Following the debut of new still images from the highly anticipated European indie, the official teaser-trailer for The Magnificent Life of Marcel Pagnol (Marcel et Monsieur Pagnol) is ready to take the stage, courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics. The new 2D animated biography from multi-Oscar-nominated auteur Sylvain Chomet (The Illusionist, The Triplets of Belleville, The Old Lady and the Pigeon) is in production, slated to open in theaters in France on October 15, 2025, and in the U.S. probably in Q4 2025 by SPC.
Synopsis: In 1955, 60-year-old Marcel Pagnol is a well-known and acclaimed playwright and filmmaker. When the editor in chief of ELLE Magazine commissions a weekly column about Pagnol’s childhood, he sees this as a great opportunity to go back to his artistic roots: writing.
Realizing his memory is failing him and deeply affected by the disappointing results of his last two plays, Pagnol starts doubting his ability to pursue his work. That is until Little Marcel — the young boy he used to be — appears to him as if by magic. Together, they will explore Marcel Pagnol’s incredible life, his successes and failures, his joys and sorrows.
The journey of an artist, from a young teacher in Provence to a true pioneer of talking movies. An exceptional inventor who built his own film studios and held out through WWII. A self made man who never betrayed his free spirit or independence, even less his values and origins. A simple man and a bon vivant above all!
The feature-length film is produced by What The Prod, Mediawan, Bidibul Productions and Walking The Dog. Producers are Ashargin Poire and Valerie Puech for What the Prod; co-producers are Lilian Eche’s Bidibul Productions, Adrian Politowski’s Align and Aton Soumache for Mediawan Kids & Family Cinema, in collaboration with Nicolas Pagnol from Pagnol’s Estate. The French distributor is Wild Bunch.
