The 2023 Sundance Film Festival is drawing to a close. That means some of the festival’s biggest sales are already happening.new thriller fair play Sold to Netflix for $20 million, but new John Carney musical drama Flora and son It was sold to Apple for a similar price. With these hefty sums of money, these films will now reflect just how much buzz they generated at their Sundance premieres, with the well-funded streamer tipping each of his 2023 slates for high-profile titles. can be added. However, just because a movie sells at a high price at a festival doesn’t automatically mean it will become a smash hit when released to a general audience.
Getting an independent film at a festival is a total gamble. No one knows anything in Hollywood. That’s especially true when it comes to figuring out which festival darlings reach the masses.
Film festival films have become more expensive to obtain
But before we talk about these 2019 features, let’s take a look at the film festival itself. These are the realms of independent cinema, where you have enough money to make a film but not enough cash to distribute it worldwide.This is where I like movies napoleon dynamite It premiered without prior buzz and could be bought by a studio like Fox Searchlight (now known as Searchlight Pictures) for millions of dollars. If you play your cards right as a studio, you’ll have crowd-pleasing features that can captivate general audiences and award season voters in the same way they did for Sundance attendees. It’s been paved with countless films that premiered at Sundance before catching the attention of . blair witch project Also little miss sunshine.
But over the last few years, the stakes of acquisitions at big film festivals have increased exponentially.Just looking at the independent films featured at the Sundance Film Festival, the money spent on topical titles has ballooned to incredible heights.Purchased by Fox Searchlight in 2004 napoleon dynamite for $3 million. Adjusted for inflation, that’s just $4.8 million in today’s dollars.Just two years after being picked up by the same studio, things escalated little miss sunshine for $10.5 million. Today, that sum seems subdued compared to Apple spending his $25 million on global rights. coda $22 million Hulu palm spring.
These extravagant numbers reflect the desire of streamers to step up their prowess in the cinematic arena and compensate the creative players of these films for the long-term residuals that streaming-only fares don’t provide. These types of movies are also spending more cash than ever when it comes to traditional theatrical titles, but they are often at risk. Streamers are built with huge amounts of money, but titles on the big screen always come under intense scrutiny to turn a profit as quickly as possible. , napoleon dynamite or little miss sunshineThat truth was tragically reinforced in 2019 when Warner Bros./New Line Cinema paid $15 million for the distribution rights to Sundance Darling. blinded by light Meanwhile, Amazon Studios invested $13 million in midnight.
What was wrong with “Blinded by the Light” and “Late Night”?
blinded by light When midnight As soon as the dust settled on each purchase, big problems arose. These two films needed to be released widely as quickly as possible in order to recoup all that money. napoleon dynamite Heading into the summer of 2004, there was room for gradual momentum and word of mouth. After all, it wasn’t a change under the sofa cushions, but $3 million wasn’t the difference between life and death. Fox Searchlight’s funding could afford to give the film room to breathe. blinded by light When midnighton the other hand, New Line Cinema and Amazon Studios were two big-ticket acquisitions that needed immediate cashback.
blinded by light It had the particular problem of being released by a studio that dabbled almost exclusively in mainstream genre fare, rather than an arthouse film. Whereas the focus function or A24 knows how to release blinded by light Correctly, New Line Cinema bought the film for a lot of cash and chose to release it with an immediate wide theatrical release as if it were just another mainstream film on its slate. midnight was an early sting for Amazon Studios to self-distribute its own studio.Like previous Sundance acquisitions from Amazon Manchester by the Sea When big chic Amazon’s marketing and distribution team had yet to step in, but it was distributed by a studio with extensive experience in launching Sundance hits into the mainstream.
The hope from these studios was that all the buzz these two films got at their Sundance premiere was immediately felt by mainstream moviegoers. These films performed like gangbusters at their world premieres and could also be caught like wildfire with the general public. midnightexpanded to over 2,000 locations after a week of limited release and quickly crashed into flames. blinded by light Neither of these films went viral either, with a poor North American launch as well. Spending all that cash to get these movies made headlines when the Sundance Film Festival was on. It seemed like a reckless example of studios trying to outdo each other rather than looking for . Attracted to the most well-funded studios, it didn’t help these indie films reach as wide an audience as possible.
But despite the problems faced by these two films, acquisitions at film festivals in 2019 did not entirely decline.in fact in the same month blinded by light After premiering on general release, another indie title was making its way into theaters and starting to take off at the box office…
‘Peanut Butter Falcon’ was a success story
Film acquisitions at Sundance get a lot of attention from the entertainment press, while acquisitions at other festivals tend to be less hyped. When the A24 picks up after sun For example, although the specific purchase amount was not disclosed after its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival 2022 (it was reportedly in the range of $4 million to $7 million), the impact of this purchase. Similarly, peanut butter falcon Picked up for distribution by Roadside Attractions about two months after South by Southwest 2019 premiered. No specific figures were released on how much Roadside paid for the film, and given the modest nature of Roadside Attraction, high box office expectations for the title weren’t great.
Then something funny happened. peanut butter falcon Domestic box office sales have grown significantly, especially in rural states like Texas.It eventually topped $20 million in North America, leaving more expensive Sundance purchases for midnight in the dust. By spending nimbly and seeking crowd-pleasing films at festivals beyond Sundance, Roadside scored a major crossover hit. Farewell After the Sundance 2019 premiere, he and his director were acquired by A24 for $7 million. lulu one I chose this studio over a $15 million offer from Netflix.The price tag was smaller, but Wang thought the more important thing here was finding Farewell A home that gives it love and attention. Going this route paid off. Farewell It became a summer indie hit, peanut butter falconalso outgross midnight When blinded by light domestic.
You can’t predict which festival films will be popular
The big takeaway from these various 2019 festival darlings’ box office performances is simple. Studios spend tens of millions of dollars at the Sundance Film Festival each year in hopes of finding their next production. napoleon dynamitebut it may turn out that you spent all your money to get the following Me, the Earl, and the Dying Girl instead.As they consider how to navigate the ever-fluctuating and unpredictable world of indie cinema, studios are wise to remember the value of smart spending over exorbitant spending. did no harm peanut butter falcon And look around other festivals besides Sundance to see where the next potential indie sleeper hit might be lurking.
Releasing a movie in theaters is always a gamble in terms of whether it can achieve profitability, but if the indie movie scene of 2019 proves anything, spending every dollar possible isn’t worth it. , is not an automatic way to remove all economic uncertainties.
