This year’s Venice International Film Festival (28 August-7 September) has been one of  the most subdued editions in recent memory. While this may come across as a subjective perspective, it was a sentiment shared with this correspondent by many industry attendees and film buffs during the event.

In 2023, the uncertainty of the SAG-AFTRA (the American actors’ union) strike cast a shadow over the festival. In 2024, the despondent mood stemmed more from the films themselves, with many key titles failing to meet audience expectations. Venice’s Lido (Lido di Venezia), including its small market section, the Venice Production Bridge, felt quieter and had less of a buzz than usual. Perhaps the most glaring disappointment was “Joker: Folie à Deux,” which has been widely labeled a box-office flop by the trades. To date, Todd Phillips’ offbeat sequel has grossed $121 million globally, with a lackluster $37.8 million domestically, in its opening weekend.

But despite the muted atmosphere, a few standout films managed to secure good sales deals and wide distribution. Chief among them was this year’s Golden Lion winner, Pedro Almodóvar’s “The Room Next Door,” starring Tilda Swinton and Julianne Hough. Warner Bros. Pictures acquired the film in June for key territories, including the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Germany, the Nordics, Central and Eastern Europe (excluding Poland), Latin America, and parts of the Asia-Pacific region, including Japan.

Other well-received films included Luca Guadagnino’s “Queer” (sold by Fremantle, with A24 distributing in the United States and Lucky Red in Italy), Pablo Larraín’s Angelina Jolie-led Maria Callas biopic “Maria” (picked up by Netflix shortly after its world premiere), Brady Corbet’s epic historic drama “The Brutalist” (sold by Universal and boarded by A24 for North American distribution), and Walter Salles’ 1970s-set socio-political tragedy “I’m Still Here” (sold by Goodfellas). Salles’ film, which won the prize for Best Screenplay, was particularly notable for the intense portrayal of its lead character, Eunice, played by Fernanda Torres, earning the actor widespread praise from critics and viewers alike.

However, not every major player fared as well. The Match Factory, a key European sales and production outfit, presented three highly anticipated titles, all of which struggled to gain traction. The competition title “Harvest,” a film set in England during the Middle Ages, directed by Athina Rachel Tsangari and starring Caleb Landry-Jones, was among the more disappointing entries. The Match Factory’s other offerings – Türker Süer’s “Edge of Night,” part of the Orizzonti Extra section, and the Quay Brothers’ “Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass,” a dark fairytale showcased in the Giornate degli Autori strand – failed to generate any buzz.

Titles that outperformed expectations include Maura Delpero’s Silver Lion winner, the WW2-set drama “Vermiglio” (sold by Charades and recently acquired by Sideshow and Janus Films in North America), Yeo Siew Hua’s feature on surveillance culture “Stranger Eyes” (sold by Playtime to Italy, Spain, Portugal, Benelux, and the Baltic countries, among others), and Dag Johan Haugerud’s second installment of his trilogy “Love” (sold by m-appeal to North America, France, the UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Italy, Benelux, Spain, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Switzerland).

Domestically, “Vermiglio” achieved ample results at the Italian box office, distributed by Lucky Red, having grossed EUR €1,273,993 according to the Cinetel data published on 7 October. Meanwhile, Francesca Comencini’s Out of Competition autobiographical drama “The Time It Takes” amassed EUR €596,321, distributed by Charades and 01 Distribution, Rai Cinema’s distribution arm. 

While these figures are (rightly) being celebrated in Italy, they pale in comparison to the box office standards of a decade ago, or even pre-pandemic. In today’s market, hitting the one million mark seems to be the new metric for success, whereas once that figure sat around five, 10 or even 20 million euros.

Metrograph Pictures, the distribution arm of the New York City arthouse, chose to bet on Georgian filmmaker Dea Kulumbegashvili’s slow-burn abortion tale “April” (sold by Goodfellas and produced by the aforementioned Luca Guadagnino) and Neo Sora’s Japanese-US drama “Happyend” (sold by Magnify), snagging North American rights for both movies. They are both “hardcore arthouse” titles – Kulumbegashvili’s work in particular – so it will be interesting to see how they are received by US and Canadian audiences in the coming months. 

The atmosphere at the Venice Film Festival was notably flatter, particularly in comparison with other A-list 2024 summer / autumn festivals, such as San Sebastián and Toronto. At these latter two gatherings, more deals were sealed and more announcements were made. But as always, the theatrical film market and, most importantly, the audience will have the final say. Watch this space.