‘The Count of Monte Cristo’ Tops ‘Emilia Pérez’ in France’s César Nominations

‘The Count of Monte Cristo’ Tops ‘Emilia Pérez’ in France’s César Nominations

The Count of Monte Cristo, Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patellière’s retelling of the classic French revenge tale, is the front-runner for this year’s César Awards, scoring 14 nominations, including in the best film and best directing categories.

The period drama, starring Pierre Niney, beat out Jacques Audiard’s Oscar frontrunner Emilia Pérez, which got 12 noms, and Beating Hearts, Gilles Lellouche’s contemporary reimagining of Romeo and Juliet featuring François Civil and Adèle Exarchopoulos, which earned 13 nominations.

Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de la Patelliere’s lavish adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’ classic was the biggest French box office hit of last year, drawing close to 10 million viewers for a $40 million local take. Globally, the film has grossed more than $75 million.

Sean Baker’s Palme d’Or winner, and Oscar contender, Anora, is up for the Cesar for best foreign film, against Academy Award hopefuls including Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance, Mohammad Rasoulof’s The Seed of the Sacred Fig, Ali Abbasi’s The Apprentice and Jonathan Glazer’s 2024 Oscar winner The Zone of Interest.

Audiard’s Cannes Jury Prize-winning genre-bending musical crime drama enters the Cesar race with plenty of awards momentum, after sweeping the European Film Awards, winning four Golden Globes and leading the Oscar race with 13 nominations.

Notable among the acting nominees is Abou Sangare, nominated for Male Breakout Performance in Souleymane’s Story, who took home the best actor honor at last year’s European Film Awards.

Just under 5,000 members of the French film academy will vote for the Cesars, with the first round of voting from Jan. 2-28 and the final round scheduled for Feb. 5-28. The 49th César Awards ceremony will take place at Paris’s l’Olympia concert hall on Feb. 28.

2025 Cesar Nominees

Best Film
The Count of Monte Cristo produced by Dimitri Rassam, Jerome Seydoux, directed by Matthieu Delaporte, Alexandre de la Patelliere

Emilia Pérez produced by Pascal Caucheteux, Jacques Audiard, Valerie Schermann, directed by Jacques Audiard

La Panache produced by Marc Bordure, Robert Guediguian, directed by Emmanuel Courcol

Souleymane’s Story produced by Bruno Nahon, directed by Boris Lojkine

Misericordia produced by Charles Gillibert, directed by Alain Guiraudie

Best Director
Gilles Lellouche for Beating Hearts
Matthieu Delaporte, Alexandre de La Patellière for The Count of Monte Cristo
Jacques Audiard for Emilia Pérez
Boris Lojkine for Souleymane’s Story
Alain Guiraudie for Misericordia

Best Actress
Adèle Exarchopoulos in Beating Hearts
Karla Sofía Gascón in Emilia Pérez
Hafsia Herzi in Borgo
Zoé Saldana in Emilia Pérez
Hélène Vincent in When Autumn Comes

Best Actor
François Civil in Beating Hearts
Benjamin Lavernhe in Le panache
Karim Leklou in Jim’s Tale
Pierre Niney in The Count of Monte Cristo
Tahar Rahim in Monsieur Aznavour

Best Supporting Actress
Élodie Bouchez in Beating Hearts
Anaïs Demoustier in The Count of Monte Cristo
Catherine Frot in Misericordia
Nina Meurisse in Souleymane’s Story
Sarah Suco in Le panache

Best Supporting Actor
David Ayala in Misericordia
Bastien Bouillon in The Count of Monte Cristo
Alain Chabat in Beating Hearts
Jacques Develay in Misericordia
Laurent Lafitte in The Count of Monte Cristo

Female Breakout Performance
Maïwenn Barthélémy in Vingt Dieux
Malou Khebizi in Diamant Brut
Megan Northam in Rabia
Mallory Wanecque in Beating Hearts
Souhela Yacoub in Planet B

Male Breakout Performance
Abou Sangare in Souleymane’s Story
Adam Bessa in Les Fantômes
Malik Frikah in Beating Hearts
Félix Kysyl in Misericordia
Pierre Lottin in Le panache

Best Original Screenplay
Stéphane Demoustier for Borgo
Emmanuel Courcol, Irène Muscari for Le panache
Boris Lojkine, Delphine Agut for Souleymane’s Story
Alain Guiraudie for Misericordia
Louise Courvoisier, Théo Abadie for Vingt Dieux

Best Adapted Screenplay
Matthieu Delaporte, Alexandre de La Patellière for The Count of Monte Cristo
Jacques Audiard for Emilia Pérez
Michel Hazanavicius, Jean-Claude Grumberg for The Most Precious of Cargoes

Best Original Soundtrack
Jon Brion for Beating Hearts
Jérôme Rebotier for The Count of Monte Cristo
Clément Ducol, Camille for Emilia Pérez
Alexandre Desplat for The Most Precious of Cargoes
Linda Courvoisier, Charlie Courvoisier for Vingt Dieux

Best Sound
Cédric Deloche, Gwennolé Le Borgne, Jon Goc, Marc Doisne for Beating Hearts
David Rit, Gwennolé Le Borgne, Olivier Touche, Laure-Anne Darras, Marion Papinot, Marc Doisne, Samuel Delorme for The Count of Monte Cristo
Erwan Kerzanet, Aymeric Devoldère, Cyril Holtz, Niels Barletta for Emilia Pérez
Pascal Armant, Sandy Notarianni, Niels Barletta for Le panache
Marc-Olivier Brullé, Pierre Bariaud, Charlotte Butrak, Samuel Aichoun for Souleymane’s Story

Best Cinematography
Laurent Tangy for Beating Hearts
Nicolas Bolduc for The Count of Monte Cristo
Paul Guilhaume for Emilia Pérez
Tristan Galand for Souleymane’s Story
Claire Mathon for Misericordia

Best Editing
Simon Jacquet for Beating Hearts
Célia Lafitedupont for The Count of Monte Cristo
Juliette Welfling for Emilia Pérez
Guerric Catala for Le panache
Xavier Sirven for Souleymane’s Story

Best Costume Design
Isabelle Pannetier for Beating Hearts
Thierry Delettre for The Count of Monte Cristo
Virginie Montel for Emilia Pérez
Isabelle Mathieu for Monsieur Aznavour
Anaïs Romand for Sarah Bernhardt, The Divine

Best Production Design
Jean-Philippe Moreaux for Beating Hearts
Stéphane Taillasson for The Count of Monte Cristo
Emmanuelle Duplay for Emilia Pérez
Stéphane Rozenbaum for Monsieur Aznavour
Olivier Radot for Sarah Bernhardt, The Divine

Best Visual Effects
Cédric Fayolle, Hugues Namur, Émilien Lazaron for The Beast
Olivier Cauwet for The Count of Monte Cristo
Cédric Fayolle for Emilia Pérez
Stéphane Dittoo for Monsieur Aznavour

Best First Film

Diamant Brut directed by Agathe Riedinger, produced by Priscilla Bertin, Judith Nora

Les Fantômes directed by Jonathan Millet, produced by Pauline Seigland

Le Royaume directed by Julien Colonna, produced by Hugo Selignac, Antoine Lafon

Un P’Tit Truc En Plus directed by Artus, produced by Pierre Forette, Thierry Wong

Vingt Dieux directed by Louise Courvoisier, produced by Muriel Meynard

Best Animated Film

Flow directed by Gints Zilbalodis, produced by Ron Dyens

The Most Precious of Goods directed by Michel Hazanavicius, produced by Patrick Sobelman, Florence Gastaud, Michel Hazanavicius

Wild Ones directed by Claude Barras, produced by Laurence Petit, Barbara Letellier, Carole Scotta

Best Documentary Film

The Beauty of Gaza directed by Yolande Zauberman, produced by Bruno Nahon, Yolande Zauberman

Bye Bye Tiberias directed by Lina Soualem, produced by Jean-Marie Nizan

Dahomey directed by Mati Diop, produced by Eve Robin, Judith Lou Levy

Ernest Cole, Photographer directed by Raoul Peck, produced by Raoul Peck

The Bertrand Farm directed by Gilles Perret, produced by Denis Carot, Ulysse Payet

Madame Hofmann directed by Sebastien Lifshitz, produced by Muriel Meynard

Best Foreign Film

Anora directed by Sean Baker

The Seed of the Sacred Fig directed by Mohammad Rasoulof

The Apprentice directed by Ali Abbasi

The Substance directed by Coralie Fargeat

The Zone of Interest directed by Jonathan Glazer

Best Fiction Short Film

Boucan directed by Salome Da Souza, produced by Jean-Etienne Brat, Lou Chicoteau

What Belongs to Caesar directed by Violette Gitton, produced by Jules Reinartz

The Man Who Wouldn’t Stay Silent directed by Nebojsa Slijepcevic, produced by Noelle Levenez

Queen Size directed by Avril Besson, produced by Bastien Daret, Arthur Goisset, Robin Robles, Christophe Audeguis

Best Animated Short Film
Loïc Espuche for Beurk!
Cynthia Calvi for Gigi
Florence Miailhe for Butterfly

Best Documentary Short Film
Elena López Riera for The Southern Brides
Sara Ganem for Little Spartacus
Maya Abdul-Malak for A Lost Heart and Other Dreams of Beirut