13 Hot Sales Titles Premiering at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival

Yahoo

7 days ago

Buyers are finally wise to the fact that Cannes is driving the Oscar race and even the specialized box office. Everyone wants to find the next 'Anora,' 'The Substance,' 'Emilia Perez,' or 'Anatomy of a Fall.' And more buyers like MUBI, Metrograph, Sideshow, and other upstarts have emerged to take on the likes of Neon and A24, who come to Cannes armed with several titles already set to debut.
Below, we've identified 13 movies looking for homes that could be the next awards breakout, including new films from Lynne Ramsay and Richard Linklater and the debuts of Kristen Stewart and Harris Dickinson.
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All titles presented alphabetically.
'The Chronology of Water' (Un Certain Regard)Director: Kristen StewartStars: Imogen Poots, Thora Birch, Jim Belushi, Tom SturridgeBuzz: Even if it's in a sidebar for a first-time director, Kristen Stewart's debut should be a hot ticket with a lot of interested buyers after news of her desire to write and direct an adaptation of Lidia Yuknavitch's memoir broke way back in 2018 and only finally got cameras rolling last year.
'Die, My Love' (Competition)Director: Lynne RamsayStars: Jennifer Lawrence, Robert Pattinson, Sissy Spacek, LaKeith StanfieldBuzz: The first film from the 'We Need to Talk About Kevin' director in eight years was a late addition to the festival competition and is described as a portrait of a woman engulfed by love and madness and caught in a haze between her husband and her lover, all set in rural America.
'Enzo' (Director's Fortnight)Director: Laurent Cantet and Robin CampilloStars: Pierfrancesco Favino, Élodie Bouchez, Malou KhebiziBuzz: The opening night film of the Director's Fortnight sidebar is a posthumous entry from 'The Class' director Laurent Cantet, who died in April. 'BPM' filmmaker Robin Campillo finished the project, which is a coming-of-age story of a teen who takes up a masonry apprentice to break free from a bourgeois upbringing.
'Exit 8' (Midnight)Director: Genki KawamuraStars: Kazunari NinomiyaBuzz: Would you expect that Cannes would premiere a film based on a video game? This film is an adaptation of a buzzy indie game available on Steam about a man trapped in an endless stretch of seemingly identical subway tunnels and needing to pay careful attention to find his way out.
'It Was Just an Accident' (Competition)Director: Jafar PanahiStars: Madjid PanahiBuzz: The latest film from the Iranian master behind 'Taxi' and 'This Is Not a Film' is back at Cannes for the first time since 2021 and in competition for the first time since '3 Faces' in 2018 won Best Screenplay. 'It Was Just an Accident' pairs him with the production company behind 'Anatomy of a Fall.'
'Lucky Lu' (Director's Fortnight)Director: Lloyd Lee ChoiStars: Chang Chen, Fala Chen, Carabelle MannaBuzz: Destin Daniel Cretton produces this film that's an expansion of a 2022 short called 'Same Old' that competed for the Palme D'Or for Best Short Film and marks director Choi's feature debut.
'Nouvelle Vague' (Competition)Director: Richard LinklaterStars: Zoey Deutch, Guillaume Marbeck, Aubry DullinBuzz: Filming in black and white in the vintage French New Wave style, 'Nouvelle Vague' is the story of the birth of the French film movement and the making of Jean-Luc Godard's masterpiece 'Breathless,' one Linklater told IndieWire reminded him of the experience of making his own first film.
'Peak Everything' (Director's Fortnight)Director: Anne ÉmondStars: Patrick Hivon, Piper PeraboBuzz: This romantic drama hails from the director of 'Young Juliet' and the producer of last year's winner in this very sidebar of Director's Fortnight, the Canadian film 'Universal Language.'
'The Plague' (Un Certain Regard)Director: Charlie PolingerStars: Joel EdgertonBuzz: Charlie Polinger, described as a wunderkind of fringe theater, is only making his directorial debut with 'The Plague,' a psychological thriller anchored by a trio of young newcomer actors at a summer camp, but he's a hot rising name who is already next making an A24 movie starring Sydney Sweeney. The film is said to be visually impressive, have great young performances, and is an analysis of the meltdown a 14-year-old can go through while going through puberty.
'The Secret Agent' (Competition)Director: Kleber Mendonca FilhoStars: Wagner Moura, Udo Kier, Gabriel LeoneBuzz: A period political thriller from the Brazilian director of cult film 'Bacarau,' which won the Cannes Jury Prize in 2019, this one stars 'Civil War' and 'Narcos' breakout Wagner Moura in a film that should have some domestic legs.
'The Wave' (Cannes Premiere)Director: Sebastian LelioStars: Daniela López, Avril Aurora, Lola Bravo, Paulina CortésBuzz: Before he takes on the Carl Sagan biopic 'The Voyagers,' the director of 'A Fantastic Woman' has a #MeToo protest musical about a woman who becomes an unexpected central figure in a feminist movement. See some first look images here.
'The Young Mother's Home' (Competition)Director: Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc DardenneStars: Elsa Houben, Lucie Laruelle, Janaina HalloyBuzz: The Belgian brothers didn't get an award from the Cannes jury with their last competition film 'Tori and Lokita' from 2022, but their social-realist dramas almost always find award recognition and a theatrical home.
'Urchin' (Un Certain Regard)Director: Harris DickinsonStars: Frank Dillane, Megan Northam, Amr Waked, Karyna Khymchuk, Shonagh MarieBuzz: The directorial debut of 'Babygirl' and 'Triangle of Sadness' star (and future John Lennon) Harris Dickinson, Dickinson wrote 'Urchin' himself about a homeless man in London struggling to break free from an ongoing cycle of self-destruction. Dillane is already getting some high marks for his authentic portrayal of a homeless drifter and addict from those who have seen it in rough cuts.
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