📚 Why an IP Focus Will Take Centre Stage at Cannes 2024
The Cannes Market is heading into its 2024 edition with a major push to shift the spotlight to the global IP market. A series of new initiatives will tap into the thriving remake and literary adaptation business amid an industrywide intellectual property-based filmmaking frenzy.
While not a new phenomenon, IP-powered projects have exploded in recent years starting with the global pandemic and continuing into a 2023 dominated by the US strikes.
Adaptations are front and centre at the 2024 festival. In Competition, Paul Schrader’s Oh Canada is based on Russell Banks’ novel Foregone and Gilles Lellouche’s Beating Hearts is based on Neville Thompson’s novel Jackie Loves Johnser OK?. Daniel Auteuil’s An Ordinary Case is based on writings by Maitre Mo, aka Jean-Yves Moyard.
In 2023, Catherine Breillat’s Competition feature Last Summer was a French remake of Danish film Queen Of Hearts.
In an unpredictable industry, projects based on well-known IP, particularly starring recognisable talent, are more and more in demand from producers and distributors looking for sure-bet programming with lower risk and proven marketability. Proven IP also provides a baseline for content that resonates among audiences in multiple territories, key for sales companies looking to sell wide.
The three pillars of Cannes’ IP focus are the Europe-focused Cannes Remakes, a Spotlight on IP from Asia, and a bolstered Shoot the Book! programme.