Cannes film market opens to record turnout as focus shifts to smaller films

CANNES, France — The world’s largest film market opened in Cannes this week and attracted a record number of attendees vying to buy the mostly smaller productions on offer as studios have become risk-averse.

Around 16,000 participants from across the film industry registered for the market, which takes place from May 12 to 20 in parallel with Cannes Film Festival.

While the actors and filmmakers dazzle on the red carpet, their sales agents and potential buyers are haggling over distribution rights only yards away.

Those who spoke to Reuters said improved box office results had boosted the confidence of buyers and sellers heading into the market that last year achieved more than 15,000 registrations.

The increase was driven mainly by increasing numbers of Asian participants, particularly from Japan, who can choose from the roughly 4,000 films and projects on offer.

RISE OF YOUNGER VIEWERS?
While the global box office remains below pre-pandemic levels, younger audiences, particularly Gen Z, have driven growth in recent months.

“The trend in the past months has been very good and much better than last year,” Elisha Karmitz, chief executive officer of French sales agent, production and distribution firm MK2 Films, said.

Big Hollywood films have been largely absent at this year’s festival as a shift in viewing habits has made studios focus on fewer films with wider appeal. Some filmmakers are particularly seeking to appeal to younger audiences.

Head of US independent film company IFC Entertainment Group Scott Shooman said the absence of the big blockbusters was an opportunity.

IFC, which typically handles slightly fewer than 50 titles a year, has achieved the strongest results from films aimed towards slightly younger audiences and that have some overlap with categories like horror, comedy, or thrillers, he said.

Successful independent titles such as last year’s second-place winner at Cannes, Sentimental Value — a film about family relationships and emotional trauma — have shown that artistically ambitious films can break through commercially at lower budget levels, said Scott Roxborough, European correspondent at The Hollywood Reporter.

SMALLER FILMS DOMINATE
The volume of projects at the market this year remains strong, Mr. Roxborough said, but the mix has shifted. The smaller films that are dominant are often financed through European models and have budgets in the $10 million to 15 million range.

IFC’s Mr. Shooman said a significant number of films arrive in Cannes with domestic distribution already in place, meaning fewer films are available for acquisition.

“Over the past year, it swung to a seller’s market. I think it will possibly swing back to a buyer’s market,” he said.

“But I’ve never been to a festival where there were too many movies,” he said. “We always want there to be more. There’s a few available films and hopefully they’re really good and they make sense for us.”

PAN’S LABYRINTH RETURNS TO CANNES
Mexican director Guillermo del Toro received the longest-ever standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival two decades ago for his historical fantasy Pan’s Labyrinth, which returns this year to the Cannes Classics section.

Speaking to Reuters, Mr. Del Toro said the 22-minute ovation given to his Spanish-language film 20 years ago produced a “rush of human emotion.”

“Alfonso Cuaron was there with me because we produced the movie together and he said, ‘let it in, man,’” recalled Mr. Del Toro on Tuesday. “I’m not very good with praise and he said, ‘let it in, let love go in’ and I experienced it like that.”

Pan’s Labyrinth did not win the top-prize Palme D’Or that year, but Mr. Del Toro went on to win the best picture Oscar for his fish monster love story The Shape of Water in 2018.

The film, which has been digitally remastered, is set in Spain under the Franco dictatorship and follows a young girl who is enticed by a magical faun to complete three dangerous tasks while also dealing with her ailing pregnant mother and cruel military stepfather.

The concept for Pan’s Labyrinth came when Mr. Del Toro was at a low point in his creativity following the Sept. 11 attacks on the Twin Towers in New York.

“I felt really defenseless,” he said, and started to question what the role of a storyteller is in this situation. “I thought it would be really interesting to have a man of rigidity, a captain, having to face magic — something that seems imaginary, but his own notions of what is right and what is wrong, the captain’s notions, are also imaginary,” he added.

The cult classic, which will also be shown in 3D, is set to be re-released in theaters later this year.

FAST AND FURIOUS MILESTONE
The Cannes Film Festival revved up the glamour on Wednesday night with a buzzy red carpet for the midnight screening of the original The Fast and the Furious with star Vin Diesel.

Mr. Diesel, wearing a black jacket with a racecar design Fast Forever — the next sequel in the series set for 2028 — in sequins on the back, went up and down the line of shouting fans who had gathered for hours at the carpet to pose for selfies.

He was joined on the carpet by Jordana Brewster and Michelle Rodriguez, who shot to fame with the 2001 film about street racing that launched a franchise for Universal Pictures and spawned nine sequels and a spin-off, Hobbs & Shaw.

To date, the franchise has made over $7 billion at the global box office.

Their co-star Paul Walker, who died in a car crash in Southern California in 2013, was represented by his only daughter, Meadow, who had a cameo role in Fast X.

Ahead of the screening, Mr. Diesel told the audience about how festival director Thierry Fremaux had praised the film.

“To come with a film that you, the head of the most prestigious film festival in the world, where every artist in the world wants to be recognized and honored, you, are calling the film that we did 25 years ago a classic,” he said. “How profound is that?” he added.

Fast Forever will hit cinemas in March 2028, with the original cast, as well as Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who joined the franchise from Fast Five, and Jason Statham, set to join.

In addition, Mr. Diesel announced on Monday that four original television series based on the film franchise are in development. An NBCUniversal press release distributed later in the day listed only one Fast & Furious show in development. — Reuters