The Virtual Cannes Film Market Taking Place This Week Online Is Changing The Film Industry For Ever.
Cannes Virtual Film Market started yesterday June 22nd 2020. Normally the physical Market takes place in Cannes in May. Due to the Covid-19 Panic, it was cancelled this year and replaced with the virtual Market 
Film Markets happen on five different occasions during each year. It is where films are bought and sold. Financial deals are done for future film projects and greenlit and distribution deals including cinema release are locked down.
Film Markets are also a great chance to network and meet people. In an online virtual market, this part is far more challenging without the industry parties and events.
Online is never quiet the same but it is a very interesting experiment that will transform the future of movie sales. Anyone who can demonstrate that they are part of the film business can pay the fee and be part of Cannes Virtual Market. This is important for filmmakers who want to get their projects seen by a worldwide audience in cinema and on streaming platforms.
When and where do the Film Markets take place every year.
- The European Film Market – Berlin Germany February
- Hong Kong Film Market – March
- Cannes Film Market – Cannes France – May
- Toronto Film Festival and unofficial Market Canada – September
- American Film Market – Santa Monica California USA – November
This years Cannes virtual film market is a watershed moment. In the future, there will most likely be a choice of attending in person at the physical market or attending online at the virtual film market. This would not have happened at this point in time if it were not for Covid-19 stopping the physical market. It is a very interesting change in the film landscape and will make it easier in some ways for indie filmmakers to attend. Take out the expensive flights and hotels and that is a considerable saving.
Endeavor Content’s Alex Walton has described this years market in this way.
“Cannes is slanted more than ever towards the high-end pre-buy marketplace — bigger movies that have talent packages that more or less guarantee big theatrical expo- sure. The key independent buyers we’re dealing with are real, theatrically driven cinema companies,”
The buzz surrounding new film deals that will be locked down in the next week at the Virtual Market are evident in the following five movies that will be huge in 2022.
“Ferrari”
CAA Media Finance / STXinternational
Michael Mann will direct this biopic on racing icon Enzo Ferrari. The screenplay is written by Troy Kennedy Martin (“The Italian Job”) based on Brock Yates’ book “Enzo Ferrari — The Man and the Machine.”
Hugh Jackman is in talks to star Enzo Ferrari. The film focuses on summer 1957, when the forces in Ferrari’s life collide. If you loved Ford V Ferrari this film will be right up your alley. This will be a big film release for late 2021.
“Peggy Jo”
UTA/HanWay
After directing Angelina Jolie ten years ago in “Salt,” Australian Director Phillip Noyce is working on a new action film with a female lead. This one will be one of those fun films to see in the cinema next year.
Lily James is set to star as a brash woman who takes to robbing banks to make ends meet in 1980s Texas while posing as a man.
Philip Noyce also directed Dead Calm the film that made Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Proof Fence and all the Harrison Ford Action thrillers from the 90s – Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger.
Run Rabbit Run”
XYZ
In “Run Rabbit Run,” Elisabeth Moss is set to team up once again with director Daina Reid, who directed Moss in four episodes of “The Handmaid’s Tale.” The Australian thriller is a modern-day ghost story penned by novelist Hannah Kent that follows a fertility doctor forced to make sense of the increasingly strange behaviour of her young daughter. It could prove to be a promising follow-up to Moss’ latest genre effort, “The Invisible Man,” which grossed $123.25 million.
“Emancipation”
CAA Media Finance/FilmNation Entertainment
“Training Day” director Antoine Fuqua is set to direct Will Smith in “Emancipation,” which follows Peter on his escape from enslavement on a southern plantation and his journey north, where he joins the Union army. The film, scripted by Willam N. Collage, is based on a true story and inspired by an image of Peter’s scars from being whipped on the plantation. Production is slated to begin early next year.
This film has that Oscar 2022 written all over it.
“Armageddon Time”
Wild Bunch International/CAA Media Finance/WBI
With an undeniable cast that includes Robert De Niro, Oscar Isaac, Donald Sutherland, Anne Hathaway, and Cate Blanchett, James Gray’s follow-up to last year’s “Ad Astra” is among the most promising commercial prospects up for grabs at the market. Buzz around “Armageddon Time” started before Gray’s Brad Pitt-starrer was even released. Gray penned the script based on his childhood memories, exploring friendship and loyalty against the backdrop of Ronald Regan’s impending presidency.
2021 is looking like a great year for big end movies
As always in the ever-changing film industry, the future is only getting better for the indie filmmaker with the top end of the film business looking towards great theatrical releases for 2021.
