Studiocanal Scores International Sales on ‘Les Miserables,’ New ‘Shaun the Sheep’ Movie and Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s ‘Violette’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Studiocanal has scored a raft of international sales on its Cannes film market highlights, including “Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom,” “Les Miserables” and “Violette,” directed by “Amelie” filmmaker Jean-Pierre Jeunet.

Aardman’s “Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom” follows the studio’s third stop-motion animated feature film in the “Shaun the Sheep” franchise, following the BAFTA and Oscar-nominated “Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon” and “Shaun the Sheep Movie.” The latter turned out to be one of the highest-grossing animated films of 2015.”

Studiocanal has pre-sold “Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom” in major territories, including Japan (“Shochiku”), Hong Kong (Edko), Italy (Lucky Red), Scandinavia (Scanbox), Israel (Lev) and Middle East (Salim Ramia), among others. Other territories closed include Airlines (Echo Lake), Baltics (Acme), Czech Republic & Slovakia (Bohemia), Ex Yugoslavia (Blitz), Greece (Spentzos), Hungary (Mozinet), Middle East (Salim Ramia), Portugal ( Lusomundo), Romania (Bad Unicorn), Singapore (Shaw), South Africa (Empire), Switzerland (Paterson), Turkey (TME), Ukraine (Greenlight) and Vietnam (Skyline).

“On ‘Shaun the Sheep,’ we measured just how much Shaun is still a beloved character all over the world and the Halloween theme of ‘Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom’ brings a fresh twist to the saga, said Anne Cherel, Studiocanal’s CCO, and Chloe Marquet, head of international sales, adding that the film “is a monstrously fun family adventure for Halloween 2026 making a huge impression at the market for us and with excellent sales for Shaun’s return to the big screen.”

Other hot titles on Studiocanal’s Cannes market roster are Fred Cavayé’s adaptation of Victor Hugo’s 1862 classic novel “Les Misérables” and “Violette,” based on Valérie Perrin’s literary sensation “Fresh Water for Flowers” (“Changer l’eau des fleurs”) which sold over 3 million copies worldwide.

“Violette” stars Cesar-winning French actor Leila Bekhti (“All Your Faces, “My Mother, God and Sylvie Vartan”) as Violette Toussaint, a beloved cemetery caretaker whose peaceful life is thrown off course when a mysterious stranger shows up on her doorstep compelling her to confront her troubled past.

Matthias Schoenaerts (“Rust and Bone”), Melvil Poupaud (“Jeanne du Barry”), Anouk Grinberg (“The Innocent”), Sergio Castellitto (“Conclave”) and Alban Lenoir (“Lost Bullet”) complete the cast.

The movie has been picked up for Canada (VVS), Israel (Lev), Italy (Lucky Red), Portugal (Lusomundo), Romania (Bad Unicorn), Scandinavia (Scanbox), Switzerland (Frenetic), Ex Yugoslavia (MCF), Greece (Spentzos), Hungary (Vertigo), Turkey (Bir), Ukraine (Arthouse), Baltics (Acme), Bulgaria (Cinelibri) and Airlines (Skeye).

Cherel and Marquet pointed “Changer l’eau des fleurs” has been an international bestseller and has been translated in 32 countries, including China, the U.S. and Russia.

“‘Violette’ appealed to a very large scope of distributors at the market. We are thrilled to work with Jean Pierre Jeunet to adapt this story,” said the pair. “He’s such an emblematic figure of French cinema and is highly recognized for his style and talent thanks to ‘Amelie’ which is known across the world.”

“Les Miserables” will star Vincent Lindon as Jean Valjean, a ex-convict-turned-benevolent industrialist, and Tahar Rahim as Inspector Javert, Valjean’s nemesis. The prestigious cast is completed by Camille Cottin (“Call My Agent!”), Benjamin Lavernhe (“The Marching Band”) and Noémie Merlant (“Lee”), among others.

The movie has sold to Canada (TVA), Ex Yugoslavia (Bobo), Greece (Spentzos), Malaysia (GSC)
Middle East (Italia), Portugal (Lusomundo), Romania (Indepedenta), Switzerland (DCM) Airlines (Skeye), Baltics (Acme) and Bulgaria (Cinelibri).

“‘Les Miserables’ is such a timeless and universal story and this new film will benefit from the very well established audience of the musical while offering a new, realistic interpretation, with a stellar French cast that is attractive for international audiences,” said Cherel and Marquet. “We really feel Les Miserables – while a French production – is truly an international film with global appeal. It already feels like an event. We are incredibly proud to be making this movie,” added the pair.

Studiocanal also presented the world premieres of four films at the Cannes Film Festival, including “Summer Beats” directed by Lise Akoka and Romane Guéret; “Connemara” directed by Alex Lutz; Cedric Klapisch’s “Colors of Time;” and “No One Will Know” (“Le Roi Soleil”) directed by Vincent Maël Cardona.