Asterix and Obelix: Mission Cleopatra – a cult film brought to life in Dolby

After almost two years of meticulous restoration, Alain Chabat’s cult film has been brought back to life using Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos technologies. The project aimed to preserve the well-loved film and to give it a second life by attracting both original fans of the film and new viewers, revitalise it on new streaming platforms, and offering high-quality audio and visuals that meet the increasing expectations of premium cinema and SVOD offerings.

Asterix et Obelix: Mission Cleopatra needs no introduction. The film was originally released 20 years ago and is a cult movie in Pathé’s catalogue – not just because of its success in cinemas (fourteen million viewers!) – but also because of the place it holds in the public’s heart. This made it an ideal candidate for “...the first French heritage film to be released in Dolby Cinema – with sound mixed in Dolby Atmos, and the picture graded in Dolby Vision for suitably equipped cinemas and Dolby Vision for every type of screen, TV and computer.”, explains Tessa Pontaud, Deputy Director of Restoration at Pathé. Restoring ‘heritage’ films is a significant challenge for Pathé, in an environment where other French studios have already started to remaster their catalogues. The goal is not only to preserve these significant pieces of work but also to respond to viewers’ new expectations, both in terms of audio and visual quality and their new ways of consuming content. Films spend less time in cinemas as streaming services become more powerful. Restoring a film brings viewers into cinemas and gives it a second life on modern distribution platforms with an improved, premium viewing experience that delivers the quality viewers expect. 

To recreate the image, the crew had original film reels and the film’s master as well as a digital archive of the special effects. To put the film back together again, “there was an initial low-res scan of the film reels,” explains Thierry Beaumel, an independent image post-production manager, who reassembled the film’s timeline. Staff then completed a 4K quality scan in ADX format which gathered the most information from the film: movement, colorimetry, luminance, depth of colour, etc. After the painstaking work of correcting the flaws in the film, the crew could reintegrate the special effects. This was also a significant challenge. “All the VFX had been saved onto two digital magnetic media that are now obsolete,” explains Thierry Beaumel. Some of them needed to be upscaled and recreated, as the archives were basically in 2K format with a much lower quality that the new 4K scans. But it was important to reuse as much as possible of what was made at the time. “Respecting artistic intention is key with this kind of restoration.”, Tessa Pontaud points out. This is one of the reasons for using HDR Dolby Vision, explains Jean-Antoine Lacolle, a Dolby Vision workflow consultant, who has made a whole video on the subject. Dolby Vision can give viewers a picture that faithfully matches the artistic intention of the film’s creators while also revealing previously-unseen aspects in other formats – more details, black tones, and an extensive colour palette. The involvement throughout of the original film crew – including its director Alain Chabat – assured integrity was maintained with the original artistic intention of the film.

It wasn’t just the film’s picture that was restored and improved. The film’s audio also received special treatment with an upmix in Dolby Atmos. “We began with the 2001 mixes and we had 5.1 mixes for sound, music, effects and ambiance,” explains Thierry Lebon, the sound mixer of the original film. Plug-ins facilitated the transfer of the 5.1 into Dolby Atmos. “The idea wasn’t to recreate all the audio, but to restore it and improve it,” continues Thierry Lebon. The audio remix in Dolby Atmos format greatly improves the viewing experience, thanks to localisation and the more precise, dynamic movement of sound in the space. Dolby Atmos can create “objects” on top of all the other mixing options. “These are isolated sounds with spatial coordinate metadata that can be moved very precisely and whose size can be altered by making them come out of fewer or more speakers – from one specific speaker or a whole area,” explains Jonathan Martins, a co-mixer on the project. Dolby Atmos is adaptable to various broadcasting systems. Depending on the number of speakers, the receptor will alter sound placement to a suitable location to produce the desired effect.

“One example of this is the scene where Chantal Lauby fights Colossus, says Jonathan Martins. “In the original, the elements were spread across the back left and right soundbar speakers, but it wasn’t very sharp. I could take the sounds in the 5.1 mix, change them into an object and – using an app that uses a mobile phone accelerometer – I replaced and moved them in real time by following the picture.” The result: sounds that follow the action in space much more precisely. The same goes for the catapult and the Romans sent flying into the air. “It meant we could use the space to improve what the viewer feels and the film ent itself to this. There are lots of off-screen sounds we can play with and use,” says Thierry Lebon. “The pyramid scene is a good example. Three characters are lost in a labyrinth and placing voices to the far left, or up to the ceiling to the right, heightens the sense of distress. The sounds add something extra to the image.” The first mix was for Dolby Atmos in the cinema and then from there – with small, usually dynamic adaptations – the other mixes were created, working within the limits of each format. 

In December, viewers will be able to enjoy the film on DVD, Blu-Ray UHD (4K) and VOD formats with the same overall quality, accompanied by a significant advertising campaign from Pathé. ”That’s the power of Dolby: at the cinema or at home Dolby Vision is the only thing that can guarantee that when you view the picture, you’ll have the same experience whether you’re watching at the cinema, on TV, on a tablet, monitor or a phone,” explains Jean-Antoine Lacolle, Dolby Vision workflow consultant appointed by Dolby. “The aim is to guarantee that the decisions made in the grading room are respected.” With Dolby Atmos, ”the movement of sound is a lot more precise than in the original mix,” according to Thierry Lebon, for an unrivalled immersive sound experience. You’ll rediscover Asterix and Obelix: Mission Cleopatra like never before.

Asterix and Obelix: Mission Cleopatra – a cult film brought to life in Dolby