Todd Haynes’ ‘May/December’ Still Has No U.S. Distribution

I was wondering why no American distributor has yet to buy Todd Haynes’ Cannes comp title “May/December.” It presold to a handful of international territories, but no U.S. buyer has emerged.

Anne Thompson’s 05.12.23 article about Haynes’ film confirms that sellers CAA and UTA opted not to show the film to distributors before the festival. Instead, they’re hoping for an enthusiastic response from Cannes to boost its sale price.

“May/ December” cost $20 million to produce. The last time Haynes had a film in Cannes competition was for 2017’s “Wonderstruck,” which turned out to be one of the rare misfires of his career.

It’s a risk not to pre-sell the film before its premiere. Critics at Cannes tend to be very tough to please. CAA/UTA are rolling the dice with this one.

Sophie Mas (“The Witch,” “Call Me By Your Name”), who is Portman’s producing partner at their new banner MountainA and a producer on “May December,” says the film turned out “better than they could’ve imagined.” So they at least have confidence with this one.

The film is loosely based on the true story of Mary Kay Letourneau story. Here’s a synopsis:

Moore and Melton star as married couple whose 20-year relationship inspired a national tabloid obsession at its offset. Now preparing to send their grown children off to college – as Melton reconciles with empty nest syndrome in his mid-30s – an actress (Natalie Portman) embeds with the family to study them for an upcoming film where she’ll play Moore. The couple buckles under the pressure as Portman probes as deeply as she can for an honest performance.

Haynes is the filmmaker behind such acclaimed works as “Safe,” “Far From Heaven,” and “Carol.” Another female-led picture is not that surprising coming from him. However, his last film, 2019’s underrated “Dark Waters,” featured a male lead (played by Mark Ruffalo).