Another year, another Cannes Film Festival without a Netflix film.
After last year’s highly-publicized spat between the streaming service and one of the most prestigious film events of the year, many assumed that Netflix and Cannes would work it out and come up with a compromise that would allow streaming films to compete in France. And while rumors spread that the two parties would figure it out, ultimately, it would seem that no deal could be made and Cannes will be noticeably void of any Netflix films, per Variety.
Last year, Cannes was expected to be the debut location for “Roma,” “22 July,” “Hold the Dark,” and “The Other Side of the Wind,” all of which would have been major debuts for the French film festival. However, with France’s law that films that debut in theaters can’t be added to a streaming service for 36 months (combined with Canne’s insistence that films that debut in-competition must have a theatrical release), Netflix felt it had no other choice but to pull the films.
With “Roma” going on to be an Oscar winner, and receive some of the biggest accolades of the year, many assumed that Cannes would bend over backward to make sure a situation like that didn’t happen again this year, especially with Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman” being rumored as the marquee Netflix title that the film festival wanted to premiere.
However, it doesn’t sound like the main reason for Netflix skipping Cannes again is because of the laws in France or the rules of Cannes. Those are still sticking points that have no end in sight, but the streaming service apparently just doesn’t have a film available to screen at the fest. The aforementioned Scorsese film just isn’t done yet, and will likely debut at Venice later in the fall (before it’s eventual awards run and release later in 2019). Also, other films like Steven Soderbergh’s “The Laundromat” (with its incredible all-star cast) and the Safdie Brothers’ “Uncut Gems” were thought to be the next best debuts for Cannes, but again, neither are ready for primetime.
At least the drama behind the scenes between the streaming service and Cannes will be muted this year, as that conversation seemed to dominate the festival discussion in 2018. Guess now we just have to wait and see what will happen in 2020.