French actor Gerard Depardieu will face a criminal trial in October over the alleged sexual assaults in 2021 of two women on the set of a film, prosecutors have announced.
The 75-year-old actor, who previously has denied any wrongdoing, was detained for questioning by police in Paris for several hours earlier on Monday.
The Paris public prosecutor's office said in a statement that the actor has been "summoned to appear before the criminal court" after the questioning.
A trial will start in October "for sexual assaults likely to have been committed in September 2021" against "two victims, on the set of the film The Green Shutters", the statement said.
It did not name the alleged victims.
Depardieu, who made his name in hit films such as Green Card and The Last Metro, denies wrongdoing.
In an open letter published in a French newspaper in October, he said: "I have never, ever abused a woman."
Depardieu has been a global ambassador for French film and enjoyed international fame with several roles in Hollywood.
Depardieu has also been accused by more than a dozen other women of harassing, groping or sexually assaulting them.
He was handed preliminary rape and sexual assault charges in 2020 following allegations from actor Charlotte Arnould.
Depardieu was one of the leading celebrities who faced sexual harassment and assault claims as part of the #MeToo movement.
The star, who has made more than 180 films, was nominated for an Oscar for his title role in 1990’s Cyrano de Bergerac and won a Golden Globe best comedy actor award in 1991 for box office hit Green Card.
He starred in films including Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet and Ridley Scott’s 1492, Conquest of Paradise.
He was made a Russian citizen in 2013 after becoming friends with Vladimir Putin.
