Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Channing Tatum, Scarlett Johansson & Dave Bautista Among A-Listers Headlining EFM Packages: What’s Behind The Turbocharged Market?
15.02.2024 - 23:53
/ deadline.com
Sundance dealmaking was buoyant, the awards season is coming to a head with a number of critically acclaimed movies having done well at the box office, and apparently peak TV is over. Whisper it quietly, but after years of movies being almost a dirty word compared to the lustre of TV, is independent theatrical film staging a comeback?
If the turbocharged and upbeat EFM market — which officially got underway today (but has been in swing for a while) — is anything to go by, the indie sales and distribution sector is in decent health, at least.
Things were looking up even before the market. A week ago we broke news of the biggest North American deal in years for an indie movie when Paramount stumped up around $25M for Michael Gracey’s Better Man with a big theatrical commitment. “That gives you hope,” one movie financier texted at the time.
As for EFM, there are a host of A-list-led commercially oriented packages, the type that often haven’t made it to market in recent years. There are new projects for Will Smith, Scarlett Johansson, Channing Tatum, Margot Robbie and Dave Bautista, among many others. Below is our hot list.
“In terms of projects, this is the busiest EFM in at least five years,” one packaging agent told me. “There was an inevitable slowdown on development and production during the strikes but things have finally woken up again.”
Another agent posited: “I think we’re seeing an offset from the TV business dipping a little and actors becoming more available with slightly fewer TV show commitments.”
Sales companies are usually optimistic at the start of a market, but this optimism is different: “I don’t remember it being so busy for at least two years, maybe more,” one veteran UK seller told us. “All our