EXCLUSIVE: Here’s a fun one fitting for the Cannes market. McKenna Grace (Regretting You), Paul Walter Hauser (The Naked Gun) and Louis Partridge (Enola Holmes) have been set to star in revisionist rom-com The Official Mistress about the final days of the French monarchy.

Matt Brown (The Man Who Knew Infinity) is due to direct from his own script about King Louis XVI (Walter Hauser) – the Last King of France – and his pursuit of Comtesse Madeleine de Vascone (Grace) as La Maîtresse-en-Titre aka the Official Mistress in order to quell suggestions of impotence by country and court… and the humble, lowly cook Rene Rennault (Partridge) who risks treason to become the King’s Taster in an attempt to save his first love, Madeleine.

The producers are currently at work casting the fourth key role of Marie Antoinette, alongside the wider ensemble, including the roles of De Conte, D’Artois, Jacques and Luc.

Producers are Oscar nominee Brunson Green (Regretting You, The Help) for Harbinger Pictures, Laura Rister (Margin Call) of Esme Grace, Matt Brown and Berlin-based Laura Bull (Culpa) of ReadyMade Films.

Production is currently set for September, 2026 in Europe. North.Five.Six is launching world sales at the Cannes market. Michael Rothstein, Samuel Hall, and Warren Goz will exec-produce for North.Five.Six.

The producers describe the “female-oriented” project as “opulent, erotic, dangerous, and wickedly fun” combining tones of Wuthering Heights, Shakespeare in Love, and Dangerous Liaisons.

Paul Walter Hauser said: “I could not be more excited to play King Louis XVI. Matt Brown has written a screenplay that honors the historical nature of Louis’ waning political favor and controversial marriage, while weaving a charming tale chockfull of levity, romance, and colorful characters. It’s a story that dares to face death, for a chance at life’s greatest gift: love”

Matt Brown added: “Set against a tumultuous period in history not entirely dissimilar to our own, The Official Mistress embraces love, food, sensuality, humor and revolution in equal measure. I’ve long wanted to tell an upstairs-downstairs story, and there is no more extreme world to set it than the ridiculous decadence of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette’s court — to play irreverently with history while telling a deeply human tale at its core. Beneath the spectacle lies a story about longing, ambition, connection and the courage to challenge a broken system. I could not ask for more inspiring collaborators than Paul Walter Hauser, Mckenna Grace, Louis Partridge, and the exceptional producers Brunson Green and Laura Rister as we bring this ambitious and richly cinematic world to life.”

Brown is repped by Artists First, and Schreck Rose. Grace is repped by Brillstein Entertainment Partners, CAA, and Hansen, Jacobsen. Partridge is repped by Independent Talent Group and WME. Hauser is repped by Artists First, WME, and Schreck Rose.