PARIS - Oscar-winning French director Michel Hazanavicius has started filming a remake of Japanese cult zombie film One Cut Of The Dead (2017).

The French-language reboot, called Final Cut, is being filmed in the outskirts of Paris and stars Romain Duris and Berenice Bejo, an Oscar-nominated actress who is also Hazanavicius' wife. Their daughter Simone is also in the cast, making it a family affair.

Duris plays a director making a B-grade zombie flick with an unmotivated crew. The exercise seems headed for disaster when shooting is interrupted by the arrival of the undead. But all is not as it seems.

The original Japanese film by Shinichiro Ueda, made on a shoe-string budget of US$25,000 (S$33,000), went on to make more than US$30 million worldwide and became a cult favourite.

"The brilliant concept of the original film, a dream cast, a light and highly motivated crew, all of this makes me thrilled to be making this movie, about shooting a movie," said Hazanavicius, who won Best Director and Best Picture for The Artist (2011) in 2012. The mainly silent movie, filmed in black and white, took home five awards, including Best Actor for lead Jean Dujardin.

Hazanavicius is also known for his popular OSS 117 movies, which are in French and spoof the spy genre, but has not made a Hollywood movie after his Oscar win.