TF1 GROUP AND NEWEN STUDIOS OFFER A FRESH START TO THE ICONIC DAILY SOAP “PLUS BELLE LA VIE”

TF1 group and Newen Studios are delighted to announce that the ground-breaking daily soap Plus belle la vie will return to the TF1 channel and to the MyTF1 streaming platform at the start of 2024. Daily episodes on the channel will be accompanied by a raft of online and social media tie-ins.

With this new project, TF1 group and Newen Studios are reaffirming their status as key drivers of the creative sector in the French regions, and as committed backers of the “France 2030” plan. Thanks to their three daily soaps, thousands of direct and indirect jobs have been created in the Sud Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur and Occitanie regions.

This new soap will act as a huge training workshop, and will boost the emergence of a wide range of talents – especially writers, as has already happened with Demain nous appartient and Ici tout commence.

Stéphanie Brémond, head of soaps and long-format series at Newen France, has retained Clémentine Planchon as producer of Plus belle la vie, while Mariem Hamidat – an established writer on the series – has been retained as showrunner.

Writing will begin this summer, and shooting in mid-October. A team of screenwriters is in place, rising to the challenge of blending all the ingredients which made the show a success: gripping storylines reflecting the events of the day, grounded in the reality of life in a Marseille neighbourhood. The series will be shot in Marseille’s iconic Belle de Mai studios, and on location in and around the city.

Many of the cast members have already been confirmed, including the return of a number of iconic faces such as Marwan Berreni (Abdel Fedala), Sylvie Flepp (Mirta Torrès), Léa François (Barbara Evenot), Stéphane Hénon (Jean-Paul Boher), Cécilia Hornus (Blanche Marci), and Laurent Kérusoré (Thomas Marci).

For two decades, Plus belle la vie has been a strong brand, and one of the few to be genuinely inter-generational. The show enjoys exceptional brand recall (66% across all targets) and audience loyalty (5 million viewers each week and 3 million social media subscribers).
One in three French people has already watched Plus belle la vie.
 

The series has held up a mirror to French society, with all the big issues of our times played out in its episodes. Plus belle la vie was often ahead of its time in tackling social issues: ecology, breast cancer prevention, the MeToo movement, caring for people with disabilities, surrogacy, marital rape, trans identity and gay marriage.

Plus belle la vie has also been a showcase for acting talent, launching the careers of actors who went on to take leading roles in TV drama (Dounia Coesens, Laetitia Milot, Fabienne Carat, Léa François), films (David Baïot, Pauline Bression), on stage (Eléonore Sarrazin, Rebecca Hampton, David Ban), or on series shown on streaming platforms (Florian Lesieur, Simon Ehrlacher, Manon Bresch).

This rebirth of Plus belle la vie confirms the unrivalled expertise of Newen Studios in daily soaps, and its ability to breathe new life into iconic brands. With Demain nous appartient, Ici tout commence and now Plus belle la vie, Newen has become the benchmark player in daily soaps – a unique part of the broadcasting landscape. Across all the daily soaps, close to 10 million viewers and web users tune in every day. That’s unrivalled audience loyalty. 

Ara Aprikian, TF1 group Executive Vice President Content, says: “Plus Belle la vie is a fantastic brand and a perfect fit for our editorial and digital ramp-up strategy. The soap has been a pioneer in so many ways, and we’re delighted to bring a new version to life thanks to the unrivalled know-how of Newen Studios in daily drama. Over the last few months, fans have been clamouring for the return of their favourite soap. So we’re pleased to give them what they want, while also welcoming new audiences with new plotlines.”

Romain Bessi, Chairman of Newen Studios, says: Everyone at Newen Studios is delighted that Plus belle la vie can be revived. It's a unique, even essential programme, and we couldn't accept the idea that it might come to a halt for any length of time. We are grateful to the public service TV for having made its existence possible, and we thank the TF1 Group for its rebirth. Our teams are fully committed to keeping the many fans who are so attached to Plus belle la vie dreaming, and ready to win over new audiences."