Festival buzz doesn't always mean box office results

A somber reminder in the Variety story Distribs reel over mixed results:

For the lucky few filmmakers who get into Sundance, dreams of career-making success can get as inflated as last year's sales figures.

But two of 2007's high-profile sales -- the John Cusack-starrer "Grace Is Gone" and the docu "Crazy Love" -- prove that buzz and heavy buyers' interest don't always translate into box office success. In contrast, the musical drama "Once" left Sundance without having landed a distrib. But it has become one of the biggest success stories from the 2007 fest, earning $9.5 million -- roughly 50 times its production budget.

The three films serve as a reminder that the chasm between what a distrib buys and what the public will pay to see has never been greater. For filmmakers anxious to sell their films, it's a stressful rollercoaster that runs well beyond the Park City dance.