The Adventures of Asterix and Obelixwill come to life again in the film called “The Middle Kingdom”, which will be released in France on February 1, 2023. And the best news, is in the hands of the collaboration that Citroën did with the production of the feature film.
This partnership is unlike any Citroën has had before, with the design and creation of a prototype carriage specifically for this film. Citroën’s design teams were involved in this project from the start, and managed to finish it all in three months.when the normal thing is that, at the bottom, this task takes a year.
“The meeting between these two legends of French culture could not be less than extraordinary. The Citroën and Asterix teams have worked together with mutual respect from the beginning. We had this amazing opportunity to create and prototype the carriage from scratch, and we’ve had a blast working on this project! The result is praise for the 2CV, a legendary vehicle that represents Citroën in all its splendor.” says Pierre Leclercq, Director of Design at Citroën.
The carriage is nothing more than a reinterpretation of the famous “Citroneta”, the 2CV, but as if it had been born in the times of Asterix. The result: a very recognizable silhouette, suspensions made of wild boar’s stomach, sunroof, lights inspired by Gallic helmets but activated by fireflies propelled with magic potion, and wheels made with recycled shields and incorporating the famous chevrons.
The “Concept” is glimpsed in several sequences of the film. The passage in which the heroes prepare to leave their village to go to China, shows a united team facing the challenge of a great adventure. Ketautomatix then presents the car to Obelix, showing him the latest innovations that he has made so that the trip goes smoothly. Later, when Caesar’s army arrived in China, the first billboard on the border promoted the best means of locomotion of the day: the 2CV, a formidable car made in Gaul and pulled -obviously- by two horses. A nod to the famous Citroën advertising film made on the Chinese wall.
Lastly, to underline the complicity of this partnership, the new Citroën logo comes to life and, for the occasion, displays the wings of the Astérix helmet. It is worth noting that Citroën also provided a fleet of 10 electrified vehicles during the filming of the film, a first for a French blockbuster.
Below we leave you the trailer of the film.