Searchlight Pictures would love to work with Emerald Fennell on a future project. But times are tough, even for a distributor owned by Disney (and even with its former boss running the whole operation), and Searchlight gets consistently “priced out” by the deep pocketed streamers.
Katie Goodson-Thomas, the head of international production and development for Searchlight in the UK, was blunt about her specialized-distribution business and the larger competitive marketplace.
“We can’t be competitive with Netflix. It’s just not going to happen…or Apple or Amazon,” she said in a panel discussion at the BFI London Film Festival (via THR).
Goodson-Thomas mentioned Fennell as an example of how Searchlight gets beat out by the streamers and how that “happens on a daily basis — it really does.” The “Saltburn” director is next making an adaptation of “Wuthering Heights” for MRC that will star Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi. Technically that movie is up for grabs when it inevitably plays a festival — wouldn’t that be a feather in Searchlight’s cap? Fat chance.
“We’re not going to be able to be part of that conversation,” Goodson-Thomas said. “But I think she’s an extraordinary filmmaker, and I want her film to be made, so I’m proud that she can make it with people who can pay the money that she would like.”
So what’s the Searchlight counterpunch? “Humanity.”
“Part of our edge, I hope, at Searchlight is … this humanity, the face-to-face,” she said. “We’re really rigorous and we’re really thoughtful.” She also added that DEI and sustainability are all key priorities for the company, and it is “totally flexible” when it comes to financial decisions.
It also doesn’t hurt if you have Searchlight’s track record at the Oscars. Last year’s “Poor Things,” which by the way made $117 million globally compared to just $21 million for Amazon’s “Saltburn,” also won four Oscars, including for star Emma Stone. A real (salt) burn.
But it’s still a surprising admission for the venerated distributor to feel like even they can’t jump into the biggest bidding wars. This year the studio bought “A Real Pain” out of Sundance in a splashy deal, but it was quiet at the fall festivals; Searchlights tends to filter a handful of titles to streaming-only releases on Hulu.
Goodson-Thomas on the panel discussed a few other upcoming projects in the works for Searchlight, including a new take on “The War of the Roses” called just “The Roses” with Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch and a movie being developed by Bradley Cooper and Will Arnett. Releasing later this year for Searchlight are “Nightbitch” with Amy Adams and the Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown” with Timothée Chalamet.
OK, so even in our Apple/Amazon world, Searchlight will not become a complete unknown.
