One of Netflix‘s biggest international success stories has been “Lupin.”
The slick, sleek French crime drama has proven to be a big hit way beyond France, racking up massive viewership in excess of 100 million for the streamer.
As anticipation builds for the upcoming fourth season, Netflix has just unveiled an explosive new trailer and first-look photos for the new season.
‘Lupin’ Season 4
As fans know, “Lupin” revolves around the exploits of “gentleman thief” Assane Diop (played by Omar Sy), whose life’s mission is to avenge the death of his father, who took his own life in prison after being falsely accused of stealing a priceless diamond necklace by his wealthy employer.
When the series returns with the new season, viewers can expect to see a time jump.
“Lupin Part 4 begins four years after the end of the previous part,” reads the Netflix synopsis. “Assane is still in prison. For him, Lupin is no more: he wants to serve out his sentence and keep the promise he made to his son to go and meet their family in Senegal. But his plans are turned upside down by a mysterious announcement signed by Lupin: multiple museums are to be hit with simultaneous heists! In spite of heightened security, the thefts go off as planned. Assane proclaims his innocence, but everything points to his guilt. A camera even shows him in one of the museums during a robbery in which Captain Belkacem is seriously injured. To prove his innocence and unmask the copycat, Assane must escape and don the Lupin costume once more!”
English to French
NetflixOne of Netflix’s most popular non-English language series, “Lupin” continues to captivate fans.
What those fans might not realize is that series creator George Kay is British, and writes the scripts in English — which are then translated into French.
“Yeah, it’s very unusual, but the scripts are written in English. The team has got great English as well. Francois Uzan, who’s the co-writer, has great English. And so we take it to a very advanced stage in English, and then it’s the question of with Francois and Nathan (Franck), the producer, of not translating it directly, but trying to discuss the tone because you can’t do a direct translation with dialogue. It relies on an art. It’s an art in itself. So the key thing is for the team to feel the spirit of the scene and the spirit of the show before it’s turned into French. If you try to kind of Google Translate, you’d be in a world of pain,” Kay said in a 2023 interview with Variety about Season 4.
Omar Sy is Star and Producer
NetflixAnother thing that sets “Lupin” apart from other Netflix series is that star Omar Sy is heavily involved with telling the story.
“Of all the actors I work with, he’s one of the smartest by far,” Kay told Variety. “He wants to be part of the creative journey. And he’s a film actor and there’s a film culture in France as we know, more so than in England, and I think actors want to know the end of their story and they want to see the whole field. Omar is good, he spots things that I haven’t spotted and it’s annoying. But he points out, “Oh, but I wouldn’t do this because of that.” So he’s really invested in the storytelling and he was even contributing ideas to some of the characters and encouraged me and other writers to be playful. He’s a big part of the creativity on the show.”
The fourth season of “Lupin” premieres October 23 on Netflix.
