French film media giant Canal+ has officially signed the country’s media chronology
However the company will keep its exclusive six-month window between theatrical release and broadcast or streaming.
The new agreement with local industry guilds Blic, Bloc and Arp applies to Canal+ and Cine+ OCS channels, for a total of €150m (USD $157m) in 2025, €160m in 2026 and €170m (USD $178m) in 2027.
The sum, while substantial and still the most for any local broadcaster or streamer in France, is still down from Canal+’s previous investment of €220m (USD $230m) per year, which in 2024 accounted for some 130 films from nearly 120 independent production companies.
The agreement concerns Canal+ and Cine+ OCS and takes effect retroactively from January 1, 2025 through December 31, 2027.
In a statement on Monday (March 3), the group also pledged a “commitment to diversity films (films with a budget of less than €4m [USD $4.2m]),” in addition to “promoting and showcasing all types of cinema, from popular comedies and blockbuster films to genre, animation and auteur films”.
The group added: “Cinema is the primary motivation for Canal+ subscriptions, and the group is proud to perpetuate its central role in the creative ecosystem and in preserving the French cultural exception.”
The group did not specify a reason for the reduced budget, but it is understood to be a response to Disney+ signing an agreement with film and TV industry guilds, agreeing to invest 25% of its annual net sales generated in France. In exchange, it will have a nine-month window between a film’s theatrical release and availability on its platform, reduced from 17 months. That is just three months more than Canal+, which has been leveraging its exclusive six-month window, the shortest of any broadcaster or streamer.
It led Canal+ CEO Maxime Saada to publicly denounce the Disney decision in newspaper Le Monde, arguing that the ratio of streamer investment to reduced windows is imbalanced, and that catering to the demands of such incoming streamers could throw off the country’s entire ecosystem of film financing. “Selling off access to first-run windows thus jeopardises the first pillar of the model – cinema financing,” he wrote in his editorial, and threatened that “Canal+ will be forced to adapt and reduce its investments”.
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As far as the other streamers go, a spokesperson for Netflix, who invest some €50m (USD $52m) in cinema and a further €200m (USD $209m) in audio-visual production, told Screen the company is still pushing for a reduced 12-month window from its current 15 months, its original request since it was the only streamer to sign the official agreement with local guilds in 2022.
Noting that “we have always been open to being a part of the French cultural exception,” after Disney+’s reduced window, Netflix France says it plans to push for the same timeline with a similar forecasted investment, but wants to assure there is “a level playing field” among the various groups moving forward.
The sole wild card in the equation remains Prime Video, until now positioned at 17 months. Should the streamer sign its first agreement with French cinema, it could potentially see that window reduced to 15 months.
Apple TV+ recently agreed to a four-year commitment to invest 20% of its turnover in local and European productions, but only for audiovisual productions, not cinema.
Any reduction in Canal+’s cinema budget will shake up France’s production and distribution industry, particularly for more auteur-driven independent films.
As Saada pointed out in Le Monde, “Forty-five films would never have seen the light of day without Canal+’s exclusive support. There is simply no other player in the world contributing so much, single-handedly, to the financing of domestic cinema.”
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