Elle Driver has swooped for the rest of the world on Sylvain Chomet’s The Magnificent Life Of Marcel Pagnol.
The Paris-based sales outfit has boarded the animated feature for all territories excluding North America, Latin America, Scandinavia, the Middle East, Israel and Italy, which were pre-bought by Sony Pictures Classics in May.
The film’s titular character was one of France’s most prolific and popular playwrights, filmmakers and novelists of the 20th century who has sold 150 million books translated into 50 languages.
The Magnificent Life Of Marcel Pagnol explores Pagnol’s imaginative world through the eyes of Chomet who based his interpretation on a column Pagnol wrote for Elle magazine in 1955 about his childhood and first loves.
The film is currently in production and is expected to be completed in 2024. It is produced by Ashargin Poiré and Valérie Puech for What the Prod, with Lilian Eche’s Bidibul Productions and Adrian Politowski’s Align co-producing, Aton Soumache for ON Classics (Mediawan Kids & Family), in collaboration with Nicolas Pagnol from Pagnol’s Estate.
Chomet’s previous films include Oscar-nominated animations The Triplets Of Belleville and The Illusionist.
“I wanted to write a biography that would resonate with the poetry found in Pagnol’s childhood memories, as well as in his deeply human dramaturgical and cinematographic works. I am convinced that the present time needs to return to this poetry and this language of humanity,” Chomet said of the project.
Elle Driver co-founder Adeline Fontan Tessaur called the film “a magical and universal tale which we are sure will convince a wide audience of all ages.”
“Sylvain Chomet is undoubtedly the best artist to take us on this journey,” she added. “He is an animation genius who shares with Pagnol a love for burlesque, poetry and authentic characters. We are very proud to bring the meeting of these two great artists to the international market.”
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