Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Post-strike surge for Sundance?
Studios eager to fill in gaps, insiders say
LOS ANGELES — With film executives, directors and actors gathered in Park City, Utah, this week for the 40th Sundance Film Festival, a big question looms: How much will a belt-tightened Hollywood, coming out of two historic strikes, be willing to pay this year for its indie movie favorites?
This year, buyers will eagerly view star-laden films including Kristen Stewart and recent Emmy winner Steven Yeun in the futuristic romance “Love Me;” Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin (also coming off an Emmy win) in the buddy dramedy “A Real Pain;” Pedro Pascal in the action drama “Freaky Tales;” David Schwimmer in the dramedy “Little Death;” and Saoirse Ronan in the memoir adaptation “The Outrun.”
It’s difficult to predict which films may capture buyers’ interest and leave the festival with a massive deal or go on to become a best picture Oscar contender.
With enough luck, a smart festival purchase can pay off in a big way. Few people, if any, expected the 2021 Sundance entry “CODA,” which Apple picked up for $25 million, to take the top prize the following year at the Academy Awards. On the other hand, promising films can leave a studio with an egg on its face, as when Searchlight Pictures took Sundance acquisition “Magazine Dreams” off its release schedule amid actor Jonathan Majors’ legal troubles.
The total film count for the 2024 festival is smaller than last year’s program. This year, 82 feature films will show at Sundance, compared to the 110 full-length movies that screened at the 2023 fest, which included buzzy titles like Celine Song’s “Past Lives,” Chloe Domont’s corporate thriller “Fair Play” and Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman’s comedy “Theater Camp.”
But there’s reason to believe the market could be frothy, according to film business insiders. Buyers
and sellers will enter the indie film market at a time when studios are eager to fill calendar gaps caused by strike-delayed production.
Major tentpoles originally scheduled for release this year, like Walt Disney Co.’s “Snow White” remake with Rachel Zegler, Marvel Studios’ “Fantastic Four” and Paramount’s “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part Two,” have been pushed to 2025. The overall lighter output this year gives the film studios more of an incentive to potentially fill their calendars with Sundance acquisitions.
With the added demand for completed films, there could be a more competitive market at the festival, said CAA Media Finance agent Christine Hsu.
“Buyers are already telling us, ‘We do need to be looking at finished films, we’re really wanting to be opportunistic, but the quality has to be there,’ and that’s what creates that great competitive environment where things really pop off in the market,” Hsu said.
Another reason traditional studio buyers might be ready to bid more aggressively at Sundance is the renewed signs of life at the box office, thanks to the surprisingly strong showings of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” as well as indie releases.
Streaming services also need content to fill their release schedules. Netflix and Apple are often active bidders at Sundance, and that’s not expected to change this year, especially as streamers look to more cost-effective acquisitions or licensing deals to fill out libraries.
“Now, whether it’s the lack of production that got made or they finally looked at how they want to spend their own money, [streamers are] ready to license … again to multiple different studios, and that’s really helpful to the independent ecosystem,” said Deborah Mcintosh, head of WME Independent.