Last year’s Cannes Film Festival saw Neon acquire its eventual Palme D’Or winner “It Was Just an Accident” and make splashes with “The Secret Agent” and “Sirât,” while Netflix bought “Nouvelle Vague” and “Left-Handed Girl.” But we also saw some titles like MUBI’s “Die, My Love” and “Sound of Falling” that didn’t make the same splash when they arrived stateside, despite big critical buzz out of the festival.
Neon is already coming in with a glut of titles, and there’s a shortage of American films on the slate. How will the market respond this year? We’ll be tracking every sale as it happens.
Acquired During the Festival
“Club Kid”
Buyer: A24
Section: Un Certain Regard
Director: Jordan Firstman
Buzz: Arguably the smash hit of the Cannes Film Festival, comedian/actor Jordan Firstman writes, directs, and stars in this New York comedy as a washed-up party promoter who wakes up one day to find the child he never knew he had on his doorstep. The cast includes Cara Delevigne, Diego Calva, and newcomer Reggie Absolom, with producers including Oscar-winning “Anora” producer Alex Coco. and Galen Core, alongside Topic Studios’ Ryan Heller and Michael Bloom. A24 acquired the film’s rights in a competitive situation, with most major distributors bidding at Cannes. Read our review here.
Acquired Before the Festival
“The Devils”
Buyer: Clockwork (Warner Bros.)
Section: Cannes Classics
Director: Ken Russell
Buzz: This uncut restoration of Ken Russell’s super controversial — and largely unavailable — gem “The Devils” is being positioned by Warner Bros.’ new indie label Clockwork as the experience Russell always envisioned but never got to show properly. It’s the first repertory release from the new WB label, and frankly the first release period after announcing that Sean Baker’s next film “Ti Amo” was its inaugural acquisition. After it premieres in Cannes Classics, Clockwork is planning a one-week special engagement of screenings in theaters beginning October 16. Read more about the re-release here.
“Paper Tiger”
Buyer: Neon
Section: Competition
Director: James Gray
Buzz: “Paper Tiger” is the sixth film James Gray has brought to Cannes, but it’s the first time Neon has partnered with him, and given that it’s one of just two American films in the competition slate this year and one of the starriest, it seems like a match made in heaven. Gray’s crime thriller stars Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson, and Miles Teller in a story about two brothers striving to achieve the American Dream only to get caught up with the Russian Mafia.
“The Samurai and the Prisoner”
Buyer: Janus Films
Section: Cannes Premieres
Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Buzz: The latest film from the director of “Cloud” is a samurai film set in 16th century Japan that follows a Lord who rebelled against a tyrannical ruler and found himself beseiged within his own castle by a traitor and a prisoner being held in his own dungeon. Though based on real individuals, the film is an original story by Honobu Yonezawa.
“Minotaur”
Section: Competition
Distributor: MUBI
Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev
Buzz: The first film from the Russian director behind “Leviathan” and “Loveless” in almost a decade is a political fable and crime thriller about a businessman caught up in personal, political, and professional scandals.
Pre-Sold Films with Distribution
Title: “All of a Sudden”
Section: Competition
Distributor: Neon
Director: Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Buzz: After winning at Venice with “Drive My Car” and at Berlin with “Evil Does Not Exist,” the Japanese auteur is looking for the European festival trifecta with Neon backing his Palme D’Or bid.
Title: “Bitter Christmas”
Section: Competition
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Buzz: Almodóvar’s latest film curiously already opened to strong reviews in his native Spain back in March. A lush, colorful, and messy melodrama about pain and mourning sounds like an Amodóvar film to us.
Title: “Clarissa”
Section: Director’s Fortnight
Distributor: Neon
Director: Arie Esiri and Chuko Esiri
Buzz: The Nigerian directors behind “This Is My Desire” from 2020 team with Ayo Edebiri, David Oyelowo and Sophie Okonedo for a reimagining of Virginia Woolf’s “Ms. Dalloway” as set in Lagos.
Title: “Fatherland”
Section: Competition
Distributor: MUBI
Director: Pawel Pawlikowski
Buzz: Polish director Pawlikowski’s first film in eight years since the searing “Cold War” is a docudrama about German author Thomas Mann in post-War Germany after having stood against the Nazis. Sandra Huller also stars.
Title: “Fjord”
Section: Competition
Distributor: Neon
Director: Cristian Mungiu
Buzz: Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve star in the latest film from Romanian auteur Mungiu, his first since 2022’s “R.M.N.,” which is about a Romanian immigrant family under scrutiny for investigation by the Norwegian government.
Title: “Her Private Hell”
Section: Out of Competition
Distributor: Neon
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Buzz: “Her Private Hell” is “Drive” provocateur Nicolas Winding Refn’s first feature since 2016, and the film is a futuristic, fantastical story about a woman searching for her father and a soldier trying to recover his daughter from hell. It stars Charles Melton and Sophie Thatcher and should be loaded with stylized sex, violence, and glamor. The film opens July 24 in theaters.
Title: “Hope”
Section: Competition
Distributor: Neon
Director: Na Hong-Jin
Buzz: Like an arthouse “A Quiet Place,” this action-horror monster movie from a South Korean director also stars some major Korean talent like “Squid Game” star Hoyeon as well as Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander.
Title: “Once Upon a Time in Harlem”
Section: Director’s Fortnight
Distributor: Neon
Director: David Greaves
Buzz: The final film of director William Greaves completed by his son and released more than a decade after his death, “Once Upon a Time in Harlem” focuses on the “Harlem Renaissance” of 1972 New York.
Title: “Sheep in a Box”
Section: Competition
Distributor: Neon
Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda
Buzz: The Japanese auteur turns his family drama attention to AI and looks at the emotional impact of introducing a humanoid robot as a couple’s son.
Title: “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma”
Section: Un Certain Regard
Distributor: MUBI
Director: Jane Schoenbrun
Buzz: Riding high off “I Saw the TV Glow,” Jane Schoenbrun’s follow-up is a queer horror comedy obsessed with ’90s slashers, final girls, sexuality, and so much more. The film stars “Hacks” star Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson.
Title: “The Unknown”
Section: Competition
Distributor: Neon
Director: Arthur Harari
Buzz: A body swap drama from the writer of “Anatomy of a Fall,” Léa Seydoux stars in this film about a man who follows a mysterious woman at a party and wakes up in her body the next morning.
Title: “Victorian Psycho”
Section: Un Certain Regard
Distributor: Bleecker Street
Director: Zachary Wigon
Buzz: Acquired at last year’s Cannes market, this haunting Gothic horror from the director of “Sanctuary” stars Maika Monroe in what is said to be an unexpected and eccentric turn.
