Going into this year’s Cannes Film Festival, one of the biggest stories surrounding the event involved a feud with streaming giant Netflix. After controversy surrounded Netflix taking part in last year’s festival, Cannes took the initiative to enforce rules about films requiring a French theatrical run. This resulted in Netflix pulling out of this year’s festival, but with a warning – the streamer said they planned on being major players in the purchasing game.
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However, as we approach the end of the festival, it’s pretty much all quiet on the Netflix front. With seemingly endless wallets, as of today, Netflix is only walking away with one purchase, a $30 million acquisition of “Next Gen,” an animated feature starring Jason Sudeikis. And according to The Hollywood Reporter, the lack of Netflix news is for good reason – filmmakers aren’t accepting the big money offers.
The recent report states that Netflix went after multiple films, but was spurned, even after offering larger amounts for the projects. Films like “Birds of Passage,” “Everybody Knows,” and “Arctic” are all high-profile, well-received Cannes premieres that turned down the larger bid by Netflix to go with smaller distributors.
THR spoke with a “top sales agent,” who said the reason for the multiple snubs is because of a desire to own the rights to their work, and not sign over everything to the streaming service. “You’re giving up theatrical and every ancillary revenue for a just slightly better upfront fee,” he said.
And it wasn’t just the films premiering at the festival that were turning down lucrative Netflix deals. The biggest project that had a sales package prepared for the festival is “355,” from actress/producer Jessica Chastain. The female-led spy film signed worldwide deals worth $75 million for distribution, but not before deciding to turn down any offer by Netflix.
As we approach the end of Cannes, the biggest story about Netflix isn’t any big deals being made, but instead, is about how the streamer failed to make an impression on the festival that is known for valuing cinema. It’ll be interesting to see if this string of high-profile films turning down Netflix is a sign of things to come.