Exactly 20 years ago the delirious “Asterix and Obelix Mission Cleopatra” by Alain Chabat was released. A colossal triumph in theaters that caught the eye of a certain Harvey Weinstein, eager to release it in theaters in the United States…
Exactly 20 years ago, on January 30, 2002, a film promised to have a great career in theaters burst onto our (big) screens: Asterix and Obelix Mission Cleopatra. Directed by Alain Chabat with a budget of nearly 50 million euros, the film which brings together a high-flying cast (Gérard Depardieu, Christian Clavier, Monica Belluci, Jamel Debbouze, Gérard Darmon, Edouard Baer, Chantal Lauby…) is seen in theaters by more than 14 million spectators. A triumph. The sets are pharaonic, the humor of Chabat hits the mark, the cult scenes follow one another and the public is beyond conquered. No wonder the film ranks among the best French comedies to date.
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A colossal success therefore, which caught the eye of a bubbling producer and distributor whose star still shines in the firmament: Harvey Weinstein, head of the Miramax company.
In its June 2021 issue, the magazine SoFilm told an interesting anecdote about this, in an issue devoted to the crazy history of blockbusters made in France. Miramax was supposed to be the film’s distributor in the United States. But the task was going to be complicated. It’s because the little mustachioed Gaul is almost unknown in a country that is above all largely fed with Comics.
Nicknamed “Harvey the Nimble Fingers”, Harvey Weinstein was notoriously known for performing violent cuts on films, often without the knowledge of their directors. For Asterix and Obelix Mission Cleopatra, he had decided to plan the film of 20 min. “Scenes are shortened, cut, and shots putting
the most valuable plastic Cleopatra / Monica Bellucci are missing” recounts the So Film article. “You also have to get tangled up with this slew of puns and obscure references for an American – making a Texan laugh with a nod to Claude François’s ‘Alexandria Alexandra’ is not easy”.
Asked by the magazine about his dubbing work, American actor Dominic Fumusa, who dubs the voice of Gérard Depardieu, explained: “People in charge of adaptation
did their best to Americanize the references. Well, some jokes wouldn’t work now. In a scene with the pirates, there is one on Milli Vanilli and Vanilla Ice! […] It’s a comedy with such a crazy pace that a viewer having to read subtitles would miss a lot of the jokes.”
American dubbing actors will try hard on Alain Chabat’s film, but American viewers will never see the result in theaters. The release of the film was indeed canceled by Miramax, scalded after the very lukewarm reactions of the test screenings. The dubbed track will ultimately only be available on DVD.
