'The Young And Prodigious Spivet' Trailer: 'Amelie' Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet Goes 3D

French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet has made an American film (Alien: Resurrection) but he hasn't made one that actually takes place in the States. So The Young and Prodigious Spivet, a strange travelogue starring an unusual young boy, will be a first for the director. (It's also his first 3D movie.)

Based on the book The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet by Reif Larsen, the film follows "a 12-year-old cartography enthusiast in an eccentric family, who travels across country hidden on board a freight train after being invited to the Smithsonian Institute."

Helena Bonham Carter, Kathy Bates, Judy Davis, Callum Keith Rennie, and Jeunet's perpetual casting choice Dominique Pinon all appear, and newcomer Kyle Catlett plays the title role. After seeing this first trailer I could see people making links to the Coen Brothers, or the work of Wes Anderson, even Tim Burton. But this also looks to be recognizably Jeunet, and that's pretty appealing.


The Young and Prodigious Spivet doesn't have US distribution yet, but could show up later this year. It opens in October in France.

A 12-year-old cartography enthusiast in an eccentric family, who travels across country hidden on board a freight train after being invited to the Smithsonian Institute.