May December.
Photo: Courtesy of Cannes
Cannes Film Festival is more than just gorgeous gowns, auteur films, and indiscriminate standing ovations. It’s also one of the largest and most distinguished film markets in the world. The Marché du Film — the setting where sales companies hawk their latest slate of films — runs parallel to the Cannes, offering up the rights to films both appearing in the festival and outside of it. Take the star-studded May December, for example. The Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman-led festival smash emerged as one of the buzziest free agents in competition for the Palme d’Or, but will leave the Côte d’Azur with a different grand prize: an $11 million dollar distribution deal with Netflix. Other exciting offerings, including a Paddington sequel, a Liev Schreiber and Josh Hutcherson-starring Ernest Hemingway adaptation, and a new Bambi slasher found homes as well. Below, all the titles that picked up distribution at Cannes 2023.
Distributor: Netflix
A Hollywood actress shadows a married couple whose tabloid romance and large age gap gripped the nation twenty years ago. Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore, and Charles Melton star.
Price: $11 million for North America
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics, Mubi
Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal carry a Pedro Almodóvar-directed gay western.
Price: Undisclosed
Distributor: International deals with Sony Pictures, STX International
Alicia Vikander and Jude Law star in a revisionist period drama about Henry VIII and his sixth and final wife, Katherine Parr.
Price: Undisclosed
Distributor: International deals with Capricci, L’Atalante Cinema, and Ama Films
The South Korean auteur directs a minimal project about two people — a woman in her 40s and a man in his 70s — who share ramyun with their respective visitors and talk about life.
Price: Undisclosed
Distributor: Neon
A German writer and her French husband grapple with the death of their eleven-year-old son — with the former eventually becoming the main suspect.
Price: Undisclosed
Distributor: Mubi
A bank employee and his co-worker hatch a plan to rob their employer.
Price: Undisclosed
Distributor: Neon
The first-time director helms this animated film about a man who decides to build, then abandon, his robot friend, leaving open the possibility of their reconciliation.
Price: Undisclosed
Distributor: International deals with Signature Entertainment and FilmNation Entertainment
A Sean Penn and Tye Sheridan-starring drama about a paramedic’s adrenaline pumping nights and his days spent studying for medical school.
Price: Undisclosed
Distributor: International deals with MovieCloud, Edko Films, and more
Song Kang-ho stars in this period drama about a filmmaker attempting to finish what he believes to be his masterpiece.
Price: Undisclosed
Distributor: Sony
The third Paddington entry begins filming in July.
Price: Undisclosed — Paddington 2 went for $30 million plus auction
Distributor: Republic Pictures
An apocalyptic thriller starring Jodie Comer. The film follows a woman (Comer) and her newborn child as they try to escape London flood waters and find their way home.
Price: In the mid-seven figures
Distributor: Bleecker Street
Josh Hutcherson and Liev Schreiber lead the film adaptation of Ernest Hemingway’s last novel. Set in post-WWII Italy, an army colonel coming to terms with his PTSD enlists a military driver to take him to Venice.
Price: Undisclosed
Distributor: International deals with Vertigo Releasing, Lumiere Ventures, SND Films, and more
An aging hitman takes one last job — and must train a sassy prodigy assassin. Christopher Waltz, Lucy Liu, and Cooper Hoffman star.
Price: Undisclosed
Distributor: The Cinema Guild
The director’s other film to sell at Cannes follows a young actor who gave up acting to make a short film on Jeju Island and the people he encounters there.
Price: Undisclosed
Distributor: Music Box Films
Billed by some as a post-#MeToo comedy, the 1930s French period piece about a struggling actress who stands trial for murdering an asshole producer stars Isabelle Huppert, Rebecca Marder, and Nadia Tereszkiewicz.
Price: Undisclosed
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
An animated documentary about a New York journalist who researches the disappearance of Brazilian genius pianist Tenorio Jr.
Price: Undisclosed
Distributor: Mubi
A documentary about acclaimed fashion designer John Galliano whose career ended after a video of him using anti-Semitic and racist slurs circulated.
Price: Undisclosed
Distributor: Briarcliff Entertainment
Gerard Butler stars in the sequel to the heist thriller that made over $80 million worldwide.
Price: Undisclosed
Distributor: Well Go USA Entertainment
The director of Chappaquiddick is back with a psychological thriller led by Luke Bracey.
Price: Undisclosed
Distributor: Roadside Attractions
A troubled teen on the run hides at a summer camp. Corbin Bleu, Christopher Lloyd, and Ethan Drew star.
Price: Undisclosed
Distributor: Bleecker Street
This five-time British Independent Film Award-nominee is a stone age-era horror flick about a band of early humans.
Price: Undisclosed
Distributor: Magnolia
The director of I Am Not Your Negro unravels the life of Ernest Cole, South Africa’s first Black freelance photographer.
Price: Undisclosed
Distributor: Dark Sky Films
In 1941, two women build a time machine that can parse broadcasts from the future. Legge and his cinematographer Oona Menges use period cameras and lenses to shoot the film, and otherwise employ found footage.
Price: Undisclosed
Distributor: International deals with Cinemex, Crone Film, Pictureworks, and more
The sequel to the Winnie the Pooh slasher that debuted earlier this year.
Price: Undisclosed
Distributor: ITN
A horror film that uses the character of Bambi much like this year’s Winnie the Pooh slasher. Think Cujo.
Price: Undisclosed
Distributor: Music Box Films
A hit in Sweden about an elderly couple who marital problems emerge on a cruise.
Price: Undisclosed