Global media powerhouse Canal+ has signed an agreement with French cinema guilds for a commitment to invest €980m ($1.1bn) over a five-year period starting in 2028.
The agreement, announced by the group on Monday, applies to Canal+ and Cine+ OCS and was signed with BLIC, BLOC members (directors and producers unions the SRF, SPI, UPC, DIRE, SDI and Animfrance), and producers group the ARP.
Canal+ has pledged to bolster its support in several specific areas of production including “filmmakers and new styles of filmmaking”, debut films, emerging talent, diversity films, animation, “so-called ‘films du milieu’ which are essential to the renewal of French cinema and its economic stability”, as well as more commercial titles it describes as “the most ambitious works aimed at a wide audience”.
As agreed by the local guilds, Canal+ will keep its exclusive six-month window between a film’s theatrical release in France and its run on broadcasting or streaming.
The move comes amid industry outcry over the group’s ties to majority shareholder Vincent Bollore and fears of a potential shift of the group’s editorial strategy towards a more right-wing agenda. This sparked an open letter signed by thousands of local and international talent and industry heavyweights, and a subsequent backlash over comments by Canal+ CEO Maxime Saada that the group would not finance films made by the signatories.
Monday’s development came as welcome news to an industry directly impacted by budget cuts in 2025 when Canal+ announced it would cut its investment in local film production over three years from more than €600m ($692m) between 2022-2024 to €480m ($503m).
Canal+ has long been the largest broadcaster investing in French cinema. The new amount means that it will invest nearly €200m ($231m) per year after 2028, which remains a significant amount despite being less than its colossal investment before 2024.
Saada said the agreement “highlights the longstanding ties between Canal+ and cinema”. He continued, “By investing a record amount of nearly 1 billion euros over an unprecedented five-year term, we are proud to reaffirm our support for cinema, its power, creativity, and diversity. The very best of cinema is on Canal+ just six months after its theatrical release and will remain so for many years to come.”
In a statement, Canal+ doubled down on the group’s vows to support filmmaking in France and throughout Europe and called the country’s oft-debated media chronology system “essential for the funding of film creation and the preservation of France’s cultural exception”.
Canal+’s window is shorter than Disney+’s nine-month wait period and 17 months for other streamers like Netflix and Prime Video.
Recently, however, Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+ have pushed back on mandatory content investment challenging new diversity clauses introduced this year. These streamers have long been vocal in pushing for shorter windows more in line with their global strategies in other territories.
Canal+ said in its statement announcing the new investment: “Against the backdrop of profound changes in the distribution of films, this agreement provides authors, directors, producers, publishers-distributors and broadcasters with a lasting framework to sustain the film industry and ensure it reaches its audience.”
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