Quiet Berlin Market Wraps with Few Big Deals But Some Optimism

Berlin’s European Film Market Wraps up Wednesday with A Handful of Deals and A Touch of Optimism Over the Future of the International Industry.

The Biggest Title of the Market, The Lena Dunham-Directed Rom-Com Good Sexset to Star Natalie Portman, Kicked Off A Studio Bidding War, With Amazon, Warner Bros., Netflix and Apple All Vying for the Project, Which Sees Portman Hy On the Market of the exit of her long-term partner. Worldwide Offers Are Reportedly in the $ 45 Million-Plus Range, But There’s No NEWS YET OF A Final Deal.

MOST OF THE DEALS REPORTED WERE SMALLER DOMESTIC PICK-UPS OF INTERNATIONAL ARTHOUSE FEATESES, with Sony Pictures Classics Taking North American and Latin American Rightsch. mystery Vie PrivéeStarring Jodie Foster as A Psychiatrist Investigating A Patient’s Death. Goodfellas has also Sold the Project Across European, to Distributors Including Altitude (UK), Caramel Films (Spain), and Plaion Pictures (Germany).

Other North American Deals Include on Lucile Hadzyhalilović’s Dark Fairy Tale The Ice TowerA Berlinale Competition Title Starring Marion Cotillard, WHICH WENT TO YELOW VEIL PICTES; The New Zealand Coming-of-Age Drama We Were DangerousA sxsw Award Winner About māori Teenagers rebelling against a girls’ reform school in 1954, which boutique distributor the Forge Acquire; and a pair of domestic Buys for Fast-Growing ARTHOUSE STREAMER/DISTRIBUTOR MUBI, WHICH SNATCHED UP North American Rights to Oliver Hermanus’ Gay Romance The History of SoundStarring Paul Mescal and Josh O’ConNor (Focus Features Is Handling International Distribution) As Well As Rights in North America and Muche of The Rest of The World For Eddie Huang’s Vice is Broke About the Fall of the Much-Hyped Media Brand.

Mubi is riding High on Coralie Fargeat’s Body Horror Hit The Substance, WHICH The Company Released in the US and Multiple International Territories and Has grossed more than $ 77 Million to Date. The Substance’s Outsized Success Is Driving A New Boom in High-Minded (and Less High-Minded) Horror at the EFM.

Mister Smith Entertainment Landed A US Buyer for Sean byrne’s Shark-Aand-Serial-Killer Thriller Dangerous Animalswith IFC Films and Shudder Jointly Accuiring the Feature Starring Jai Courtney As A Shark-Ossssed Serial Killer and Hassie Harrison as His Capital. TRUSTNORDORISK DID MONTER BUSINESS IN Europe for Pål Øie’s UpcomING NORWEGIAN CREATURE FEATURE Krakenwith Deals in Germany (Splendid Film), France (Mediawan Rights), and Spain (Youplanet) Among Oters.

Hyped Festival Films Doing Strong International Business at the Efm Included Kateryna Gornostai’s TimestampA Documentary from Kateryna Gornostai WHICH FOCUSES ON AKRAINIAN School Dringing The Ongoing War, WHICH BEST FRIEND FOREVER SOLD TO FRANCE Competition Premiere; and Petra Volpe’s Berlineale Special Title Late ShiftStarring September 5 Actress Leonie Bnesch As An Over-Worked Nursse’s in an Understaffed Swiss Hospital, WHICH TRUSTNORDORDORDORSK SOLD TO BIM DISTRIBUZINEINE FOR ITALY, ADDING TO PREVIUS (FRANOUSCE WITH WILDH WILDH WILDHA (Spain).

But Even Without Headline-Making Mega-Deals, Industry Atendees Were Upbeat, or at Least Content, with the State of the Market. Caa’s Media Finance Co-Head Roeg Sutherland, Whose Company Broughti 20 Projects to Berlin This Year, Pointed to the Recent Success of Low-Budget Dramas Such As The brutalist an Anora as a sign that indie filmmakers are budgeting their movies for the Market.

“The brutalist WAS Made for $ 9 Million and AnoraSix or Seven, that’s Fiscally Responsible, ”SAID SUTHERLAND, Speaking at An Efm MasterClass on Film Finance and Packaging. “IT means you can take risks. There’s Less Pressure. ”

On the International Sales Front, Sutherland Noted that While the Volume of Deals Might Not Match Those Seen Pre-Covid, Buyers Are Still Willing to Bet Big on Projects They Believe in. “Foreign Sales Are Doing Really Well,” He Said. “Movies that sell are selling at pre-Pandemic prices, and that’s not just the usal.”

Box Office Figures Released by the European Audiovisual Observatory Durying Efm Put A Damper on Exuberant Optimism, However. The Group’s Early Estimates Point to A 2 Percent Drop in Theater Admissions Across Europe in 2024, at 841 Million Compared to 858 Million in 2023, and a Revenue Flatline, Witch Receip AT € 6.6 Billion ($ 6.9 Billion).

“Cinema Atendance Appears to have a settled at around 24 percent Below Pre-Pandemic Levels,“ The Eao Wrote In Its Report, “Suggesting That Post-Pandemic Rebound Has Run i A New Equilibrium. ”