Suitably honouring the spirit of Alexandre Dumas, the second half of the new two-part Three Musketeers film adaptation arrives with not one but two cliffhangers to resolve. First, there’s the fate of D’Artagnan’s lady-love, kidnapped by Milady’s goons after the attempted assassination of Louis XIII. And second, there’s the question of whether this would-be Euro blockbuster is actually going to make its money back.
Co-produced by France, Germany, Spain and Belgium on a €72m budget across both instalments – putting it in the top 10 most expensive French productions ever – the films looked well provisioned to compete with Hollywood: big names such as Eva Green and Vincent Cassel, copious buckling of swashes and modernising tweaks such as a bisexual Porthos all gaily buttonhole the new version. But it has struggled, with this April’s first part bombing in the UK and Germany while, surprisingly, mustering a just-respectable €23m on home soil in France.
