De Gaulle (2026 film)

Plot

The diptych follows Charles de Gaulle from the collapse of France in 1940 to the Liberation of Paris in 1944, interweaving his political struggle with large-scale military campaigns, the clandestine Resistance in occupied France and the personal stories of those who join the fight. Alongside the historical events, the films include a romantic storyline between the young resistance fighters Fernand and Livia, while de Gaulle's tempestuous relationships with Winston Churchill and the Allied leadership frequently provide moments of humour amid the war and political confrontation.

First Part - De Gaulle: Résistance

The film opens with the broadcast of the final message transmitted on Polish radio in Warsaw following the invasion of Poland by German troops in September 1939, which led to World War II.

In June 1940, France is also invaded by the Germans. French Army is collapsing but Brigadier General Charles de Gaulle, convinced that the war will continue beyond the fall of metropolitan France, clashes with the increasingly defeatist political leadership. When Paul Reynaud's government falls and Marshal Philippe Pétain announces that France will seek an armistice, de Gaulle refuses to accept defeat.

With his aide Geoffroy Chodron de Courcel, he escapes to London. There he attempts to persuade British Prime Minister Winston Churchill that France is still in the war, despite having neither a government, an army nor significant political support behind him. Churchill is intrigued by the virtually unknown French general's extraordinary self-confidence, beginning an alliance marked throughout the film by affection, exasperation and increasingly theatrical arguments.

Allowed access to the BBC, de Gaulle broadcasts the Appeal of 18 June, asking French soldiers, engineers and civilians to continue the struggle. The response is initially tiny. While de Gaulle behaves as though he already represents France, British officials frequently remind him that almost nobody has yet recognised his authority. Assisted by his entourage, including his secretary Blazej, he begins improvising the institution of what will become Free France.

In occupied Paris, seventeen-year-old high-schooler Fernand Bonnier de La Chapelle refuses to accommodate himself to German rule. He meets Livia, a young woman equally determined to resist, and their political rebellion gradually becomes a love affair.

Fernand and other students help organise the 11 November 1940 demonstration around the Arc de Triomphe, openly defying the German occupation. The protest is violently dispersed. Fernand and Livia become increasingly involved in resistance activity, their relationship developing as the risks surrounding them grow.

Second Part - De Gaulle: Liberté

The second film begins in 1943 with the struggle taking place simultaneously in government offices, clandestine apartments and on the battlefield. De Gaulle is no longer the almost solitary exile of 1940, but victory has created a new danger: France may be liberated without being allowed to determine its own political future.

In the Libyan desert, General Leclerc leads the forces of Free France northwards from Chad. His campaign culminates in fighting around Ksar Ghilane, where French troops face German armour and air attacks. Leclerc's aggressive leadership and willingness to take extraordinary risks make the African campaign one of the central action threads of the second film.

In France, Jean Moulin, operating under the name "Rex", is charged by de Gaulle with bringing together the deeply divided movements of the French Resistance. Livia, continuing the struggle after Fernand's death, becomes part of this underground world of couriers, coded messages, clandestine meetings and German surveillance.

Moulin must persuade Gaullists, communists, socialists, conservatives, trade unionists and independent resistance organisations to accept a common political structure. Their disagreements concern not only how to fight the occupation but what France should become after liberation.

On 27 May 1943, Moulin succeeds in bringing representatives of the major resistance organisations together to form the National Council of the Resistance. For de Gaulle, the achievement is decisive: while Roosevelt questions his legitimacy abroad, the organised Resistance inside France increasingly recognises him as its political leader.

Moulin's success also makes him a major target of the Gestapo. He is betrayed and arrested with other resistance leaders at Caluire-et-Cuire. Interrogated and tortured under Klaus Barbie, he refuses to disclose the organisation he has helped construct. He dies after his arrest, but the unified Resistance survives him.

At the same time, another confrontation is unfolding in Algiers. Roosevelt supports General Henri Giraud, whose large Army of Africa and more accommodating attitude make him attractive to the Americans. Giraud has military power and Allied backing; de Gaulle possesses the political legitimacy of the Resistance and refuses to compromise on the restoration of the French Republic.

Cast

Simon Abkarian as Charles de Gaulle

Niels Schneider as Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque

Thierry Lhermitte as Henri Giraud

Karim Leklou as Blazej

Simon Russell Beale as Winston Churchill

Campbell Scott as Franklin D. Roosevelt

Benoît Magimel as Marie-Pierre Kœnig

Félix Kysyl as Jean Moulin

François Goeske as Klaus Barbie

Kacey Mottet Klein as Geoffroy Chodron de Courcel

Florian Lesieur as Fernand Bonnier de La Chapelle

Anamaria Vartolomei as Livia

Pip Torrens as Bernard Montgomery

Daniel Betts as Dwight D. Eisenhower

Tom Mison as Anthony Eden

Stephen Campbell Moore as Harold Macmillan

Anthony Calf as Edward Spears

Noémie Schmidt as Susan Travers

Janis Ahern as Florence Conrad, founder of The Rochambelles

Alice de Lencquesaing as Suzanne Torrès

Loïc Corbery as René Pleven

Production

Development

A two-part film directed by Antonin Baudry about Charles de Gaulle was commissioned by Pathé in July 2021.

Pathé's president, Jérôme Seydoux, had been developing the project to dedicate a major historical epic to General de Gaulle and Free France for around twenty years. Aged six at the outbreak of the Second World War, he was deeply impacted by this period, particularly due to his father who was a prisoner of war. He wanted to bring this chapter of history to the screen without compromising on ambition—unlike other French films on the period—aligning with Pathé’s post-Covid strategy of producing grand French blockbusters (which also led to The Count of Monte Cristo in 2024 and The Three Musketeers two-part saga in 2023).

The film script is written by Antonin Baudry and his partner Bérénice Vila. They based it upon British author Julian Jackson's book, De Gaulle, une certaine idée de la France..

Antonin Baudry stated that this book changed his perspective on General de Gaulle and inspired him to bring his story to the screen:

When I was young, I was fascinated by De Gaulle […] but to me, he remained an iconic figure who wasn't particularly interesting to work on until I read Julian Jackson's book. That's when I encountered a cinematic character. […] Suddenly, I realized I had a chivalric figure who was both funny and tragic. For six years, I ate, slept, and dreamed with the general and his sidekicks, these modern-day knights.

In parallel, Antonin Baudry asked Jackson to serve as a historical consultant on the film, alongside French historian Géraud Létang.

Film is produced by Pathé in co-production with TF1 Films Production and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Cinéma. The film had a production budget of €74 million, becoming one of the most expensive French films of all time.

Casting

In August 2023, Simon Abkarian is confirmed to portray Charles De Gaulle in the both films. Antonin Baudry explained that he chose Simon Abkarian for the quality of his acting, both physical and verbal : My co-author Bérénice Vila and I went a lot to the theater and the cinema while we were writing. We were observing people, and we quite quickly came across Simon Abkarian, whom I knew through a mutual friend. […] We choose him because of the quality of his acting—and it takes a great deal to embody a character like de Gaulle. Then, because of that glint of madness he can have in his eyes. And also because of his intelligence—something that radiates from the way he moves and speaks. […] That alchemy seemed just right to me.

To portray Churchill, Antonin Baudry called upon British actor Simon Russell Beale (who had previously played Churchill in the 2021 film Operation Mincemeat), whom he had known for several years : I had spotted him in the film The Death of Stalin where he plays Lavrentiy Beria. In England, he is a theater actor who is considered the best actor of his generation. He is an extraordinary actor.Although most of the characters are based on real people, Livia, played by Anamaria Vartolomei, is a fictional character inspired by several French Resistance heroines, such as Germaine Tillion, Lucie Aubrac, Berty Albrecht, and Danielle Casanova.

Actress Anamaria Vartolomei notes that she initially knew little about these Resistance fighters, but her curiosity drove her to enrich her character with details from their respective lives : I think the screenplay opened a door. I really wanted to learn more about the shadowy aspects the film explores, including female figures like Lucie Aubrac, Danielle Casanova, and other Resistance fighters whose names I only discovered later on. I enjoyed enriching my work on the film with their stories.The character of Blazej, played by Karim Leklou, is also fictional. According to film's historical advisor Géraud Létang, the character is a reference to the demonized stereotype of Polish plumber, reinterpreted here to restore him a certain nobility. Blazej is also inspired by the character of Sancho Panza, Don Quixote's squire and companion. Conceived by Bérénice Vila, his role is to bring some innocence and enthusiasm to counterbalance the idealistic and Don Quixotic nature of the de Gaulle character created by Antonin Baudry.

Filming

Filming on the first chapter took place in the summer of 2023 with Pierre Cottereau and Giora Bejach as cinematographers. It began with the shoot taking place in Paris. Filming locations included Place du Panthéon and Gare de l'Est and around the Hôtel de Ville station in July and August 2023, and Le Marais area of Paris in September 2023.

As producer Axelle Boucaï explained, filming in Paris had to take place in 2023 without fail, otherwise it would have to be postponed by two years, as the 2024 Summer Olympics would have made any shooting in the capital's iconic landmarks impossible :We couldn't push back the filming start date because the Olympic Games were happening the following summer. […] So if shooting didn't take place that summer, it would potentially delay filming by two years, to 2025.

Shooting the November 11, 1940 demonstration scene required completely shutting down Place Charles-de-Gaulle (formerly Place de l'Étoile). That is why the decision was made to film it on August 15, when traffic and crowds are at their lowest.

Filming then took place in Normandy and Morocco, where it took place from October to November 2023

Period London was then recreated at the Bry-sur-Marne studios for a shoot running from February to March 2024. Filming then resumed from June to July 2024, following a three-month break. The final scene takes place on a recreated Moroccan terrace in front of a blue screen in Bry-sur-Marne.

Filming on the second-part was completed by July 2024.

Musical score

The musical score for the first chapter, De Gaulle: Résistance, is composed by Volker Bertelmann who won an Oscar in 2023 for All Quiet on the Western Front. The musical score for the second chapter, De Gaulle: Liberté, is composed by Théo Cascio, marking his very first score for a feature film.

Release

The two-parts were initially subtitled Tilting Iron and Sovereign Edge, respectively. But were later retitled for the international market as Résistance and Liberté, respectively.

Release in France

The first part of the film, Résistance, premiered at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival on 20 May and was followed by its theatrical release on 3 June 2026. The second part, Liberté, was planned for release on 3 July the same year but was finally moved to June 26.

Release in other countries

In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the first part of the film, Résistance, was released on 28 August 2026. The second part, Liberté, was released on 18 September 2026.

In Canada, the first part of the film was released 14 August 2026 and the second part 11 September 2026.

In Germany, the first part, named De Gaulle – Zeit des Widerstands, is planned for release on 4 February 2027.

It will be presented in the Grand public section of the 21st Rome Film Festival in October 2026.

Samuel Goldwyn Films will release the duology in the United States on November 6, 2026, and December 4, 2026 respectively.

Reception

Box office in France

The first part's performance at the French box office was characterized by an unusually slow start followed by a sustained increase in attendance, a trajectory widely attributed to strong word of mouth.

L'Âge de fer sold approximately 380,000 tickets during its first week in France, a result regarded as disappointing in relation to the scale and cost of the two-film production. Attendance then declined by approximately 40 percent during its second week, initially leading several French media outlets to question whether the expensive production would become a commercial failure.

The trend reversed during the first part's third week, when admissions increased by around 17 percent rather than continuing the normal decline of a theatrical release. Its performance accelerated further during its fourth weekend: Boxoffice Pro reported 324,000 admissions over the weekend, an increase of 68 percent despite the film being shown in 22 percent fewer screenings. Le Monde described the reversal as an exceptional box-office phenomenon, citing word of mouth alongside the contemporary heatwave, which encouraged attendance at air-conditioned cinemas.

The growing momentum led Pathé to advance the French release of the second part, J'écris ton nom, from 3 July to 26 June in order to coincide with the annual Fête du cinéma, during which participating cinemas offered reduced ticket prices. The second film consequently entered cinemas while attendance for the first was still increasing and recorded around 400,000 admissions during its first week, surpassing the opening of L'Âge de fer.

Contemporary coverage identified favorable word of mouth as a major factor in the attendance reversal. Pathé Films president Ardavan Safaee stated that the distributor first observed the positive audience response translating into increased admissions during the first part's third week. The distributor subsequently intensified promotion on social media and partnered with French YouTuber Inoxtag, who organized screenings and discussions with Baudry intended to introduce the film to younger viewers. The Guardian later described the diptych as a surprise success among younger French audiences and reported that Pathé's audience research found the theme of resistance to have resonated particularly strongly with younger viewers.

Box office in other countries

In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the first film grossed over £100,000 during its opening weekend.

In Quebec, both films were distributed in about thirty theaters and also enjoyed significant success. The first film grossed $857,000 just over a month after its release, becoming the most popular French film of the year. Meanwhile, the second film accumulated 500,000 Canadian dollars in box office revenue two weeks after its release.

Critical response

The two films received generally positive reviews from the French press, with the second part receiving a somewhat stronger critical response. On AlloCiné, which standardizes reviews from French publications onto a five-star scale, L'Âge de fer received an average press rating of 3.5 out of 5 based on 38 reviews, while J'écris ton nom received 3.9 out of 5 based on 28 reviews.

Jacques Mandelbaum of Le Monde gave both parts the newspaper's "À voir" ("Must-see") recommendation. Reviewing the first film, he described Baudry's intention as creating a large-scale popular spectacle combining war, action, politics, humour and lyricism, and considered that the director had succeeded in doing so. He similarly recommended J'écris ton nom, highlighting its multiple narrative strands involving de Gaulle, Leclerc, Jean Moulin and Henri Giraud, while noting the film's strongly heroic and lyrical treatment of its principal characters.

International reviews of the first part were also generally favorable, although several critics regarded its approach as conventional. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, first part holds an approval rating of 100% based on 11 reviews, with an average rating of 7.7/10. Tomris Laffly of Variety described Résistance as a large-scale, traditional but consistently engaging wartime biopic, praising its old-fashioned blockbuster qualities while considering its 160-minute running time excessive. Dave Calhoun of Screen Daily was more mixed, praising the accessibility of the historical narrative and the energy of the action sequences, while criticizing the film as broad-brush, old-fashioned and lacking in subtlety. Upon its British release, Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian described the film as an enjoyable and eventful biopic, particularly praising Simon Abkarian's portrayal of de Gaulle and Simon Russell Beale's performance as Winston Churchill, as well as the humorous dynamic between the two characters.