Pathé and Merit France are partnering with Vendôme Pictures to launch production and finance company Emotion Pictures, which is aimed at expanding their shared ambition to make English-language features with broad appeal.
The new outfit will develop, acquire, fully finance and produce a slate of films, which Pathé will release theatrically in France, Switzerland and Benelux.
“Emotion Pictures will be the home for filmmakers to tell original, commercial, and universally resonant stories. Films the studios used to make in the 80s and 90s, which audiences around the world are craving, and that have become far too rare today,” said Philippe Rousselet, founder, chairman and co-CEO of Vendôme Pictures.
He added that new partnership deepens the long-standing relationship between Vendôme and Jérôme Seydoux’s Pathé, as well as French-Lebanese logistics tycoon Rodolphe Saadé, whose family holding company Merit France took a 20% stake in the latter studio in May 2025.
Pathé and Vendôme collaborations include the Oscar-winning picture CODA and Morten Tyldum’s Ibelin, which began principal photography in Oslo this month.
“Vendôme and Philippe Rousselet have been exceptional partners — our work together, from CODA to Ibelin, speaks to what becomes possible when shared values meet shared ambition. Pathé has always championed audience‑first storytelling without compromising on excellence, and Emotion Pictures is the natural expression of that conviction,” said Ardavan Safaee, President of Pathé.
“Together with Vendôme and Merit France, we will back original, character‑driven films made for the big screen — stories that deliver ambition, craft, and emotion at a global scale. Films that make hearts beat.” said Pathé President Ardavan Safaee.
Pathé will be in Cannes this year with ambitious Cannes slate includes three films in Competition: Pedro Almodóvar’s Bitter Christmas, Paweł Pawlikowski’s Fatherland, Arthur Harari’s The Unknown, Guillaume Canet’s Karma and Antonin Baudry’s De Gaulle.
