C.R.A.Z.Y. auteur Jean-Marc Vallée is reteaming with producer Pierre Even for his next directing project, Café de Flore, on a budget between $7 million and $8 million.

Even left Cirrus Communications and launched his new Montreal production company Item7 earlier this year. Even was recently joined in the enterprise by former Equinoxe Films executive Marie-Claude Poulin.

Vallée tells Playback Daily he hopes to cast a major French actress such as Audrey Tautou (Amélie, Angels and Demons), La vie en rose‘s Marion Cotillard or Paris-based Quebecoise Marie-Josée Croze (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly). To that end, Even, Poulin and Vallée are meeting with potential French coproduction partners during TIFF. Vallée’s latest film, Young Victoria, is the closing-night gala at the festival.

Café de Flore refers to a famous Parisian haunt on the Boulevard Saint-Germain. Vallée, who is writing the screenplay with Karen Walton, compares the plot to Donnie Darko and The Sixth Sense, calling it a love story that will leave goosebumps. The story is divided between two eras: with the two time periods linked by a song.

‘C.R.A.Z.Y. gave me a lot of confidence,’ says Vallée, ‘the wings to fly higher and explore new territories. The music is a character in its own right; it’s such a part of the characters’ lives.’

He adds, ‘I’m a frustrated DJ. The good thing is that cinema gives a great opportunity to create mixed tapes and join them with images.’