Canal+ Group has threatened to reduce its €220 million annual movie investment in France in light of the fresh windowing agreement between Disney+ and the industry.“This offer is no longer on the table today. From my point of view, it will necessarily drop, the question is by how much,” stated CEO Maxime Saada, at a French Senate hearing a few hours before Disney+ closed a deal with the movie organisations.Under the new agreement, Disney+ will have access to French and European films nine months after their release instead of seventeen currently. Its investment will pass to €115 million over three years (25 per cent of annual turnover) and the deal is retroactive to January 1st, 2025. It also applies to all Disney films released since April 2024 such as Marvel’s Deadpool & Wolverine.The main investor in French cinema, Canal+, which lost its Disney+ distribution deal in December 2024, and has yet to renew its agreement with the French movie industry, still has the most advantageous film windowing, set at six months after theatrical release.Saada estimates that Disney’s contribution reaches “€115 million over three years, which is €38 per month. This is where we have a small issue. If Disney is at nine months for €35 million, for Canal+ there is a question of €220 million at six months.”According to Saada, the €220 million sum is “higher than Canal+ financing obligations, which are around €100 million. They are calculated on the entire turnover and could decrease further,” he warned, anticipating a possible split between Canal+ sport and cinema activities. The obligation would then “be divided by two, so the €100 million would automatically become €50 million,” he added.The new Disney+ deal with the industry places the US platform ahead of Netflix . However, Netflix, the only platform to have signed a windowing deal (in 2022) has already explained it would like to advance its window from fifteen to twelve months after the theatrical release.
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