Anatomy of a Fall’s Messi gets bonkers TV series with Cannes twist

Cannes Canine Messi from Anatomy of a Fall may not have gotten an Oscar nod, but he's getting his own TV series, IndieWire reported.

Producer D18 announced that the breakout star's short program will premiere at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. However, it will be part of the festival's lineup.

The series will let viewers experience a whole day at the Cannes Film Festival “through the eyes and the voice of Messi.” D18 describes the French Border Collie as “the canine George Clooney.”

“This will be an opportunity for Messi to ask his guest any questions with the innocence of a dog,” the producers said.

“When you're the current international star, you can do anything… and Messi dares to do it all,” they continued.

Messi in his interviewer era

The show, Messi: The Cannes Film Festival From a Dog's Eye View, is planned to be a series of eight episodes, lasting one minute each. The series will be shown simultaneously on several French national TV channels: France 2, France 3, Culturebox and TV5 Monde every day. It will start May 13 and will run throughout the entire duration of the Cannes Film Festival which ends on May 25.

D18 producer Tim Newman came up with the idea for the program. Raphaël Mezrahi wrote the show and will lend his voice to Messi. Loïc Pourageaux is attached to direct. Messi's trainer and owner, Laura Martin, will also be involved. TikTok will sponsor the series.

Messi, who played Snoop in the Justine Triet crime thriller trained for his scene in Anatomy of a Fall for two months. If you haven't seen the movie, SPOILER ALERT! Snoop fell sick when Samuel (Samuel Theis) overdosed. His and Sandra's (Sandra Hüller) son, Daniel (Milo Machado-Granier) recalls this and replicates the scene by feeding Snoop aspirin, which made the poor dog get sick again… All for a good cause, I guess?

Martin previously told the entertainment website, “Even the simplest things take a lot of work.”

Messi as Snoop: The canine celebrity life

The gut-wrenching moment where Snoop was deliberately poisoned what prepared in stages.

“It had to happen in steps. First, the simple laying down and having his head kind of immobile. [I] Started there and then [we worked on] lifting the head and just letting it fall back without resistance,” Martin said.

However, all's well that ends well. In the movie, Snoop turned out okay. The scene ends with Sandra falling asleep with the dog.

Messi, on the other hand, is doing more than okay. He's going to the south of France to attend the film festival. Last month, he was also in Hollywood, attending the Academy Awards with his Anatomy of a Fall co-stars. The film was nominated for five Oscars: best picture, best actress for Hüller, best editing, best director for Triet and original screenplay for Triet and Arthur Harari, which they won.