Despite a new rule about theatrical releases in France and filmmaker Andrew Dominik really hoping “Blonde” would debut at the event, it appears 2022 will be another year where Netflix skips the Cannes Film Festival.
According to Variety, Netflix isn’t expected to debut any new films at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. The last time the streaming service was at Cannes was back in 2017 with “Okja” and “The Meyerowitz Stories.” However, after French theatrical exhibitors became outraged when Cannes debuted those films, the festival included a new rule that would basically ban streaming films from playing in competition unless they followed the French rules for theatrical distribution.
What does that mean? Well, before this year, the rule was that any film that debuts in French cinemas would have to wait 36 months before debuting on a streaming service. The law was modified recently to allow for films to only have to wait 15 months from theaters to streaming. Cannes requires that all films that play in competition follow the French law for theatrical distribution. Thus, why Netflix isn’t going to debut any films. The streaming service isn’t willing to wait more than a year for a film to premiere on its platform.
Even though this decision isn’t too shocking, given how Netflix and Cannes haven’t worked out any agreements since 2017, there was hope that 2022 would be different. The aforementioned filmmaker, Andrew Dominik, publicly talked about how he wanted his new film, “Blonde,” to debut at Cannes this year. That film, which stars Ana de Armas, tells a fictionalized version of Marilyn Monroe’s life and is one of the most anticipated films of the year. Alas, it’ll have to debut at another event.
It really does seem as if Cannes and Netflix continue to be at a stalemate. Despite the law changes and a clear willingness to discuss things, the two organizations just can’t figure out a way to make it happen. And honestly, both sides are doing just fine without each other. Cannes continues to be a major force in the film festival world, and Netflix is the biggest streaming platform on the planet. In addition, Netflix also is able to debut films at just about every other festival in the world and has found success at Venice, TIFF, and various other major events.
This year’s Cannes Film Festival is expected to begin on May 17.