“Jane Austen Wrecked My Life,” a bookish romantic comedy from first-time French director Laura Piani, sold to Sony Pictures Classics ahead of its Sept. 9 world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, the distributor announced Tuesday.
Sony Pictures Classics acquired all rights to the indie feature in North America, Latin America, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and worldwide airlines.
“We are thrilled to see this film entrusted to Sony Pictures Classics, a studio with a rich history of bringing Jane Austen’s world to life on screen,” The Bureau Sales, who negotiated the deal with SPC, said in a statement. “Their extensive experience with such stories ensures that Laura Piani’s debut will be handled with the utmost care and expertise. We look forward to the film’s journey and are confident that it will be a worthy addition to SPC’s distinguished legacy.”
“I am incredibly excited to partner with Sony Pictures Classics on my debut feature and am thrilled for ‘Jane Austen Wrecked My Life’ to start reaching audiences around the globe,” Piani added.
SPC noted that they “have been interested in this project for some time. Jane Austen has become a bit of a rock star in the marketplace and a new modern take as high in quality and warm and winning as ‘Jane Austen Wrecked My Life,’ as directed by debut filmmaker, Laura Piani, is sure to be embraced by theatrical audiences.”
Piani wrote the script for her feature film directorial debut, which stars Camille Rutherford (“Anatomy of a Fall”), Pablo Pauly (“Three Nights a Week”), Charlie Anson (“Downton Abbey”) and Annabelle Lengronne (“Mother and Son”). Gabrielle Dumon produced.
Rutherford stars as Agathe, a “hopelessly clumsy yet charming” woman who “finds herself in desperate singlehood,” according to the official synopsis. “Her dream is to experience love akin to a Jane Austen novel and her ultimate aspiration is to become a writer. Instead, she spends her days selling books in legendary British bookshop, Shakespeare & Co, in Paris. Invited to the Jane Austen Writers’ Residency in England, she must confront her insecurities to finally fulfill her ambition of becoming a novelist and put an end to wasting her sentimental life.”
Financiers behind the film include French broadcasters Canal+ and Ciné+, regional funds Pictanovo (Région Hauts-de-France) and Région Ile-de-France, Sofica Indéfilms 12, French distributor Paname Distribution and international sales agent, The Bureau Sales.
“Jane Austen Wrecked My Life” will have its world premiere at TIFF 2024 on Sept. 9.
