Vincent Cassel is set to star as one of the most enduring characters in the history of French literature. The Black Swan star will play the lead role in Quasimodo, which will explore the real person who inspired Victor Hugo to write The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Deadline reports that the film will be released by Netflix. The film will be set in Paris on the eve of 1830’s July Revolution, which dethroned King Charles X and installed Louis Philippe, the so-called “Citizen King.” A cholera epidemic is ravaging the streets of the city, while Quasimodo is caught between political unrest and a strange, impossible love affair. The existence of a real Quasimodo isn’t so far-fetched: there is evidence that the kyphotic bell-ringer at the ancient cathedral was inspired by a real person, albeit not one from the novel’s 1400s setting. The memoirs of Henry Sibson, a British sculptor who worked on the cathedral during Hugo’s lifetime, revealed that a man nicknamed “Le Bossu” or “The Hunchback” worked as a stonemason there. In fact, both he and Hugo lived in the same town, Saint Germain-des-Prés, in 1833.
Who Is Quasimodo in ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’?

Hugo wrote The Hunchback of Notre Dame (or Notre-Dame de Paris in French) in 1830, inspired by the city’s disappearing Gothic architecture. In the novel, which is set in the 15th century, Quasimodo was born to a Romani family; rejected for his deformity, he was switched with another infant from a wealthier family. He was abandoned on the steps of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, where he was taken in and raised by Archdeacon Claude Frollo. He becomes the church’s bell-ringer, which soon deafens him. Despite the abuse he endures, and his grotesque appearance, he is a kind man at heart. He falls in love with the beautiful Romani girl Esmeralda, as does the cruel Frollo, which sets off a tragic series of events. The story has been adapted for the screen many times, and the role of Quasimodo has been played by an accomplished roster of actors, including Lon Chaney Sr., Charles Laughton, Anthony Hopkins, Anthony Quinn, Mandy Patinkin, and, in Disney’s 1996 animated adaptation of the story, Tom Hulce. Quasimodo will be directed by Jean-Francois Richet, who recently directed the Gerard Butler thriller Plane. It will be penned by Eric Besnard, who wrote the script for the Jason Statham actioner Wrath of Man. Clément Miserez and Matthieu Warter will produce the film, which is a production of Mediawan’s Radar Films. Quasimodo is in development; no release date has yet been announced. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Release Date

December 29, 1939

Runtime

116 Minutes

Director

William Dieterle

Writers

Sonya Levien

Producers

Pandro S. Berman

Cedric Hardwicke

The Hunchback Quasimodo

Source: Deadline