The Cannes Marché closed Tuesday. The year's two mid-cap deals are still the only two on the board: A24's $17 million worldwide rights deal for Jordan Firstman's Club Kid, and Amazon's reported low-twenty-millions acquisition of Mimi Cave's Pumping Black starring Natalie Portman and Jonathan Bailey. [1] [2] [3]

The Hollywood Reporter called the market "no fun at the beach for dealmakers." Variety called Club Kid "the shot of adrenaline everyone needed." The two framings are not in tension. A year that produces one streamer check and one A24 check at the Marché is a year in which the festival's commercial floor has thinned. [1] [2]

The paper's Tuesday major on the same market framed the slow Marché as the entertainment IP balance sheet's receipt before Lionsgate's Q4 print. The receipt has now closed. Lionsgate's earnings landed Wednesday evening; the standalone-studio thesis will live or die against this market floor. [1]

A24 still buys at festivals. Amazon still buys when a Portman package walks the carpet. Everyone else is at the bar. [2] [3]

-- CAMILLE BEAUMONT, Los Angeles