French filmmaker Jean-Pierre Jeunet scouted in Alberta and Quebec this October and November before he selected a ranch at the bottom of the Rockie Mountains southwest of Calgary as a prime location for his next film.

The novel-to-screen adaptation of The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet, to be shot entirely in 3D, will also shoot from July to October 2012 in Montreal and Washington, D.C., Montreal-based indie producer BBR-Filmarto said Tuesday.

The France-Canada coproduction comes from Suzanne Girard’s BBR-Filmarto and French production partners Epithete, Tapioca and Gaumont.

French producer Gaumont will release the whimsical English-language feature in 2013 after The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet is posted in France.

Jeunet and Guillaume Laurant wrote the screenplay for the film about a child prodigy in Montana who gets a call from The Smithsonian indicating he’s to receive a prestigious prize.

Canada was chosen as a location for the big-budget 3D picture because the 12-year-old protagonist makes a cross-country trek from Montana to Washington, D.C. to accept his prize, only to discover a secret family history on the journey.

Lucie Robitaille (Incendies, The Barbarian Invasions) is casting the lead roles for Jeunet’s next film, which includes two key bilingual-speaking boys aged 7 to 12 years old for the lead role of T.S. Spivet and the supporting role of Layton.

Beside Suzanne Girard, producer credits on the literary adaptation are shared by Françis Boespflug, Frédéric Brillion and Gilles Legrand.

Photo: Adam Kahtava / flickr Creative Commons