The Beast in the Jungle (film)

In July 2017, it was announced that director Patric Chiha was writing the screenplay for his next film, The Beast in the Jungle, freely adapted from the 1903 novella of the same name by American-British author Henry James.[8] On 15 April 2019, British magazine Screen Daily reported that French actor Gaspard Ulliel had signed on to play the protagonist of the film alongside Luxembourg actress Vicky Krieps as the female lead.[9] The film was originally scheduled to start shooting in Winter 2019 for a 2020 release.[9] Chiha described this film as a "love story" and a "tale of an obsession".[10]

On 24 November 2021, Cineuropa reported that French actress Anaïs Demoustier, Israeli actor Tom Mercier and French actress Béatrice Dalle had been cast for the main roles and that filming would begin on 29 November 2021 in Brussels.[11]

The Beast in the Jungle reunites director Patric Chiha with producer Charlotte Vincent of Paris-based company Aurora Films, who produced his two previous feature films, Domain (2009), and Boys Like Us (2014).[9] Les Films du Losange handled the international pre-sales for the film at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, and also took the French distribution rights.[9] The film is a co-production between France's Aurora Films,[4] along with Belgium's Frakas Productions and Austria's WILDart Film.[12] The production is 42.49% French,[4] 39.27% Belgian,[4] and 18.24% Austrian,[4] and it had the support of the CNC, the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, ÖFI (Austrian Film Institute), BeTV, Proximus, RTBF, Screen Brussels, Cinémage, Arte/Cofinova, development aid from the CNC, MEDIA and Procirep.[12][13]

Filming took place in Vienna, Austria, and in Brussels, Bruxelles-Ville, and Saint-Josse-ten-Noode in Belgium between 11 November 2021 and 14 January 2022.[2][14][13] The club Mirano in Brussels served as the set for the nightclub featured in the film.[13][15]