Studio Canal invested around $12 million to produce Susanna Fogel’s “Cat Person,” which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. The film received mixed reviews (I liked it!) but still has no buyer, for now.
Matthew Belloni’s Puck News article does confirm that Netflix offered to buy the film for $5 million, but with no theatrical prospects, if it does indeed go to the streaming giant, Fogel’s film stands to lose millions of dollars.
“Cat Person” did get offers from smaller indie studios like Bleecker Street, who are willing to give it a theatrical release, but then offers only ranged between $1-2 million. As it stands, given the mediocre reviews, there’s no way the film would even come close to breaking even at the box-office.
The film, which features some of the most awkward sex you will ever witness on-screen, was based on the mega-viral New Yorker story of the same name. It stars Emilia Jones as a 20-year-old sophomore college student, Margot, who embarks on a brief relationship with Robert (Nicholas Braun), an older man who frequently visits the movie theater where she works.
It’s a provocative movie about consent, clear-headed communication and the unwritten rules that come in the messy discomfort of sex. It’s a modern-day movie about sex that asks the uncomfortable questions no one dares tackle. If it does go on Netflix then I bet it’ll make some waves.
As mentioned, critics had none of it when it came to this provocative movie. “Cat Person” has a 54 on Metacritic and is 44% rotten on RT. Once again, the critical community got this one wrong, very wrong.