Few certainties about the films that will be screened and those that will be in the running at the next Cannes Film Festival scheduled for May 16 to 27. The suspense will be lifted Thursday at the end of the morning.
Margot Robbie, Tom Hanks and Scarlett Johansson at Wes Anderson? A series with Lily-Rose Depp and music star The Weeknd? The controversial return of Woody Allen? The bets are open before the announcement on Thursday of the selection for the 76th Cannes Film Festival.
One month before the start of the race for the Palme d’Or, the general delegate Thierry Frémaux will reveal the names of the elected from 11 a.m. Thursday, April 13, in a cinema on the Champs-Elysées. He will also reveal the composition of the jury, of which we only know the president for the moment. Ruben Östlund, Swedish director who won his second Palme d’Or last year with Without Filter.
Confirmed movies and stars
Despite this suspense, one thing is certain: the 76th edition (May 16 to 27) has already ensured the presence of cinema monuments, starting with Martin Scorsese, with his film-fleuve Killers of the Flower Moon, and his favorite actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert de Niro. And, after Tom Cruise last year for Top Gunanother blockbuster veteran, Harrison Ford, will climb the steps, whip in hand, for the 5th installment of the saga, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
Cannes will also see a great comeback which will not fail to cause ink to flow, that of Johnny Depp, after the judicial soap opera which pitted him against his former wife Amber Heard, against a backdrop of accusations of domestic violence and then of mutual accusations of defamation, settled with blows of millions of dollars. The former “pirate of the Caribbean” was chosen by French actress and director Maïwenn to play Louis XV in Jeanne du Barry, screened at the opening of the festival.
The foreseen and the expected
Wes Anderson, a regular on the Croisette, is approached. After The French Dispatchhe once again brings together a procession of stars to Asteroid City, from Tilda Swinton to Adrien Brody via Tom Hanks. Pedro Almodovar will probably also be there, with Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal, the actor of the series The last of us. The Spaniard has offered himself these two stars for a short film that he sees as a “queer western“.
In a world where actors and directors alternate on the small and big screen, Cannes could also make room for a highly anticipated series, TheIdol, created by Sam Levinson (Euphoria) and The Weeknd, who shares the bill with Lily-Rose Depp. His filming was accompanied by controversy.
The suspense remains when for the rest of the selection, between big names in the 7th art, such as Hirokazu Kore-eda, Aki Kaurismäki or Ken Loach, rising stars, from Justine Triet to Alice Rohrwacher, and films that have been fueling the buzz for months, as the Barbie candy pink by Greta Gerwig with Margot Robbie, and Ryan Gosling as Ken.
Diversity scrutinized
The place of female directors in the official selection and in competition, which is still very much in the minority, will be scrutinized, as will that of diversity. And the question of the fate reserved for artists targeted by accusations of sexual violence continues to hover. Thierry Frémaux seemed to rule out, in an interview with varietya presence of Roman Polanski’s latest film, shot in Switzerland, which would not be ready anyway.
Could Woody Allen be selected for his 50th film, the first shot in French? The 87-year-old filmmaker saw almost the entire industry turn its back on him when his adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow, accused him of sexually molesting her as a child. Woody Allen denies these accusations for which neither of the two investigations launched resulted.
In terms of feature films, Cannes stands out from other major festivals by only accepting in competition films released in cinemas in France, before being put online. Netflix still refuses to comply with the rule, shunning Cannes for the Venice Film Festival. But a return to favor in dark rooms could begin: Apple TV + is now forging partnerships with majors to release its most emblematic films on the big screen, such as the next Scorsese or Napoleon by Ridley Scott.