Sophie Marceau was the director's and the producers' first choice for her role before the script was even written. She accepted the part two weeks after receiving the script.
Dany Boon accepted the part of Hugo three days after receiving the script. According to Pascale Pouzadoux, he loved the idea if being Sophie Marceau's husband.
Director/co-writer Pascale Pouzadoux, along with cinematographer Pierre Gill and production designer Philippe Chiffre, intentionally gave the film a stylized and slightly unreal look, with lots of colors and an aesthetic studied to project optimism and cheerfulness.
Pascale Pouzadoux spent a year writing the script with Grégoire Vigneron. According to Pouzadoux, she talked a lot and Vigneron wrote a lot.
Antoine Duléry, who plays Maurice, has acted in every single one of Pascale Pouzadoux's directorial efforts. Here his role was suggested by the other of the source novel herself, Alix Girod de l'Ain