False alarm: still SOME deals at Cannes

Cannes is ending with mixed results. Early market activity indicated how the French festival also wasn't able to pull the market out of the slump. And now it seems like a classic case of bulls vs. bears. On the one side Variety is reporting 'Cannes reels in deals,' but on the other side there's another piece saying 'Cannes market signs caution tune.' Conclusion: some deals, but the dead market isn't showing much signs of life.

"Some big deals are going down today. But overall, feedback from the market is that it's somewhat sober," Cannes director Jerome Paillard said. As at the other festivals this year, everybody is still cautious. Nobody wants to buy another 'Speed Racer.' "Too much financing created an insane number of films and more for people to buy, but (ultimately) they pick and choose the movies they want to buy," ICM exec Hal Sadoff said.

But while Sony Classics earlier thought they might leave empty handed, it still made a six-figure bid for the Mike Tyson documentary yesterday. Focus Features said to have "done pretty much all the business we had hoped." IFC, which uses a different theatrical/VOD distribution model and shares their revenues with the creators, bought six smaller pictures. "They will go for movies even if they are difficult," Jerome Duboz said.

To close on the negative side, Steven Soderbergh's 'Che' and Charlie Kaufman's directorial debut 'Synecdoche, New York' didn't sell yet. Robert De Niro's vehicle 'What Just Happened?' was still on the table too. It didn't sell at Tribeca and Sundance either and will close the Cannes Film Festival.