Gluttonous best friend Alceste, rich boy Geoffrey, dimwitted Clotaire, quarrelsome Eudes, eccentric Rufus and spoiled top student Agnan already have plans for the future.

The next few days, Nicholas becomes determined to please his mother in everything, even attending a tea party with her friends, where he spends time with a girl named Marie-Edwige and her girlfriends.

Nonetheless, Nicholas' parents still take him to the woods and he refuses to come out, forcing them to push the car back home when they cannot persuade him otherwise and spend the rest of the day arguing.

Producers Olivier Delbosc and Marc Missonnier from Fidelité Productions offered Laurent Tirard the project, who immediately accepted it because he had grown up with the characters from the story.

"[6] On 8 April 2008, it was announced that Valérie Lemercier and Kad Merad had joined the cast of the film as Nicloas's mother and father.

[10][11] The score for Le Petit Nicolas was composed by Klaus Badelt and performed by Geert Chatrou, Dirk Brossé, and Loïc Pontieux.

Movienthusiast gave the album a positive review and awarded it three out of five stars, saying, "[The] music of this film is able to fill a variety of themes, [and] scenes usually pose a ticklish feeling in the audience themselves."

[23] David Parkinson of Empire Online gave the film three out of five stars, saying, "Charmingly capturing the misconceptions of childhood and ebulliently played by a knowing cast, it should delight all ages.

"[24] Phelim O'Neill of The Guardian gave four stars out of five by saying that "It presents a gently humorous, beautifully shot idyllic version of childhood, all blue skies, good manners and not a hair out of place.

"[26] Amber Wilkinson of Eye for Film praised the actors, saying, "In a refreshing change from Hollywood films aimed at this market, there is a blissful lack of toilet humor and... plenty of fun to be had for an older audience in watching Nicholas' hapless father (Kad Merad) attempt to win a promotion from his boss by bringing him home to dinner.

The acting from the adults has a slight pantomime edge to it, but this complements the source material and gives a real sense of the way in which children tend to view grown-ups as larger-than-life.

The children, meanwhile, form a sweet and believable ensemble with Maxime Godart in the central role and Victor Carles as class clot Clotaire.

"[27] Similarly, Bernard Besserglik of The Hollywood Reporter also commented, saying that this film adaptation is "technically proficient" and "[features] two of France's best comic actors.

"[20] However, Jordan Mintzer of Variety criticized the film, saying, "The clan of boys, and especially Nicolas himself, are too impeccably coiffed, dressed, and mannered to resemble the ruffians depicted in Sempe’s drawings or anything like real kids at all.

"[29] In August 2013, it was confirmed that the film sequel, Nicholas on Holiday (Les Vacances du Petit Nicolas), would be released on 9 July 2014.

[30] Valérie Lemercier and Kad Merad reprised their roles in the sequel, with the character of Nicolas played by newcomer Mathéo Boisselier.

[31] A further sequel, Little Nicholas' Treasure [fr] (Le Trésor du Petit Nicolas), was released in 2021, with Ilan Debrabant in the title role.