Cannes Backs Title Change For Festival’s Opening Film From Michel Hazanavicius

EXCLUSIVE: After relaunching its film division last October, Castle Rock Entertainment has set a first project out of the gate that will have a familiar ring. It’s Spinal Tap II, a sequel to the fabled rock mockumentary that set the film company on a run of hits, many of them directed by Rob Reiner. He made his directorial debut on the 1984 cult classic This Is Spinal Tap.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentFriendship, mountains, growing up, and our changed rapport with the planet in the wake of the pandemic are the main elements in Cannes competition title “The Eight Mountains” by Belgian directors Felix van Groeningen (“Beautiful Boy”) and Charlotte Vandermeersch. (Watch the trailer above.)The film is based on an Italian novel of the same title by Paolo Cognetti.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentPresiding over the 75th edition of the Cannes Film Festival, director Thierry Frémaux has assembled some serious Hollywood star power, world cinema auteurs amid indications that despite COVID, the film world is buzzing with anticipation for the films, the deals and most of all the glamour the fest brings.While Frémaux has been credited with expanding the horizons of the Cannes Film Festival since taking over the reins of its Official Selection in 2001, he’s also been praised for building relationships with American studios and filmmakers.This year, he’s lured them back in spite of the ongoing pandemic, with a lineup including James Gray’s “Armageddon Time,” David Cronenberg’s “Crimes of the Future,” Joseph Kosinski’s “Top Gun: Maverick,” Kelly Reichardt’s “Showing Up,” George Miller’s “Three Thousand Years of Longing” and Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis.” “My first red carpet was for ‘Moulin Rouge!’ with Baz Luhrmann and Nicole Kidman in 2001 and it will be engraved in my memory forever,” says Fremaux. “I’m happy to reunite with Baz this year.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorCondor has picked up French rights to Saim Sadiq’s drama “Joyland” ahead of its world premiere in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard. The title, the first Pakistani film to be selected in Cannes, will vie for the Caméra d’Or.Film Constellation is representing international sales rights.

South Korean director Park Chan-wook is set to premiere his new film, “Decision to Leave,” at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. A detective murder mystery with a romantic twist, the film is widely regarded as one of the most anticipated premieres of the festival.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorCannes Critics’ Week film “The Woodcutter Story” has debuted its trailer. It’s the feature film directorial debut from Mikko Myllylahti, the writer of Cannes Un Certain Regard winner “The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Makki.” The film is being sold by French sales outfit Totem Films.“The Woodcutter Story” centers on Pepe, a woodcutter in an idyllic small town in Finland.

Exclusive: The 2022 Cannes Film Festival is right around the corner (things kick off on May 17), and that means the Olympics of filmmaking with the best filmmakers worldwide competing for the coveted Palme d’Or. One of those filmmakers will be Iranian-Danish film director and screenwriter Ali Abbasi, whose new film “Holy Spider” will play in the official competition section during the festival.

Exclusive: The 2022 Cannes Film Festival is right around the corner (things kick off on May 17), and that means the Olympics of filmmaking with the best filmmakers worldwide competing for the coveted Palme d’Or. One of those filmmakers will be Iranian-Danish film director and screenwriter Ali Abbasi, whose new film “Holy Spider” will play in the official competition section during the festival.

More than three decades after he first attended the Cannes Film Festival, Forest Whitaker will receive the honorary Palme d’Or at the event’s 75th opening ceremony this month.

Father John Misty delivered a live rendition of ‘Kiss Me (I Loved You)’ on US TV last night (May 3). Check out the video below.The singer-songwriter – aka Joshua Tillman – appeared as the musical guest on the latest episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in support of his fifth album ‘Chloë And The Next 20th Century’, which came out last month.Having recently shared its David Raboy-directed video, FJM played ‘Kiss Me…’ in Fallon’s New York City studio with the help of a small orchestra.

If you can count on death and taxes, you can also count on French filmmaker Arnaud Desplechin having a new film at the Cannes Film Festival. Desplechin has had ten films play at Cannes either in competition or in other sections, his most recent being 2021’s “Deception” and 2019’s “Oh Mercy.” His latest, “Brother And Sister” (“Frère et Sœur”) stars Marion Cotillard and Melvil Poupaud as estranged siblings who are forced to reunite after 20 years following the death of their parents.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorNew Europe Film Sales has announced the first sales for Cannes Un Certain Regard-selected “Godland,” directed by Iceland’s Hlynur Pálmason.The film was picked up in France by Jour2Fete, and the movie was also acquired by three distributors that worked on Pálmason’s Cannes Critics’ Week title “A White, White Day” – Benelux rights were sold to Imagine, Poland was picked up by New Horizons Association and Australia/New Zealand was picked up by Palace.The film is set in the late 19th century, when a young Danish priest travels to a remote part of Iceland to build a church and photograph its people. But the deeper he goes into the unforgiving landscape, the more he strays from his purpose, the mission and morality.

Prince Andrew has been stripped of another title.

Michael de Luca, the motion picture group chairman, and Pamela Abdy, the motion picture group president, have both been let go at the company. Remaining MGM leadership says the pair resigned.De Luca had recently made overtures to David Zaslav about coming to Warner Bros.

Arsenal have been urged to consider Rangers skipper James Tavernier by a former Emirates Stadium youngster.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentGerman actor Oliver Masucci and French star Fanny Ardant have joined the cast of Roman Polanski’s new movie “The Palace,” which will surely be a subject of controversy at the Cannes Film Festival where distribution rights are being sold.The ensemble drama, which had already cast Mickey Rourke, will be headlined by Masucci, the German actor who appeared in “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” and the Netflix series “Dark,” and Ardant, the esteemed French star of “La Belle Epoque” and “8 Women.” Budgeted at €13 million ($13.9 million), the movie is currently shooting on location in Gstaad, Switzerland, and is being sold by Wild Bunch International, the powerhouse behind several movies competing at Cannes, notably Arnaud Desplechin’s “Brother and Sister,” Claire Denis’s “Stars at Noon” and the opening night film “Final Cut” from Michel Hazanavicius. The key crew includes Oscar-winning music composer Alexandre Desplat, along with Polanski’s regular cinematographer Pawel Edelman, who previously worked with Polanski on “An Officer and a Spy,” “The Pianist,” “Oliver Twist” and “The Ghost Writer,” as well as set designer Monica Sironi (“Volare”).“The Palace” is produced by Luca Barbareschi at Eliseo Entertainment company, and co-produced by CAB Productions in Switzerland and Lucky Bob in Poland.Penned by Polanski and Jerzy Skolimowski, the movie takes place at a palace in Gstaad on New Year’s Eve in 1999.

American Gods producer Fremantle has struck a strategic development deal with the film and TV arm of graphic fiction company AWA, whose backers include James Murdoch’s Lupa Systems and his sibling Elisabeth’s production firm Sister.