Omar Sy on Taking Creative Control of Netflix’s ‘Lupin’ and Why ‘Black Dumas’ Will Spark Political Debate in France — SkimNews
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- Omar Sy became co-showrunner of "Lupin" Part 4 alongside Louis Leterrier, co-producing through their joint banner Carrousel Studios, after telling Netflix he wanted greater creative control following frustrations in previous seasons.
- "Lupin" Part 4 picks up four years after Part 3 with Assane Diop in prison, targeted by a copycat pulling off elaborate heists in his name, and was produced with what Sy confirmed was a bigger budget from Netflix.
- Sy and Leterrier moved the series further from Maurice Leblanc's source novels, introducing futuristic prison aesthetics and new technologies—though Sy noted Leblanc himself had Lupin face another Lupin in the originals, quipping "I think it's Marvel that copied Maurice Leblanc."
- Sy cast rising French actor Théo Christine in a father-son storyline in the season's first episode; the two then reunited on Ladj Ly's "Dumas: Diable Noir" ("Black Dumas"), about formerly enslaved Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, France's first Black general.
- "Black Dumas" is slated for an October 2027 release—just months after France's presidential election—with Sy saying the film "is going to generate a lot of debate and discussion" given the country's polarized political climate and the far right leading polls.
- Carrousel Studios emerged directly from the "Lupin" collaboration between Sy, Leterrier, and producer Thomas Benski, and Sy said the company is developing new projects he hopes to announce soon.
Why it matters: Sy extracted an unusual level of creative authority from Netflix on a flagship international series, and the show's pivot toward more ambitious, less source-bound storytelling comes as Netflix invests more in the property. His Carrousel Studios launch and "Black Dumas"—a film about a formerly enslaved Black French general arriving months before a contentious presidential election—signal Sy's growing influence as both producer and political-cultural voice in French cinema.
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