallette, meanwhile, was chosen for the sheer force Smia felt was required to credibly stand opposite Ménochet. Before shooting, the cast spent a week rehearsing together in a chapel behind Paris’ Saint-Ambroise church. Smia compares the experience to forming a theater troupe.
That preparation was essential because the characters speak in political and military slang which Smia describes as “almost a foreign language.” Determined to make the film as realistic as possible, Smia sought out Bruno Tertrais, one of France’s leading experts on nuclear deterrence and the author of “Jupiter à l’Élysée,” who was able to advise extensively throughout the screenplay’s development. Smia also went directly to the Élysée. His discussions included General Fabien Mandon, then chief of the French president’s personal military staff and now chief of defense staff, who reviewed the screenplay and offered highly specific technical notes, down to dialogue that would not realistically be spoken in a particular way.
That it wasn’t a pretext for action or sensationalism,” Smia says. Smia was then allowed to shoot for two days at the Élysée with a crew of roughly 200 people, including scenes in its gardens. Other areas were meticulously recreated, including the presidential office, while the Jupiter command center, which is essentially a bunker, was reconstructed at the Cité du Cinéma outside Paris using visual references Smia had obtained.
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