Sony Pictures Classics announced today that they have acquired all rights in North and Latin America, India and Southeast Asian TV to IRON BOY, Louis Clichy’s hand-painted animated feature. Premiering in the Un Certain Regard section at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, the childhood drama film is already being lauded by critics for its stunning combination of realism and fantasy.

The film is co-written by Clichy and Franck Salomé, and marks Clichy’s first film as a solo director. After many years devoted to 3D animation at Pixar where he worked as an animator on WALL-E and UP, the film presents a highly personal style, characterized by ink line drawing that returns to the spirit of Manga and his early short films.

The film follows 11-year-old Christophe in rural France, as he tries to live up to his rigid and distant father on the family farm. But the young boy starts to lean over and collapse without warning — on the tractor, at school, at dinner… A doctor finds the solution: Christophe must wear an iron corset to keep himself upright. Forced to reinvent his life away from the farm, Christophe discovers a new passion for music, meets a new friend, and follows her into his first mischief. But will any of this really fix what is out of balance?

The voice cast includes Gary Clichy, Rod Paradot (STANDING TALL), Brune Moulin, Dimitri Colas, Aurélie Vassort, Alexandre Astier (KAAMELOTT) and Jean-Pascal Zadi (DOG ON TRIAL) with animation by Chloë Aubert. The film is produced by Céline Vanlint and Nicolas de Rosanbo for Eddy Cinéma (France) and co-produced by Fabrice Delville and Christophe Toulemonde for Beside Production (Belgium), Agathe Sofer and Alexandre Astier for Regular Production (France) along with France 3 Cinéma, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Cinéma and RTBF.

The deal was negotiated between Sony Pictures Classics and Playtime, on behalf of the filmmakers.

“Coming into Cannes, we knew the film would be well received, but its success exceeded even our expectations both in terms of sales and reviews from the international press. It feels only natural that IRON BOY has found a home in the U.S. with SPC. Over the years, we built a strong working relationship with Tom, Michael, and Dylan. They are not only exceptional distributors, admittedly among the very best in the industry, but also people of great sensitivity and taste. They will take this film very far,” said Co-CEO of Playtime Nicolas Brigaud-Robert, who brokered the deal.