There are more potential buyers for Canal Plus, including Société Télévision Française 1, the owner of France's most popular TV channel, and Lagardère, the French publisher of Elle magazine.

"The films being made are just often not good enough to attract people to movie theaters," said Rene Bonnell, director of film programming for Canal Plus, France's thriving cable network.

A spokeswoman for Canal Plus pointed out that of the 400 films the service buys rights to annually, nearly half are American, with the remainder being mostly French.

"Certain reels weren't very good," said Michel Rocher, who directs restoration for Canal Plus.

The Lagardère Group, which owns Hachette Filipacchi, the publisher of Elle magazine, has emerged as the most promising potential buyer for Canal Plus.

He also met with a costume designer about the erotic short he is directing for Canal Plus.

She also wrote the segment "India" (directed by Mira Nair) in 11'09"01 September 11, a series of short films for Canal Plus.

Later on she worked as a presenter for CNBC Europe, Net 5 and Canal Plus.

Often drawn to political subjects, Schlesinger conceived and wrote the two-part Iraq War mini-series Djihad for Canal Plus, in France, along with director Felix Olivier.

Jean-Louis Erneux, a spokesman for Canal Plus, said the company would not incur any financial penalties from pulling out of the Stream deal.