{ "id": "ep3qrm2418", "slug": "belphegor-2001-film", "title": "Belphegor (2001 film)", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror", "label": "Horror films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror.religious-and-demonic-horror-films", "label": "Religious and demonic horror films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror.religious-and-demonic-horror-films" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror", "label": "Western Europe · 2001 to 2020: Horror films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror", "path": [ { "id": "geo.weu", "label": "Western Europe", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2001", "label": "Western Europe · 2001 to 2020", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2001" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2001.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2001.culture" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror", "label": "Horror films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Belphegor, le fantôme du Louvre (Belphegor: Phantom of the Louvre) is Jean-Paul Salomé's 2001 French fantasy film starring Sophie Marceau, adapted from Arthur Bernède, about a mummy's ghost haunting the Louvre; about 2 million French admissions.", "snippet": "Belphegor, le fantôme du Louvre (Belphegor: Phantom of the Louvre) is Jean-Paul Salomé's 2001 French fantasy film starring Sophie Marceau, adapted from Arthur Bernède, about a mummy's ghost haunting the Louvre; about 2 million French admissions.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror.religious-and-demonic-horror-films", "markdown": "# Belphegor (2001 film)\n\n**Belphegor (2001 film)** is a French fantasy film directed by Jean-Paul Salomé, released in France on 4 April 2001 under the original title *Belphégor, le fantôme du Louvre* (internationally *Belphegor: Phantom of the Louvre*). It adapts Arthur Bernède's phantom-of-the-Louvre story for the cinema, with [Sophie Marceau](https://www.edgepedia.org/sophie-marceau) as the possessed Lisa, Michel Serrault as the retired inspector Verlac, Frédéric Diefenthal as the electrician Martin, and [Julie Christie](https://www.edgepedia.org/julie-christie) as the Egyptologist Glenda Spender.[1](https://cineuropa.org/fr/film/1858/) • [2](https://www.telerama.fr/cinema/films/belphegor%2C-le-fantome-du-louvre%2C471455.php)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Original / international title | *Belphégor, le fantôme du Louvre* / *Belphegor: Phantom of the Louvre*[1](https://cineuropa.org/fr/film/1858/) |\n| Director and writers | Jean-Paul Salomé; screenplay by Salomé and Jérôme Tonnerre, from Arthur Bernède's work[1](https://cineuropa.org/fr/film/1858/) |\n| Release | France, Belgium and Switzerland 4 April 2001, then ten further territories through 2002[1](https://cineuropa.org/fr/film/1858/) |\n| Running time | 97 minutes[1](https://cineuropa.org/fr/film/1858/) |\n| Production | Les Films Alain Sarde and TF1 Films Production; distributed by Bac Films[1](https://cineuropa.org/fr/film/1858/) |\n| Budget | 15,990,000 euros[3](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm%3D27435.html) |\n| French admissions | 1,958,978 (Allociné) or 2,032,144 (JP Box-Office), roughly 2 million[3](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm%3D27435.html) • [4](https://jpbox-office.com/fichfilm.php?id=2101) |\n| Music | Bruno Coulais[1](https://cineuropa.org/fr/film/1858/) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot\n\nIn the Paris of the year 2000, renovation work at the Louvre leads archaeologists to a sarcophagus holding an enigmatic mummy, buried without jewels or name, contrary to Egyptian tradition. The mummy is that of the Egyptian prince Neb-Mes, victim of a spell that denies him eternal rest. His malevolent spirit, Belphégor, escapes at nightfall to haunt the museum's galleries, attacking guards and eluding the most advanced electronic surveillance systems, and takes possession of the young woman Lisa, who had wandered into the museum's underground passages with the electrician Martin. Under Belphégor's influence Lisa tries to kill Martin and drives a Louvre employee to suicide. Martin, inspector Verlac, and Miss Spencer try to solve the mystery and learn that they must recover a group of seven lost amulets to free the prince.[5](https://repertoire.cinema.mcc.gouv.qc.ca/film/belphegor-le-fantome-du-louvre-154147/) • [6](https://www.larousse.fr/encyclopedie/film/Belph%C3%A9gor_Le_Fant%C3%B4me_du_Louvre/1275)\n\n## Cast and crew\n\nSophie Marceau plays Lisa, who becomes Belphégor's vessel; Michel Serrault plays Verlac, the gruff old investigator who takes up quarters among the Louvre's reserves; Frédéric Diefenthal plays Martin; Julie Christie plays the Egyptologist Glenda Spender; and Jean-François Balmer plays Bertrand Faussier.[2](https://www.telerama.fr/cinema/films/belphegor%2C-le-fantome-du-louvre%2C471455.php) • [7](https://www.offi.fr/cinema/evenement/belphegor-3294.html) [Juliette Gréco](https://www.edgepedia.org/juliette-greco), the star of the 1965 television series, makes a brief [cameo appearance](https://www.edgepedia.org/cameo-appearance) in a cemetery, a nod to the earlier production.[3](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm%3D27435.html)\n\nThe screenplay is credited to Jean-Paul Salomé and Jérôme Tonnerre, with Danièle Thompson also credited by Telerama; the score is by Bruno Coulais, who had written the music for *Harrison's Flowers* and *Les Rivières pourpres* the year before.[1](https://cineuropa.org/fr/film/1858/) • [2](https://www.telerama.fr/cinema/films/belphegor%2C-le-fantome-du-louvre%2C471455.php) • [7](https://www.offi.fr/cinema/evenement/belphegor-3294.html) Jean-François Robin was the cinematographer and Sylvie Landra the editor.[1](https://cineuropa.org/fr/film/1858/)\n\n## Production\n\n**Filming at the Louvre.** The museum had refused permission to the television team of Claude Barma for the 1965 series, but it admitted Salomé's feature crew, which had applied far in advance. Salomé said he did not know how the film could have been made without the Louvre, though the museum's administration was not enthusiastic when told the project was Belphégor.[8](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm-27435/secrets-tournage/) The 1965 series had been shot in studios.[9](https://www.ladepeche.fr/article/2001/04/01/175759-belphegor-retour-au-louvre.html)\n\n**Special effects.** The ghost was brought to the screen by Alain Carsoux and a team of 20 animators, graphic artists, and compositing artists at the company Duboi.[8](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm-27435/secrets-tournage/) A contemporary review described the resulting phantom as a rubbery, luminescent skeleton that amused more than it frightened.[10](https://www.cine-feuilles.ch/film/106-belphegor-le-fantome-du-louvre)\n\n## Place in the Belphégor cycle\n\nThe character comes from Arthur Bernède (1871–1937), a popular author who was successively opera singer, librettist, journalist, playwright, novelist, and screenwriter. Belphégor first reached the screen in 1927 in a silent film: [JustWatch](https://www.edgepedia.org/justwatch) and AlloCiné attribute it to Henri Desfontaines, while La Dépêche calls it a silent film by Louis Feuillade. The 1965 black-and-white television series directed by Claude Barma for the ORTF, starring Juliette Gréco as the mysterious Laurence, became a social phenomenon in France, and a theatrical compilation, *La Malédiction de Belphégor*, followed the same year.[8](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm-27435/secrets-tournage/) • [11](https://guides.justwatch.com/fr/belphegor-film-s%C3%A9rie-adaptation-fant%C3%B4me-louvre) • [9](https://www.ladepeche.fr/article/2001/04/01/175759-belphegor-retour-au-louvre.html)\n\nSalomé's film is a deliberately free adaptation. Where the 1965 series cultivated psychological fear and left the ghost's nature in doubt, the 2001 film takes a more explanatory approach, mixing thriller, the supernatural, and modern technology: Belphégor becomes a clearly identified Egyptian entity, at the cost of some of the original mystery.[11](https://guides.justwatch.com/fr/belphegor-film-s%C3%A9rie-adaptation-fant%C3%B4me-louvre) Salomé said he was inspired by American adaptations of television successes such as *Mission: Impossible* and *Charlie's Angels*, and that the film centers on the theme of possession rather than remaking earlier versions.[9](https://www.ladepeche.fr/article/2001/04/01/175759-belphegor-retour-au-louvre.html) The film also deliberately avoids suspense, since the audience knows from the start who Belphégor is, and aims instead at a droll supernatural register.[9](https://www.ladepeche.fr/article/2001/04/01/175759-belphegor-retour-au-louvre.html)\n\n## Reception and box office\n\nThe film was one of the expected large French productions of the 2001 season, but critics received it coolly. Telerama's review judged that the mystery had gone stale; Ciné-Feuilles called the result thin and preferred the black-and-white small screen; Krinein gave it 2 out of 5.[2](https://www.telerama.fr/cinema/films/belphegor%2C-le-fantome-du-louvre%2C471455.php) • [10](https://www.cine-feuilles.ch/film/106-belphegor-le-fantome-du-louvre) • [12](https://cinema.krinein.com/oc/26-belphegor-fantome-louvre/) On Rotten Tomatoes the Tomatometer stood at 27 percent from three reviews, and the IMDb rating is 4.5 out of 10 from about 5,500 votes.[13](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/belphegor_phantom_of_the_louvre) • [14](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0214529/ratings/)\n\nAudience turnout was nonetheless respectable for French fantastic cinema: about 2 million admissions in France, with 375,646 in the Paris region, against a budget of 15,990,000 euros.[3](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm%3D27435.html) • [4](https://jpbox-office.com/fichfilm.php?id=2101) Abroad the film earned $2,863,896 worldwide with no domestic United States release, led by Spain ($1,896,486) and Mexico ($826,005).[15](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0214529/) In Italy it sold 373,398 admissions through 01 Distribution.[16](https://en.unifrance.org/box-office/109/italy/market-statement/2001.pdf)\n\nThe film has remained available on video and streaming, and the myth returned to television in the mid-2020s with a new four-episode adaptation for [HBO Max](https://www.edgepedia.org/hbo-max) and M6.[11](https://guides.justwatch.com/fr/belphegor-film-s%C3%A9rie-adaptation-fant%C3%B4me-louvre)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Belphégor - Le fantôme du Louvre, Cineuropa](https://cineuropa.org/fr/film/1858/)\n2. [« Belphégor, le fantôme du Louvre », de Jean-Paul Salomé : notre critique, Télérama](https://www.telerama.fr/cinema/films/belphegor%2C-le-fantome-du-louvre%2C471455.php)\n3. [Belphégor, le fantôme du Louvre - Film 2001, AlloCiné](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm%3D27435.html)\n4. [Belphégor - Le fantôme du Louvre, JP Box-Office](https://jpbox-office.com/fichfilm.php?id=2101)\n5. [Belphégor, le fantôme du Louvre, Répertoire des films classés, Québec](https://repertoire.cinema.mcc.gouv.qc.ca/film/belphegor-le-fantome-du-louvre-154147/)\n6. [Belphégor (Le Fantôme du Louvre), Larousse](https://www.larousse.fr/encyclopedie/film/Belph%C3%A9gor_Le_Fant%C3%B4me_du_Louvre/1275)\n7. [Belphégor, L'Officiel des spectacles](https://www.offi.fr/cinema/evenement/belphegor-3294.html)\n8. [Anecdotes du film Belphégor, le fantôme du Louvre, AlloCiné](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm-27435/secrets-tournage/)\n9. [« Belphégor »: retour au Louvre, La Dépêche](https://www.ladepeche.fr/article/2001/04/01/175759-belphegor-retour-au-louvre.html)\n10. [Belphégor, le fantôme du Louvre, Ciné-Feuilles](https://www.cine-feuilles.ch/film/106-belphegor-le-fantome-du-louvre)\n11. [Belphégor : 100 ans d'adaptations du fantôme du Louvre, JustWatch](https://guides.justwatch.com/fr/belphegor-film-s%C3%A9rie-adaptation-fant%C3%B4me-louvre)\n12. [Belphégor - Le fantôme du Louvre : critique, Krinein](https://cinema.krinein.com/oc/26-belphegor-fantome-louvre/)\n13. [Belphegor: Phantom of the Louvre, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/belphegor_phantom_of_the_louvre)\n14. [Belphegor: Phantom of the Louvre - Ratings, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0214529/ratings/)\n15. [Belphegor: Phantom of the Louvre, Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0214529/)\n16. [Bilan Italy - 2001, UniFrance](https://en.unifrance.org/box-office/109/italy/market-statement/2001.pdf)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Horror films (individual works) › Religious and demonic horror films*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/belphegor-2001-film", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/belphegor-2001-film.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Belphegor (2001 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/belphegor-2001-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Belphegor (2001 film)](https://www.edgepedia.org/belphegor-2001-film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/belphegor-2001-film](https://www.edgepedia.org/belphegor-2001-film). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Belphegor (2001 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/belphegor-2001-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Belphegor, le fantôme du Louvre is Jean-Paul Salomé's 2001 French fantasy film starring Sophie Marceau, adapted from Arthur Bernède, about a mummy's ghost haunting the Louvre; about 2 million French admissions." }