Playtime (“Goodnight Mommy”) is producing and repping international sales on Safy Nebbou‘s “Nobody’s Son,” a heart-wrenching adoption drama starring Romain Duris (“The Animal Kingdom”), at the Cannes film market.
Co-produced by Mandarin & Compagnie, the project has been boarded by Sony Pictures International Productions which will handle the release in the U.S., Canada, South America and France. Playtime is handling sales in the rest of the world.
The film, penned by Nebbou, revolves around Thomas and his wife, Mathilda, who finally adopted four-year-old Mapring from Thailand. “But just as their new life begins, Mathilde dies in a tragic accident, leaving Thomas alone with a child he barely knows and never truly wanted. Lost and grieving, he
decides to return to Thailand in search of Mapring’s roots and biological mother—and perhaps, in the process, heal both their fractured hearts,” reads the synopsis.
Nicolas Brigaud-Robert, François Yon at Playtime Production, and Eric Altmayer and Nicolas Altmayer at Mandarin & Compagnie are producing the film.
“Nobody’s Son” marks Nebbou’s follow up to “Who You Think I Am,” a romance thriller starring with Juliette Binoche and François Civil, which played at the Berlinale and sold to over 45 territories worldwide. Nebbou’s other well-known credits include “Mark of an Angel,” a box office hit which won accolades in festivals around the world and sold in more than 30 countries. His 2016 film “In the Forests of Siberia,” starring Raphaël Personnaz and adapted from Sylvain Tesson’s book, was heralded in France as one of the best book-to-screen films in decades.
“’Nobody’s Son’ is a story that for us strongly resonates is today’s world,” said Brigaud-Robert, Co-CEO of Playtime. “Thomas’ questioning of his role as a father and how he should accept or not his new life and responsibilities feel extremely contemporary. I have to say that Safy Nebbou takes us brilliantly on this emotional journey about fatherhood,” Brigaud-Robert continued. He also noted that Sony Pictures International Productions will give the film the “full exposure it deserves in France and around the world.”
Shebnem Askin, the EVP of creative production and head of Sony Pictures International
Productions, said “Nicolas Brigaud-Robert and Nicolas Altmayer and their teams at Playtime and
Mandarin are top-notch and we are thrilled for the opportunity to collaborate with them and
the talented Safy Nebbou.”
The key crew for “Nobody’s Son” includes cinematographer Gilles Porte (“Who You Think I Am”), editor Sylvie Lager (“Love Life”), sound designer Martin Boissau (“In His Own Image”) and music by Ibrahim Maalouf (“Who You Think I Am”). The film was already bought by France 3, Canal +, Paramount + and TaProd.
Playtime, which is part of Vuelta Group, will present Tarik Saleh’s “Eagles of the Republic” in competition, and Thierry Klifa’s “The Richest Woman in the World” out of competition at the 2025 Festival de Cannes.
Mandarin & Compagnie, meanwhile, will be at Cannes with Palme d’Or winner Julia Ducounau’s “Alpha” playing in competition.
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