Okay, say you're trying to pass on a film to several producers at the festival. Is there like a process that if a film passes the Cannes test, it gets picked up for possible release? And if it flops the test, does it not get picked up and just languishes for lack of interest?

I ask because of my concern about the possible ill-fated results of Marvin Gaye's untitled (they now say) biopic and how this may already be a bust.

I wasn't too concerned about film festivals until this so bare with me.

no process like that. your movie can be picked up and never even released. distribution deals can be done on a per country basis too, which means something can come out in one country in january and elsewhere in april the following year. a film being shit has no bearing on it being picked up or not, it's all about the benjamins. a shit film like avengers rakes in millions for example

there is no such thing as a cannes test btw. movies are just shown, the equivilent of displaying clothing ranges on a runway, and people buy or not buy

unique said:

no process like that. your movie can be picked up and never even released. distribution deals can be done on a per country basis too, which means something can come out in one country in january and elsewhere in april the following year. a film being shit has no bearing on it being picked up or not, it's all about the benjamins. a shit film like avengers rakes in millions for example

there is no such thing as a cannes test btw. movies are just shown, the equivilent of displaying clothing ranges on a runway, and people buy or not buy

I see. I thought they often test this at festivals first before getting approval but I guess you're right. There's been some films that flopped at Cannes that went on to be released in the box office and some just sat in the can.