CANNES NOT GENERATING SALES....

Neil Jordan's "Ondine" -- a Colin Farrell-toplined fisherman tale with a mermaid plot line -- is not being trotted out here and will probably debut in Toronto, as CAA hopes to replicate the success it had showing "The Wrestler" there last year.

With the festival hitting its midway point, the abundance of top-tier projects available to U.S. distributors hasn't translated into a blizzard of buys.

It hasn't even led to a scattered flurry.

"I've never seen so much to buy," one fest veteran said. "And no one's buying anything."

The list of projects sparking interest but not pickups is long, but it includes a period drama with Robert Pattinson and Rachel Weisz called "Unbound Captives" and Stephen Gaghan's "Blink," which will star Al Pacino as a father who reconnects with his estranged son.

U.S. companies tend to buy sporadically at markets even in more active years. But this Cannes brought so many marketable projects -- with bankable stars, well-known filmmakers and desirable genres -- that the sheer mass suggested studios would make some moves.

Instead, sellers have been left to make a fusillade of casting and project announcements as they try to stir up interest.

Sellers are in some cases also being wary of how hard to push for a deal: If they feel a project could reel in a higher price once the film is finished, they're biding their time.

Source: thr.com