Good afternoon Insiders, Max Goldbart here penning the weekly mailer a day after Cannes revealed its long-awaited lineup. Read on for all the details and plenty more, and sign up to the International Insider here.
31.03.2023 - 09:29 / variety.com
Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent The Cannes Film Festival has confirmed that Martin Scorsese’s highly anticipated “Killers of the Flower Moon” will world premiere on the Croisette. The event will mark Scorsese’s first time presenting a film at Cannes since winning best director for “After Hours” in 1986. The festival has not yet specified whether the film will play in or out of competition. The Apple original film brings together a starry cast, led by Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Lily Gladstone, Jesse Plemons, Cara Jade Myers, JaNae Collins, Jillian Dion and Tantoo Cardinal. All of them are expected to hit the red carpet, along with additional cast and members of the filmmaking team, the festival said. The movie’s premiere is set for May 20, which falls on a Saturday, at the prestigious Grand Théâtre Lumière.
Earlier this week, Apple revealed that “Killers of the Flower Moon” will first be released exclusively in theaters worldwide, in partnership with Paramount Pictures, limited on Oct. 6, and wide on Oct. 20, before streaming globally on Apple TV. In France, the movie wouldn’t be able to roll out on Apple until 17 months following its theatrical release under the current windowing rules. Securing Scorsese’s movie at Cannes is a major coup for the festival’s chief Thierry Fremaux and follows months of discussions with Apple and Paramount. Fremaux told Variety in a long interview published this week that one of the important things for this upcoming 76th edition of the festival “was is to make sure that Martin Scorsese attends with his new film which is an important work.” While the movie was reportedly heavily courted by Venice festival boss Alberto Barbera, the filmmakers opted to premiere “Killers of
Good afternoon Insiders, Max Goldbart here penning the weekly mailer a day after Cannes revealed its long-awaited lineup. Read on for all the details and plenty more, and sign up to the International Insider here.
Cannes chief Thierry Frémaux unveiled the bulk of the Official Selection for the 76th edition of the festival at a packed press conference in Paris on Thursday morning.
In total, Cannes Film Festival General Delegate Thierry Frémaux today announced 52 titles that will debut at the 76th edition which runs May 16-27 on the Riviera, and which he dedicated to the late producer and Telluride co-founder Tom Luddy. It’s set up to be yet another starry affair – though to outdo last year’s Top Gun: Maverick screening replete with French fighter jets buzzing the Palais would be a real feat.
Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Iconic French fashion house Saint Laurent is launching a film production banner spearheaded by its artistic director Anthony Vaccarello. Named Saint Laurent Productions, the subsidiary is kicking off with a trio of films from renowned filmmakers, including a pair of shorts world premiering at Cannes: “Strange Way of Life” by Pedro Almodóvar, starring Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal. Vaccarello, a cinephile who became the artistic director of Saint Laurent in 2016, said launching this new division gives him “the opportunity to expand the vision I have for Saint Laurent through a medium that has more permanence than clothes.”
Refresh for latest…: While a handful of big-ticket Cannes Film Festival titles have already been revealed, the bulk of the Official Selection for the 76th edition will be unveiled today. General Delegate Thierry Frémaux is announcing the lineup for the May 16-27 event from Paris’ UGC Normandie cinema this morning and we are updating the list live below; you can also watch the livestream here.
Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent The anticipation is running high at the Cannes Film Festival’s packed annual press conference on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, where festival chief Thierry Fremaux is expected to unveil the bulk of the Official Selection for the 76th edition. The festival has been teasing cinephiles with splashy announcements about Martin Scorsese returning to the Croisette with “Killers of the Flower Moon,” 38 years after winning best director with “After Hour,” as well as Disney’s “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” and Pedro Almodóvar’s short film, “Strange Way of Life.” But Fremaux, who is leading the presser with the festival’s new president Iris Knobloch, is expected to have saved a few high-profile surprises, including Wes Anderson’s “Asteroid City,” starring an ensemble cast that includes Tom Hanks, Margot Robbie, Scarlett Johansson and Tilda Swinton; Todd Haynes’ “May December” with Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore; Karim Aïnouz’s Henry VIII drama “Firebrand” with Alicia Vikander and Jude Law; and HBO’s “The Idol,” the Weeknd-led series.
Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Elsa Zylberstein (“Simone: Woman of the Century”) will star as the French feminist writer Simone de Beauvoir in a feature film that will be penned by Oscar-winning writer Christopher Hampton and directed by Anne Fontaine. Zylberstein’s Sonia Films will produce the film with Philippe Carcassone’s banner Cine@ and Master Movie, the production vehicle of Marco and Lola Pacchioni. Rather than a biopic, the movie will revolve around the passionate transatlantic romance between de Beauvoir and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Nelson Algren. Zylberstein has scooped the adaptation rights of de Beauvoir’s “Lettres à Nelson Algren” from Gallimard. Through those letters, the film will chart the pair’s affair, which spanned nearly two decades from 1947, in the aftermath of World War II, to 1964. Two-thirds of the movie will take place in Chicago, and the reminder will unfold in Paris.
Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent French actor-director Maiwenn, whose latest film “Jeanne du Barry” starring Johnny Depp is set to open the Cannes Film Festival, is being sued by Edwy Plenel, the editor-in-chief of Mediapart magazine for allegedly attacking him at a restaurant. A police complaint was filed on March 7 by Plenel, accusing Maiween of aggression. Variety confirmed the filing with the Paris prosecutor’s office following local news reports. In the complaint, Plenel alleges that he was assaulted by Maiwenn in late February while eating at a restaurant in the posh seventh arrondissement of Paris. Maiwenn, who was sitting by herself at a nearby table, allegedly came to his table and grabbed him by the hair before spitting in his face without saying a word, then stormed out of the venue, leaving Plenel “traumatized by the incident,” according to the news outlet AFP, which quoted the police complaint.
Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Brut, the influential digital media publisher which became one of the main partners for the Cannes Film Festival last year, has just finalized its fourth funding round for approximately $40 million. The company, founded by Guillaume Lacroix, Renaud Le Van Kim and Laurent Lucas six years ago, has enlisted a pair of powerful financial backers: CMA CGM, the world’s third-largest container shipping company owned by billionaire businessman Rodolphe Saadé, which also recently nabbed 10% of France’s second biggest commercial network M6, and the daily newspaper La Provence; and MoonPay, a leading Miami-based financial service company for web3 whose investors include former tennis star Maria Sharapova, as well as Snoop Dogg, Drake and Justin Bieber, among others. Aryeh B. Bourkoff’s LionTree advised the deal with MoonPay.
Good afternoon Insiders, Jesse Whittock back in the hot seat. Johnny Depp, Disney and a bizarre UK government department called the Valuation Office Agency were in the international film and TV news this week. Make sure to sign up to the Insider newsletter by clicking here. Let’s go.
Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Woody Allen’s “Coup de Chance,” the controversial filmmaker’s 50th movie, has found a French distributor. Metropolitan FilmExport, one of country’s biggest independent distributors, has come on board to release the movie in France. The release date has not yet been set, but sources close to the film say it could world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. Metropolitan FilmExport has never handled a movie directed by Allen before as it typically focuses on commercial U.S. movies such as the “Hunger Games” franchise and “Evil Dead Rises.” While Allen’s movies have also always been widely popular in France, his previous film “Rifkin’s Festival” sold under 100,000 tickets for Apollo Films after world premiering at the San Sebastian Festival. It was the director’s worst B.O. performance in France. Budgeted in the $20-million range, “Coup de Chance” was a pricey acquisition that not many French distributors could afford to gamble on.
The Cannes Film Festival announces its Official Selections for its 76th edition next Thursday, but fans already know about some movies premiering on the Croisette this year. Martin Scorsese‘s “Killers Of The Flower Moon” will be at the festival, for instance, as will James Mangold‘s “Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny.” And the opening film for Cannes 2023 has already been confirmed, too: Maïwenn‘s “Jeanne du Barry,” which also serves as the onscreen return for Johnny Depp.
The Cannes Film Festival is giving a boost to Johnny Depp‘s attempted film industry comeback. Organizers announced today that Maïwenn‘s historical drama “Jeanne du Barry,” which features Depp as King Louis XV, will open the 76th edition of the famed festival on Tuesday, May 16.
Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Maïwenn’s historical drama, “Jeanne du Barry,” starring Johnny Depp as Louis XV, is slated to world premiere on opening night of the 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival, Variety has learned. The movie marks Depp’s acting comeback after a three-year hiatus following his long legal battle with ex-wife Amber Heard which culminated in a defamation trial won by Depp in December. Maïwenn’s sixth feature, the period movie revolves around the tumultuous relationship of the French king Louis XV and his lover, Jeanne du Barry (played by Maiwenn), whom he brought into the Versailles Palace to live near him even though she wasn’t a noble. Louis XV, who was nicknamed “the beloved,” ultimately died as an unpopular king after being accused of corruption. He reigned for 59 years, the longest in the history of France after that of Louis XIV. Depp barely spoke French before the start of filming so it will be interesting to see how he pulls it off without an accent.
The Cannes Film Festival has confirmed that it will announce the Official Selection for its 76th edition on April 13 in Paris.
Indiana Jones is swinging into the French Riviera.
Apple Original Films has announced that Ridley Scott’s upcoming historical epic “Napoleon” will have an exclusive theatrical release partnership with Sony Pictures Entertainment on Wednesday, November 22, before streaming globally on Apple TV+. They haven’t announced a streaming date yet but we suspect it will be around Christmas.
Apple Original Films has partnered with Sony Pictures Entertainment and set a November 22 worldwide theatrical release launch for Napoleon, the historical action epic directed by Ridley Scott that stars Joaquin Phoenix as French conqueror Napoleon Bonaparte and Vanessa Kirby as Empress Josephine. After the theatrical run, the film will stream globally on Apple TV+.
Disney and Lucasfilm are really hoping to send the “Indiana Jones” franchise off into the sunset with a bit of a bang.
Cannes has confirmed that Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny will get its world premiere on May 18 at the festival.