I’m on my way back from Sundance and definitely with you on the vibe this year. But i have a few thoughts to put into the conversation.
First, you missed one $50 mil + performer: Terrifier 3, which was basically a geyser of money for Cineverse.
I’d also point out that four of the six in your $50 mil + category are indie in name only because they all cost over $40 mil to make, some of them way over that. So they’re really studio movies released by “indie” labels.
But, the other reaction I had is that maybe $50 mil is not the right threshold to consider what’s a success or a health check on the indie sector. If you set the bar at, say $10 mil, there is a whole list of movies that were successful for their financiers and distributors. Take Conclave as one example. It made $30 something in the US and another $50 something overseas. I don’t know what it cost, but I’m guessing around $20 mil. It’s a perfect Focus movie — classy, entertaining, well marketed and I bet at over $80 mil worldwide they consider it a solid win. The list would also include: Anora, Immaculate, Thelma, Reagan, Substance and lots more I’m forgetting at the moment. None of them broke to the $50 mil threshold, but I bet they’re all profitable.
The Cabbage movie -- whatever the f it was called -- is all that's wrong with Sundance. The Alabama Solution and Stringer (admittedly docs) were much of what's right. Astonishing films given a geeat place to launch.
Very curious to know what you saw this year. There is just something about Sundance. It makes it such a dream to play there and be there it does really seem to be a festival where people love to see movies and talk about what they have seen. That is my favorite part. It’s so accessible in so many ways. I bought tickets for a few films to stream (not my preferred way of watching) but have been curious about some of the buzz I had been reading. I have to believe indie filmmaking will survive it might just be the smaller festivals that we should be paying attention to now.
I too have a soft spot for Sundance, having marketed and acquired films there for 25 years. I agree that the pivot-point is here and you are so right that Hollywood needs Sundance (or something like it) to feed audiences. I see it feeding the Academy only. One can see those films in this year's Oscar noms. But only Focus, Neon, A24, Searchlight and SPC are serious buyers, and they're buying for Oscar considerations.
Anyway. Enjoyed your take as always. Hope you can read my book soon. I think it speaks to a time in Hollywood marketing, that is fading fast.
I’m on my way back from Sundance and definitely with you on the vibe this year. But i have a few thoughts to put into the conversation.
First, you missed one $50 mil + performer: Terrifier 3, which was basically a geyser of money for Cineverse.
I’d also point out that four of the six in your $50 mil + category are indie in name only because they all cost over $40 mil to make, some of them way over that. So they’re really studio movies released by “indie” labels.
But, the other reaction I had is that maybe $50 mil is not the right threshold to consider what’s a success or a health check on the indie sector. If you set the bar at, say $10 mil, there is a whole list of movies that were successful for their financiers and distributors. Take Conclave as one example. It made $30 something in the US and another $50 something overseas. I don’t know what it cost, but I’m guessing around $20 mil. It’s a perfect Focus movie — classy, entertaining, well marketed and I bet at over $80 mil worldwide they consider it a solid win. The list would also include: Anora, Immaculate, Thelma, Reagan, Substance and lots more I’m forgetting at the moment. None of them broke to the $50 mil threshold, but I bet they’re all profitable.
The Cabbage movie -- whatever the f it was called -- is all that's wrong with Sundance. The Alabama Solution and Stringer (admittedly docs) were much of what's right. Astonishing films given a geeat place to launch.
Very curious to know what you saw this year. There is just something about Sundance. It makes it such a dream to play there and be there it does really seem to be a festival where people love to see movies and talk about what they have seen. That is my favorite part. It’s so accessible in so many ways. I bought tickets for a few films to stream (not my preferred way of watching) but have been curious about some of the buzz I had been reading. I have to believe indie filmmaking will survive it might just be the smaller festivals that we should be paying attention to now.
Hi Richard. "Indie-A-Holes" got my attention!
I too have a soft spot for Sundance, having marketed and acquired films there for 25 years. I agree that the pivot-point is here and you are so right that Hollywood needs Sundance (or something like it) to feed audiences. I see it feeding the Academy only. One can see those films in this year's Oscar noms. But only Focus, Neon, A24, Searchlight and SPC are serious buyers, and they're buying for Oscar considerations.
Anyway. Enjoyed your take as always. Hope you can read my book soon. I think it speaks to a time in Hollywood marketing, that is fading fast.
Best,
Jim