Thank you Nadine for keeping the site updated while I was away. The first trailer for ‘Contagion‘ has finally been released! The official movie website is live too and I added some posters to the gallery together with HQ screencaptures of Marion Cotillard as Leonora Orantes.

“Contagion” follows the rapid progress of a lethal airborne virus that kills within days. As the fast-moving epidemic grows, the worldwide medical community races to find a cure and control the panic that spreads faster than the virus itself. At the same time, ordinary people struggle to survive in a society coming apart.

Gallery:
003 Contagion (2011) > Artwork
012 Contagion (2011) > Screencaptures > Trailer

Video:
001 Contagion > Trailer

Good news, the release date of Marion’s upcoming movie ‘Contagion‘ has been moved ahead 6 weeks. Instead of on October 21 it will now be released in the US on September 9, 2011 (source). Hopefully, also the release dates in other countries will be moved ahead.

TheFilmStage.com has a bad quality picture of the ‘Contagion‘ poster. Isn’t it amazing how many Academy Award winners & nominees are involved in this?

Remember the filming for ‘Contagion‘ that took place on January 14 in Geneva? John was there and has more information on the scenes that were being filmed. Thank you for sharing this with us!

There were two scenes: (1) Marion walking from the bus stop into the building and (2) Marion entering the building, showing her ID and walking to the elevator bank. Both scenes were very short (15 – 20 seconds) and there was no dialogue.

Maya Lucchitta managed to take some lovely shots of Marion Cotillard on the set. Many thanks for your permission to put them in our gallery. Please visit her blog to read her full report about the filming.

005 Contagion (2011) > On Set credit: Maya Lucchitta – thank you!

Since yesterday’s filming of the few exterior scenes at WHO in Geneva for ‘Contagion‘ has wrapped details about the shoot have surfaced. Veronica Riemer, of the World Health Organization’s communications department, said that about 80 people, actors, technicians and extras were at WHO from 5 am to 10.30 am. And contrary to some reports Marion Cotillard was the only star involved in the filming. Veronica Riemer added “She left for the airport immediately after the shoot. Everything went very well.”

• Source: Le Matin.ch

Seeing as Marion’s character Dr. Leonora Orantes also has a scene at the Geneva airport they might have filmed this on location as well yesterday – like they did with her scene at the Hong Kong airport.

Janet managed to get a quick shot of Marion which she published on her blog. Many thanks for giving me permission to include it in our gallery!

001 Contagion (2011) > On Set

Back in October Marion Cotillard was on the ‘Contagion‘ set in Chicago filming scenes that are meant to take place at WHO headquarters in Geneva. There’s also an exterior scene involving her character and it is being filmed right now on location in Geneva, Switzerland. Filming is expected to last a total of about 3 hours. They will wrap at lunch time.

• Sources: Lauren and John Zimmer via Nadine

Before the Trailer have a picture of Marion Cotillard on the set of ‘Contagion‘. They say this was for a scene based in WHO in Geneva, Switzerland but it was shot in Chicago. These scenes were filmed at the end of October. Marion Cotillard has since finished filming her scenes for the movie.

After filming ‘Midnight in Paris‘ and promoting ‘Inception‘ in July Marion Cotillard enjoyed a well-deserved vacation in the South of France during the second half of August – where she also performed as Simone at some Yodélice concerts.

Afterwards, she travelled to London to film the 4th – and last – short movie for the Lady Dior Campaign which will also be starring Ian McKellen. Source: Karen Hayley’s Official Website.

Following a stay in France during which she attended a ‘Les petits mouchoirs‘ advance screening in Paris (Sep 8 or 9) she travelled to Canada to promote the movie together with Guillaume Canet & Gilles Lellouche (see past updates).

Only days later she was back in France doing ADR for ‘Midnight in Paris‘, attending a ‘Les petits mouchoirs‘ advance screening in Orléans (Sep 15, source: Orléans Info), taping her guest appearances on the TV Shows Taratata and Enfants de la télé (Sep 16) as well as attending the U2 concert in the Stade de France (Sep 18, source: U2 France).

Towards the end of September 2010 Marion flew to the other side of the planet to shoot her scenes for ‘Contagion‘ taking place in Hong Kong. There are some pictures of Marion arriving on the set from September 29 on The Sun China.

Stay tuned for updates, pictures and videos from Marion’s activities back in France last week!

Earlier today, Marion Cotillard was interviewed on Le Grand Journal. Exactly one year after her interview on the show during last year’s Cannes Festival and also exactly 3 months after her last appearance on the talk show. She looked absolutely adorable in her red dress. And I love her hair.

I don’t have time for a proper translation but here’s a – hopefully accurate – summary. She talked a bit about her character Marie in ‘Les Petits Mouchoirs‘ who’s generally full of rage apparently. She enjoyed filming a contemporary movie wearing jeans and swearing. Guillaume Canet is a great director and she enjoyed working together and had many beautiful moments with the whole cast who mostly are old friends of theirs. She evaded the question if Guillaume was being difficult at home during filming – à la Guido Contini in Nine – but said that the two things can be balanced.

She was equally evasive about her character in ‘Inception‘ but said that it is not “Cat Woman” – the character is very complex and enigmatic. She has many different sides to her. She shares with Christopher Nolan the love of seeing a movie without knowing anything about it in advance.

Coming to Cannes doesn’t feel like an obligation. There are things she’s obliged to do – like talk about ‘Les Petits Mouchoirs‘ – but they’re agreeable to do. And she didn’t sing Karaoke last night at the concert – contrary to what the people on the show thought. But apparently, Guillaume sang – during a time when Marion wasn’t there.

She confirms ‘Midnight in Paris‘ – she doesn’t share a scene with Carla Bruni – and ‘Contagion‘. She also grabs the opportunity to gush about Kate Winslet. However, she was very reluctant about ‘Cosmopolis‘ since she’s still in talks. (This makes sense as Variety reported she was “attached” to the movie – this means she hasn’t signed anything and having her name attached to the project will hopefully help get the project made.) Moreover, she hasn’t heard anything about ‘The Rivals‘ in a long time – its development has definitely been put on ice. Sadly, they didn’t ask her about ‘Second Coming‘.

Gallery: 276 Talk Shows > Le Grand Journal à Cannes – 2010
Video: 001 Talk Shows > Le Grand Journal

Steven Soderbergh’s all-star virus thriller ‘Contagion‘ – which starts filming in September – received a tentative theatrical release date: October 21, 2011. Not only that but it will also be in 3D. Source: Coming Soon

To promote ‘Cosmopolis‘ at the Cannes filmmarket a poster was put in Daily Variety. Let’s hope it will all come together for this project – I would really love to see Marion work with Colin Farrell and David Cronenberg.

‘Second Coming‘ – which also has Marion as an executive producer – was mentioned last Monday by Variety in an article about projects – among them ‘Second Coming‘ – having been awarded a French Tax Break.

A month ago Catalan newspaper El Punt reported that “a Hollywood film team with debut director Nenad Cicin-Sain and a cast of A-List actors – Mark Ruffalo, Marion Cotillard, Anjelica Huston and Thandie Newton – will come mid-May to shoot ‘Second Coming‘ in Barcelona and especially in Cadaqués. The works of Spanish artist Joan Mateu will be used in the film.” The article goes on to say how this makes the place more interesting and that Marion has a lead role in it. Apparently filming had to be postponed due to the Vulcanic erruption. Interestingly, they speculate that “the presence of Marion who is also executive producing, as well as the Weinstein brothers could make it possible that the film will be admitted to next year’s Cannes Film Festival”.

Many thanks Nadine and a huge thank you to Mel for her help with the translation!

I hope we will hear more about the status of ‘Second Coming‘ when Marion will be on Le Grand Journal this coming Tuesday.

001 Second Coming (2011) > Artwork
001 Cosmopolis (2011) > Artwork

I’m very sorry for the lack of updates recently. As I said in a comment to the last post my real life has been incredibly stressful. I’m slowly making my way back and hope to resume updating on here a bit more regularly. There’s a lot to catch up on and I have got a hold of all of Marion’s recent magazine features so expect some quality scans soon! Stay tuned & thank you for your patience.

The Playlist got hold of a ‘Contagion‘ script (probably the second to last draft before shooting starts this fall) and described the plot in details. It sounds very intriguing. The movie is as much about the way that information can spread virally in the Web 2.0 age, as it is about the spread of the virus. Expect thriller – but not one packed with action scenes: it’s really more of a mystery, almost a detective story, as the various characters desperately search for the “index patient,” and a vaccine for the virus.

Speaking of characters: Marion Cotillard plays a European doctor named Leonora Orantes who works for the World Health Organization and heads to Hong Kong to investigate what appears to be the genesis spot of the breakout. Kate Winslet plays a similar character, Dr. Erin Mears, who is sent to examine Beth Emhoff (Gwyneth Paltrow), who appears first in the movie, flying back from a business trip in Hong Kong and falling sick with the new desease, at home in Minnesota, Laurence Fishburne is Dr. Ellis Cheever, head of the Center for Disease Control. Beth Emhoff’s husband Thomas is played by Matt Damon and Jude Law plays Alan Krumwiede, a hungry, truthseeking blogger with an unfortunate interest in conspiracy theories, who is responsible for spreading information about the disease, both true and false, around the world.

The Playlist guesses that since Marion Cotillard and Kate Winslet are carrying the bulk of the investigative work they will probably have less showy parts but seeing them in roles they haven’t played before should keep the movie fresh. They also think that ‘Contagion‘ could be a major awards contender if it holds up to its promise.

To read the full report visit The Playlist.