Call them a barometer, clairvoyant, or just god damn shrewd when it comes to choosing award-winning movies, but Neon has just scored its sixth Cannes Palme d’Or in a row with It Was Just an Accident.
Deadline’s Andreas Wiseman first reported two days ago that Neon scooped up North American rights to the movie.
This comes after last year’s Cannes top prize winner Anora, Justine Triet’s 2023 title Anatomy of a Fall, 2022’s Triangle of Sadness, 2021’s Titane and 2019’s Parasite. Out of that bunch, Anora and Parasite went on to win Best Picture at the Oscars, which is whole other level of award campaigning genius on behalf of the Tom Quinn run distribution label.
It Was Just an Accident blurb reads “What begins as a minor accident sets in motion a series of escalating consequences.” The pic was one of the best-reviewed movies at the festival, deals in a fictional way with past wrongfully incarcerated working-class people seeking revenge against the guard who tortured and berated them.
Interesting, Neon had all bases covered in regards to who might spring up as a Palme d’Or winner with their other acquisitions coming up with alotta gold tonight. Last year, Deadline exclusively reported that Neon took domestic on Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value which was buzzed to take the top prize as well, but settled with the Grand Prix.
Neon’s Sirat from Oliver Laxe won the Jury Prize in a tie with Sound of Falling. NEON took North American on Sirat yesterday.
In addition, Neon took Brazil’s buzzy 1977 political thriller The Secret Agent earlier this week, that Kleber Mendonca Filho directed movie walking away with Best Director tonight as well as Best Actor for Wagner Moura.
No theatrical release dates have been set yet for these titles by Neon. October has been a prized timeframe for the distributor to launch Cannes titles, read, that’s when Anora, Parasite and Triangle of Sadness opened.
