Mckenna Grace, Paul Walter Hauser and Louis Partridge have been set to star in The Official Mistress, a revisionist romantic comedy about the final days of the French monarchy. Matt Brown will direct from his own script, and production is set for September in Europe.

Grace will play Comtesse Madeleine de Vascone, Hauser is set to portray King Louis XVI and Partridge will play Rene Rennault, a humble cook who risks treason to become the king’s taster in a bid to save his first love, Madeleine. North.Five.Six is launching world sales for the film at the Cannes market.

Hauser said he was excited to take on Louis XVI, praising Brown’s screenplay for honoring the historical stakes of the king’s political decline and controversial marriage while still making room for levity, romance and colorful characters. Brown said the film is set in a tumultuous period that feels uncomfortably familiar, and described the project as one that mixes love, food, sensuality, humor and revolution while using the decadence of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette’s court as the backdrop for a story about longing, ambition, connection and the courage to challenge a broken system.

The producers are still casting the fourth key role of Marie Antoinette, along with other ensemble parts. They have described the film as female-oriented and said its tone draws on elements of Wuthering Heights, Shakespeare in Love and Dangerous Liaisons, a blend that suggests the movie is aiming for period spectacle without losing sight of the central romance. With a September shoot ahead and sales now opening in Cannes, the project is moving from packaging to execution fast.

The real test for The Official Mistress is whether it can turn that sharp historical setting into something more than a costume-piece flirtation. If Brown lands the balance he is promising, the film will not just play with history — it will use it to make the love story feel urgent.