Sony Pictures Classics has acquired all rights in the United States, Latin America and Southeast Asia to Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Violette, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, Screen Daily and IndieWire reported on 5 November 2026. The deal was negotiated with StudioCanal. The price was not disclosed. It is SPC’s fourth Jeunet release after The City of Lost Children, Amélie and Micmacs.
Key facts
- Buyer: Sony Pictures Classics for the US, Latin America and Southeast Asia (all rights); deal negotiated with StudioCanal; price undisclosed
- Cast and makers: Leïla Bekhti, Matthias Schoenaerts, Melvil Poupaud; Jeunet and Guillaume Laurant wrote; Mediawan’s 24 25 Films and Palomar produce
- Source: Valérie Perrin’s Fresh Water for Flowers (Albin Michel 2018; Europa Editions US 2020)
- Track record: SPC’s fourth Jeunet release after The City of Lost Children, Amélie and Micmacs
- North America context: Deadline cites Amélie at $33.2m as the top-grossing French-language film in the US and Canada
What SPC is buying
Violette follows a cemetery caretaker whose settled routine is disrupted when a stranger arrives and forces her to face a buried past. THR adds that Poupaud’s character insists on leaving his late mother’s ashes on a stranger’s grave. Bekhti leads; Schoenaerts co-stars. Jeunet’s quoted line credits Perrin’s invitation that he “paint” the novel she wrote. SPC’s own statement, carried across the trades, frames the film as continuing Jeunet’s multi-strand, whimsical register while calling it fresh for theatrical audiences.
IndieWire places the pickup inside SPC’s current specialty slate, citing the recent release of The Only Living Pickpocket in New York and forthcoming titles from Pedro Almodóvar (Bitter Christmas) and Florian Zeller (Bunker). None of the reports give a US theatrical date, screen count or streaming window.
IndieWire’s “Asia” wording for the non-US carve-out differs from Deadline, THR and Screen, which specify Southeast Asia; FilmBunch follows the three-outlet majority. SPC did not publish a release calendar in any of the 5 November reports.
Comparables and gaps
For buyers, a fourth SPC–Jeunet pairing is a brand bet: Amélie’s North American run still sets the French-language specialty ceiling that later Jeunet titles chase. What is missing for finance desks is the MG, the release pattern SPC will use, and whether Latin America and Southeast Asia are day-and-date with North America or staggered. StudioCanal’s sales page terms beyond the SPC carve-out are also unpublished in these reports.
Why it matters
Specialty French packages that already clear StudioCanal and a US indie major still need named territorial homes before AFM and awards positioning harden. Related FilmBunch coverage includes Kino Lorber’s North American take on Clio Barnard’s I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning, Marvelous and Kapa’s France–Greece pact on Nana and Sony Pictures’ latest quarterly results. More under Deals.
Our reading
SPC is buying catalogue continuity with Jeunet more than a disclosed release plan. The next evidence is a dated US theatrical window and whether StudioCanal’s remaining territories close on the same AFM cycle.
Sources
- Deadline, Sony Pictures Classics Takes Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s ‘Violette’ (5 November 2026; territories; fourth collaboration; StudioCanal negotiation; Amélie NA BO; Bekhti/Schoenaerts/Poupaud; Perrin novel; 24 25 Films/Palomar)
- The Hollywood Reporter, Sony Pictures Classics Takes Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s ‘Violette’ for U.S. (5 November 2026; Southeast Asia; plot detail; no rollout dates)
- Screen Daily, Sony Pictures Classics acquires Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s ‘Violette’ (5 November 2026)
- IndieWire, Sony Pictures Classics Buys Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s ‘Violette’ (5 November 2026; SPC slate context)