Netflix begins Ad Vitam Eternam production: Guillaume Canet returns

Netflix says production is underway on Ad Vitam Eternam, a sequel to its 2025 French action thriller Ad Vitam, which turned into one of the platform’s biggest recent hits in a language other than English.

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Guillaume Canet is back as former GIGN operator Franck Lazareff. Netflix’s synopsis says Franck gets out of prison, only to find himself hunted by assassins, then forced to figure out who wants him dead. The Latin working title translates to “for eternal life,” which makes it sound like Netflix sees this as more than a one-and-done win.

Canet is also co-writing the sequel with Maxime Chattam and David Corona. Netflix also says Ludovic Colbeau-Justin is stepping in as director, taking over from Rodolphe Lauga.

Stéphane Caillard, Nassim Lyes, and Zita Hanrot are returning, and Sophie Marceau and Mathieu Amalric are joining the cast. That gives the sequel some continuity while also giving it a broader pull.

If the first movie worked for you, this one has a good shot too. Netflix says the original picked up about 70 million views worldwide in the first half of 2025, even with reviews landing somewhere between mixed and outright bad. That still made Ad Vitam one of Netflix’s most-watched non-English-language films, and an obvious match for the company’s European action-thriller push, especially in France.

You can watch Ad Vitam on Netflix now. Ad Vitam Eternam still doesn’t have a release date, Netflix says.