Diane Kruger and Dany Boon are set to star as Nazi hunters Beate and Serge Klarsfeld in a new Netflix feature film titled Projet K.
British actor Tim Roth will co-star as Klaus Barbie, the former head of the Gestapo secret police in Lyon who was infamously known as the Butcher of Lyon.
Filming is already underway for the production, which is being directed by French filmmaker Yvan Attal. Attal also co-wrote the screenplay alongside Laurent Turner. The working title Projet K is expected to change before the movie is released.
The film follows Netflix's focus on historical courtroom and justice dramas, following the 2025 movie Nuremberg. That release featured Russell Crowe as German general Hermann Göring and Rami Malek as the American psychiatrist evaluating him, illustrating the legal pursuit of Nazi leaders after World War II.
International filming and historical hunt
Cameras are currently rolling across multiple international locations. Production will take place in Paris and Lyon before moving to locations in Bolivia and Belgium.
The narrative centers on the relentless pursuit of Barbie by the husband and wife duo. Following the end of World War II, Barbie managed to escape from Europe and settled in South America.
Barbie lived in Bolivia for decades under the assumed name of Klaus Altmann. However, the Klarsfelds identified his whereabouts and unmasked his false identity in 1971.
Upon locating him in South America, Beate and Serge Klarsfeld launched a sustained campaign to secure his extradition to France to face trial.
Extradition and life imprisonment in Lyon
The extradition effort dragged on for years due to opposition from Bolivian authorities and political obstacles faced by the Klarsfelds.
Barbie was finally extradited to French territory in 1983, more than a decade after his discovery.
He was put on trial in Lyon and sentenced to life imprisonment for crimes against humanity. Barbie died in prison in 1991.
Personal origins of the Klarsfelds
Beyond the legal battle to capture Barbie, Projet K will explore the personal story of Beate and Serge Klarsfeld, who first met in Europe and married in 1963.
Serge Klarsfeld survived a wartime raid targeting Jewish families in Nice as a child. His father was later arrested by Nazi authorities and died in the Auschwitz extermination camp in occupied Poland.
Beate Klarsfeld came from a contrasting background. Born in Berlin, she was the daughter of a soldier who served in the Wehrmacht, the regular German armed forces during World War II.
Together, the couple spent decades tracking down former members of the Nazi regime and French collaborators who assisted in wartime crimes.
