Sony Pictures Classic Pick Up 'Iron Boy' For US Release
One of the most successful animated features on this year's festival circuit is Iron Boy. No, it's not a Marvel superhero prequel or spin-off, but the new French 2D animated film from former Pixar animator Louis Clichy. The film won the Special Jury Prize in the Cannes Film Festival's Un Certain Regard strand, as well as the Audience, Jury and Distribution awards at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival. Iron Boy was also selected for the Toronto and New York film festivals. Now, Sony Pictures Classics have announced that they have picked up the film for US release.
The film- known in its native France as Le Corset- is directed by Louis Clichy, making his debut as a solo director. It is written by Clichy with Franck Salomé. It features animation by Chloë Aubert and art direction by Cécile Guillard. It 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 voice cast includes Gary Clichy, Rod Paradot, Brune Moulin, Dimitri Colas, Aurélie Vassort, Alexandre Astier and Jean-Pascal Zadi.
During his time at Pixar, Clichy worked in 3D CGI animation on films including Wall-E and Up. But Iron Boy represents a return to a much more personal style, with ink line drawing and watercolour inspired by manga and his own early short films.
The film follows a young boy named Christophe, who lives in rural France with his distant and old-fashioned farmer father. When he starts randomly leaning over and collapsing, a doctor suggests he wear an iron corset to prevent it. Forced to reinvent himself away from farm life, Christophe discovers a new found love for music, makes his first friend and follows her into mischief. But will any of this really fix what was out of balance?
Sony Pictures Classics have released several of the most acclaimed international animated features of recent years, including The Red Turtle, Paprika, Persopolis, The Illusionist and The Peasants. Meaning Iron Boy will be in some pretty great company. Several of their releases have also been nominated for the Best Animated Feature Oscar.
Iron Boy will open in cinemas in New York and Los Angeles on January 22, 2027. A wider release should follow. Before that, the film will have an Awards-Qualifying run for one week in December.
If you weren't lucky enough to attend a festival where the film played, this could be a great chance to check it out. Assuming that is, you live in New York or LA. Otherwise, you're just going to have to wait a little longer. In the meantime, get a preview of the film in the trailer, below.
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