CAA's Benjamin Kramer and Roeg Sutherland on Launching the Virtual Cannes Market: "We Are All Thinking Outside the Box"

Mike Fleming Jr Co-Editor-in-Chief, FilmEXCLUSIVE: As a star cast circles, and a domestic auction wraps up, the Dan Gilroy-directed drama Faster, Cheaper, Better has sold out all of its international territories in pre-buy deals.

Mike Fleming Jr Co-Editor-in-Chief, FilmEXCLUSIVE: In another deal that demonstrated the vibrancy of the Virtual Cannes Market, Focus Features is in final talks to fund and distribute worldwide Armageddon Time, the James Gray-directed drama that has Robert De Niro, Oscar Isaac, Donald Sutherland, Anne Hathaway and Cate Blanchett poised to star.

Mike Fleming Jr Co-Editor-in-Chief, FilmEXCLUSIVE: Another major sale coming out of the Virtual Cannes Market. Paramount Pictures has won North American rights to The United States Vs.

Mike Fleming Jr Co-Editor-in-Chief, FilmEXCLUSIVE: It is a close race down to the wire on Emancipation between Apple and Warner Bros, and when the dust settles, sources said that there will be a record breaking deal for a festival pre-buy, as the bidding is in the $130 million vicinity from a gross standpoint, with around $110 million net. This is leaps and bounds higher than any festival acquisition deal I can recall.

Dealmakers have given the first-everVirtual Cannes Markethigh marks. With the online-only market heading to its finish line on day 5, deals from majors and smaller indies alike were unveiled.

Finn Wolfhard, fresh-faced monster fighter Mike Wheeler from Netflix's Stranger Things, is officially all grown up.The Canadian actor recently graduated from High School, posting pictures earlier this month of his socially-distanced, coronavirus-appropriate ceremony with family and friends. Wolfhard is also ready for the next move in his career.

Almost done! It's the final day of the Virtual Cannes Market. At least for the official Marché du Film Online.

Leo Barraclough Senior International CorrespondentRoeg Sutherland and Benjamin Kramer, who co-lead CAA Media Finance, have been working on the agency-led virtual market in Cannes, and spoke to Variety about the prospects for the independent film scene.CAA Media Finance’s projects in the market include Antoine Fuqua’s “Emancipation,” starring Will Smith; Dan Gilroy’s “Faster, Better, Cheaper”; Ric Roman Waugh’s “Kandahar,” starring Gerard Butler; “Rebel,” directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall

As the Virtual Cannes Market heads into its final days, the majors have begun to flex their monetary muscle, with MGM closing a deal for remaining international territories on Endeavor Content's hotly-anticipated Bill & Ted sequel and several studios vying for the Will Smith/Antoine Fuqua escaped slave actioner Emancipation, which is expected to close a high eight-figure worldwide deal before Virtual Cannes wraps up.

Mike Fleming Jr Co-Editor-in-Chief, FilmEXCLUSIVE: Bidding is above $75 million on the first major property at the Cannes Film Festival virtual market. Warner Bros, Apple, MGM, Lionsgate and Universal are among the studios in the mix for world rights on Emancipation.

Hump day! The Virtual Cannes Market is officially half-way done. While the first two days were packed with pre-sale presentations from the U.S.

A sign that the Virtual Cannes Market might actually rack up some real business came on the second day, Tuesday, with news that STX Entertainment picked up worldwide rights on XYZ Films' upcoming genre title Run Rabbit Run, starring Elisabeth Moss and helmed by her The Handmaid's Tale director Daina Reid. STX will release the film itself in the U.S., U.K.

Dino-Ray Ramos Associate Editor/ReporterEXCLUSIVE: Two-time Oscar nominee Ross Katz (In the Bedroom, Lost in Translation) has launched Los Angeles-based Sui Generis Pictures, which will initially focus on feature films but eventually expand into short- and long-form documentaries, unscripted, narrative and limited series.“The company will engage in both long-term and fast-track development, as well as diving into projects that are nearly ready to shoot,” said Katz, who previously was at SK

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentTrustNordisk has closed key international deals on “The Crossing,” its WWII-set Norwegian family drama. The company will be hosting a market screening at Cannes’ virtual Marché du Film on June 24.After selling the film to the U.S.

Christopher Vourlias When production began on “Sweat,” Magnus von Horn’s follow-up to his Cannes Directors’ Fortnight player “The Here After,” no one could have predicted how prescient the film would be.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentREinvent is rolling into Cannes’ virtual Marché du Film with a pair of stylish horror film movies, Henrik Dahlsbakken’s “Project Z” whose teaser is featured above, and Tord Danielsson’s “The Other Side.”Produced by Filmbros, “Project Z” follows a group of film students who bring along three unemployed actors to make a zombie movie at a closed motel in the Norwegian mountainside.

International buyers were not slow off the mark for the first (and, most hope, last) Virtual Cannes Market, with a raft of deals closing as the online event kicked off Monday. HanWay inked multiple sales for Falling, Viggo Mortensen’s directorial debut, which premiered in Sundance and was picked to be part of the official Cannes 2020 festival selection.

Ready to go? The first (and if organizers have their way, last) Marché du Film Online, or Virtual Cannes Market, kicks off on Monday and runs through Friday. The parallel film market, run by the U.S.

Mike Fleming Jr Co-Editor-in-Chief, FilmSierra/Affinity will handle international sales of The United States Vs. Bilie Holiday, with Lee Daniels directing, producing, co-writing the script on the legendary jazz singer.