‘Mia and the White Lion’ Producers Set New Family Adventure ‘Indiana and the Otter’s Legend,’ Playtime Launching Project at AFM (EXCLUSIVE)

The team behind global family hits “Mia and the White Lion” and “The Wolf and the Lion,” Mediawan‘s Mai Juin Productions, is heading back into the wild with “Indiana and the Otter’s Legend.”

Set to shoot in the wilds of Canada’s Eastern Townships in 2026, the English-language family adventure project has been boarded by Playtime, the Paris-based company which is part of Vuelta.

Playtime (“The Quiet Son”) is launching worldwide sales for the ambitious project at the American Film Market, marking its first collaboration with Mai Juin Productions.

Following the journey of animals and children set against against a lush backdrop, “Indiana and the Otter’s Legend” has already secured distribution partners in major territories, including another Vuelta-affiliated banner, Pan Distribution in France, as well as Mediawan’s Leonine Studios in Germany, and Photon Films and TVA Films in Canada.

The new movie will be directed by Julien Decoin, best known for the acclaimed French drama series “Les Bracelets Rouges,” and written by Cynthia Knight, whose youth-focused credits include the series “The Next Step.”

Marguerite Laurence, who was seen in Amazon’s “Three Pines,” stars in a first lead role as 12-year-old Indiana (Laurence), who is “uprooted from the city to the struggling riverside town of Otterville — once famous for its otters, now hauntingly without them. When two unexpectedly return, the town dares to hope again. But protecting them leads Indiana and her friends into a battle against a predatory developer, a corrupt mayor, and her own father — the town sheriff,” reads the synopsis.

Mai Juin Productions’ Catherine Camborde, the driving force behind the animal-led family hits, “Mia and the White Lion” ($40M), “The Wolf and the Lion” ($25M) and “The Last Jaguar” ($22M), is producing “Indiana and the Otter’s Legend,” alongside Wishing Tree Productions’ Jonathan Vanger and Sylvain Proulx, whose credits span “Cat & Dog,” “Best Sellers,” and “Crisis”. The project is backed by Telefilm Canada.

“Otters as the main characters are highly engaging,” said Playtime Co-CEO Sébastien Beffa. “They bring an imaginary background of positive values such as family and work, but also tenderness, humor, and genuine empathy.”

Beffa also praised the script for offering an “authentic ecological perspective, not in a guilt-inducing way but in a constructive manner, allowing audiences of all ages to get involved in an entertaining way.”

Camborde and Vanger, meanwhile, said they’re “delighted with this first partnership with Playtime.

The pair described “Indiana and the Otter’s Legend” as “an adventure film in the spirit of ‘E.T.,’ ‘Super 8,’ ‘The Goonies’ and ‘Stranger Things,’ featuring a group of children and otters.” The producers said the film will combine “adventure, emotion, and comedy thanks to the mischievous nature of the animals,” and universal themes such as ” friendship, teenage emancipation, environmental protection.”