Cannes 2025 Films Sold So Far: Oliver Laxe's ‘Sirât' Acquired by Neon
The Cannes Film Festival is underway, and while the Marché Du Film is as booming as ever with exciting packages of future films, there are plenty of titles playing in competition or in the Cannes sidebars that could make a big splash at the box office or the awards season race for the right buyer. Last year's 'The Substance' was acquired by MUBI before it landed a Best Picture Oscar nomination and made $77.3 million worldwide.
Here are the 13 films we predicted ahead of the festival could find homes quickly. We'll update the below list with all the acquisitions as they come in.
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Section: CompetitionDistributor: NeonDirector: Oliver LaxeBuzz: Neon's buying spree continues in the distributor's quest to again win the Palme d'Or. This one though has some serious 'Mad Max' vibes, a film set amid explosive electronic music at a rave as a father ventures into the Moroccan desert to search for his missing daughter. The film stars Sergi López, Bruno Núñez, Stefania Gadda, and Jade Oukid and was even produced by Pedro Almodóvar. Neon picked up North American rights and is again hoping to release the film later this year. Just no spoilers please!
Section: CompetitionDistributor: NeonDirector: Jafar PanahiBuzz: The Iranian auteur Panahi returned to Cannes for the first time since 2003 for this deeply personal film that was inspired and ideated during his second stint in an Iranian prison. Starring Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, and Vahid Mobasser, the film follows a group of dissidents debating whether to kill their former torturer. The film will be released in North America later this year. IndieWire's review called it a 'blistering moral thriller,' and with some of the best reviews of the festival so far, it now looks like a frontrunner for the Palme d'Or. This is also Neon's second time partnering with Panahi after previously releasing his film 'The Year of the Everlasting Storm,' which premiered in Cannes Special Screenings in 2021.
Section: CompetitionDistributor: MUBIDirector: Mascha SchilinskiBuzz: Deemed literally the 'buzziest sales title' of Cannes by IndieWire's Ryan Lattanzio and Anne Thompson, 'Sound of Falling' landed at Mubi after a competitive bidding war. Mascha Schilinski's century-spanning coming of age film centers on four generations of women within the same family, all living in a small German farming town across decades. Though separated by time, their lives begin to mirror each other, leading to the question: Can memories be inherited, repeated, and ultimately, relived? IndieWire critic David Ehrlich likened Schilinski to being the next Sofia Coppola. It's clear that Mubi has a gem on its hands.
Section: CompetitionDistributor: NeonDirector: Kleber Mendonça FilhoBuzz: If you're handicapping the Palme D'Or race, keep an eye on 'The Secret Agent,' because Neon and Tom Quinn clearly like it's odds if they're jumping to acquire it and keep their streak alive. The distributor picked up North American rights and is planning a theatrical release later in 2025. Star Wagner Moura has earned some early buzz for Best Actor at Cannes, and the film earned strong reviews for the Brazilian auteur behind 'Bacarau.' The film also stars Maria Fernanda Cândido, Gabriel Leon, Carlos Francisco, Alice Carvalho, and Hermila Guedes and follows a technology expert on the run who arrives in Recife, Brazil in 1977 during Carnival week, hoping to reunite with his son, only to realizes that the city is far from being the non-violent refuge he seeks.
Section: CompetitionDistributor: MUBIDirector: Lynne RamsayBuzz: The first major sale of Cannes is one of the starriest, with Lynne Ramsay's intense drama about postpartum depression and motherhood starring Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson going to MUBI in a deal for $24 million, IndieWire can confirm. The film is also expected to get a healthy theatrical window and wide release, and MUBI acquired the North American rights in addition to Latin America, UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, BeNeLux, Turkey, India, Australia, and New Zealand. Our review wrote that Lawrence gives the type of performance that is made for the Cannes Best Actress prize in her 'feral' depiction of a woman in rural America engulfed by love and madness.
Section: CompetitionDistributor: NeonDirector: Julia DucournauBuzz: It was a hot market title at last year's Cannes, and a year later the latest from the Palme D'Or winner of 'Titane' is back in the main competition. The film follows a 13-year-old girl whose world comes crashing down when she arrives home with a tattoo on her arm.
Section: Special ScreeningsDistributor: Apple TV+Director: Andrew DominikBuzz: For his first film since the Marilyn Monroe biopic 'Blonde,' Dominik profiles the U2 frontman as he films the stage production of Bono's one-man show.
Section: Director's FortnightDistributor: IFC FilmsDirector: Sean ByrneBuzz: A serial killer movie and a shark movie from the director of 'The Devil's Candy?' What's not to like?
Section: CompetitionDistributor: A24Director: Ari AsterBuzz: Destined to be as polarizing as any of his features, Aster's pandemic-set fourth feature is a contemporary Western with a stellar cast that includes Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Emma Stone, and Austin Butler.
Section: Un Certain RegardDistributor: TriStar Pictures and Sony Pictures ClassicsDirector: Scarlett JohanssonBuzz: June Squibb stars in this indie drama that is also Johansson's directorial debut about a nonagenarian who after 70 years returns to New York city and befriends a student.
Section: Out of CompetitionDistributor: Apple TV+ and A24Director: Spike LeeBuzz: Spike Lee's reunion with Denzel Washington for a modern day reimagining of Akira Kurosawa's 'High and Low' looks like one of Lee's most commercial films in years, so it's fitting it will get a theatrical release before landing on streaming.
Section: CompetitionDistributor: MUBIDirector: Oliver HermanusBuzz: Paul Mescal and Josh O'Connor star in this romance set in 1917 amid the world of early 20th Century folk music.
Section: MidnightDistributor: Focus FeaturesDirector: Ethan CoenBuzz: Ethan Coen's second solo effort again pairs him with his partner and writer Tricia Cooke, as well as star Margaret Qualley, who plays a small-town private eye investigating a church led by a dubious preacher played by Chris Evans.
Section: Special ScreeningsDistributor: Sony Pictures ClassicsDirector: Sylvian ChometBuzz: 'The Triplets of Belleville' director brings his eclectic animated style to this biopic of the life of one of France's great artists, Marcel Pagnol.
Section: CompetitionDistributor: MUBIDirector: Kelly ReichardtBuzz: Josh O'Connor, Alana Haim, John Magaro, Gaby Hoffmann, Eli Gelb, Hope Davis, and Bill Camp star in this heist film from the 'First Cow' director set in 1970 Massachusetts.
Section: Director's FortnightDistributor: MetrographDirector: Christian PetzoldBuzz: Petzold's follow-up to the Berlinale prize winner 'Afire' is his fourth collaboration with actress Paula Beer about a woman taken in by a family after she survives a seemingly devastating car crash.
Section: Out of CompetitionDistributor: Paramount PicturesDirector: Christopher McQuarrieBuzz: The eighth (and maybe final?) Mission: Impossible film sees Tom Cruise dangling from a biplane and going underwater to defeat an all-powerful AI.
Section: Un Certain RegardDistributor: MUBIDirector: Akinola Davies Jr. Buzz: Davies Jr. is making his feature directorial debut after breaking out with the Sundance-winning short 'Lizard.' The film is a semi-autobiographical tale set over the course of a single day in the Nigerian metropolis Lagos during the 1993 Nigerian election crisis.
Section: Cannes ClassicsDistributor: HBO Documentary FilmsDirector: Mariska HargitayBuzz: The 'Law & Order: SVU' star made her directorial debut with this documentary about the life of her mother Jayne Mansfield, the Playboy Playmate and '60s sex symbol who was killed in a car accident in 1967 when Hargitay was only 3 years old. The film will be released via HBO on June 20.
Section: Cannes PremiereDistributor: NeonDirector: Raoul PeckBuzz: Peck returns to Cannes one year after 'Ernest Cole: Lost and Found' premiered there with his documentary about the life of '1984' author George Orwell.
Section: CompetitionDistributor: Focus FeaturesDirector: Wes AndersonBuzz: Benicio Del Toro and Michael Cera star alongside newcomer Mia Threapleton (Kate Winslet's daughter), who holds her own as a nun in this zany period comedy about one of the richest men in Europe.
Section: Un Certain RegardDistributor: A24Director: Harry LightonBuzz: Based on the book 'Box Hill' by Adam Mars-Jones, the film starring Alexander Skarsgard and Harry Melling follows an unassuming man swept off his feet when an enigmatic, impossibly handsome biker takes him on as his submissive.
Section: CompetitionDistributor: NeonDirector: Joachim TrierBuzz: The Norwegian director's sixth film pairs him with 'The Worst Person in the World' star Renata Reinsve in this family drama about the reconciliatory power of art.
Section: Cannes PremiereDistributor: NeonDirector: Michael Angelo CovinoBuzz: The team behind 'The Climb' return to Cannes with another comedy about a man who turns to his friends for advice amid a divorce, only to discover their secret is an open marriage. Dakota Johnson and Adria Arjona star alongside Michael Angelo Covino and Kyle Marvin.
Additional reporting by Samantha Bergeson.
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