Thierry Fremaux Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Harrison Ford displayed his trademark dry sense of humor during what could have been an awkward moment at the Cannes Film Festival this weekend. During a press conference for his new film, "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny," a reporter commented that Ford was "still very hot," adding "we were stunned to see you take your shirt off in the second scene, it’s just… and you’ve still got it. How do you keep fit? And can you ride a horse?" Ford was exaggeratedly confused, asking about the horse-riding question first, saying he can "if they let me." As for the body comment, Ford said, "Look, I have been blessed with this body." "Thanks for noticing," he added, causing the cast, crew, and audience to laugh and applaud.

Good afternoon Insiders, thanks for always sticking with us. Max Goldbart here talking you through a packed week in the global entertainment world. Read on, and sign up here.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic Reviews will have to wait till the Cannes Film Festival kicks off on May 14, but it’s not too early for a critic to weigh in on this year’s lineup — or how it looks on paper, at least, and what the selection might say about the state of things. At the top of the press conference, festival director Thierry Frémaux noted that last year would be a tough edition to top.

The Cannes Film Festival has just revealed (another) a dazzling lineup for its 77th edition.

Cannes Film Festival Delegate General Thierry Frémaux has addressed concerns over security at the event’s upcoming 77th edition in May, saying it will be tight but that measures will be under the radar for the most part.

Alex Ritman “On Becoming a Guinea Fowl,” the second feature from Zambian-Welsh writer-director Rungano Nyoni, has been picked up by A24 for international sales ahead of its world premiere at Cannes Film Festival next month. The film, which marks Nyoni’s follow-up to her acclaimed 2017 feature debut “I Am Not a Witch,” was also financed by A24 alongside BBC Film and Fremantle, while it was developed by BBC Film and Element Pictures.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Following the press conference unveiling the Cannes lineup, festival director Thierry Fremaux addressed a few hot topics, including Francis Ford Coppola’s 135-minute epic “Megalopolis,” which doesn’t yet have a distribution deal. While “Megalopolis,” Coppola’s self-produced $120 million opus starring Adam Driver, has been selected to compete at the Cannes Film Festival, it doesn’t have a distribution deal in France.

The Cannes Film Festival officially announced the selection of Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis in Competition at its press conference in Paris on Thursday, confirming Deadline’s scoop from Mike Fleming earlier this week.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent In what looks to be another robust year in the making, the 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival will bring together several iconic filmmakers, including Francis Ford Coppola with “Megalopolis” starring Adam Driver, George Miller with “Furiosa” starring Anya Taylor-Joy, as well as George Lucas who will be feted with an honorary Palme d’Or. Kevin Costner will also be on hand with the first installment of his Western epic “Horizon, an American Saga.” Hollywood may have a lighter presence due to a combination of factors – including last year’s actors and writers strikes, which created production delays, as well as a tough economy — but this year’s festival will see no shortage of glamor and stars on the red carpet.

French industry and press are gathered this morning at the UGC Normandie theatre in Paris where Thierry Frémaux is about to lay out the official selection for this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Scroll down for an updated list of titles. 

Francis Ford Coppola‘s passion project “Megalopolis” will officially premiere in competition at the Cannes Film Festival, in a gala slot on May 17. “Megalopolis” boasts an all-star cast, including Shia LaBeouf, Adam Driver, Forest Whitaker, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Coppola’s sister Talia Shire, Jason Schwartzman (Shire’s son), Grace VanderWaal, Kathryn Hunter and James Remar.

EXCLUSIVE: After a feverish courtship of Francis Coppola between the organizers of the Cannes, Venice and Toronto film festivals, Megalopolis has been locked into a gala premiere slot on the Palais on Friday evening May 17, I’m told. The film will premiere in competition at the 77th Cannes Film Festival.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent With one week to go before the press conference unveiling the 77th Cannes Film Festival Official Selection, director Thierry Fremaux is pledging to remain zen — despite wrestling with submission delays, reverberations of Hollywood’s double strikes and high expectations after last year’s edition unveiled Oscar winners “The Zone of Interest” and “Anatomy of a Fall.” This year’s edition is already heating up, with George Miller’s “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” confirmed to premiere at the festival and Quentin Dupieux’s “A Second Act,” starring Léa Seydoux, set as the opening night film. In his first and only interview ahead of the lineup reveal, Fremaux tells Variety all about this year’s edition, including his hopes to welcome back Francis Ford Coppola with “Megalopolis” and Yorgos Lanthimos with “Kinds of Kindness,” his appeal to Ted Sarandos to lure Netflix back on the Croisette, his stance on France’s new #MeToo reckoning, the presence of female directors at the festival and how geopolitical turmoil may shape the Official Selection. Last year was a milestone year for the Cannes Film Festival. How did you approach this year’s lineup, and how many films have been selected so far? The unanimous feedback we got is that 2023 was a really great year.

The 77th Cannes Film Festival (May 14-25) will open with Quentin Dupieux‘s French-language comedy road movie Le Deuxième Acte (The Second Act).

Roll up, roll up for part two of our Cannes preview, this time with a focus on international, mainly non-English language fare. If you didn’t catch Andreas’ English-language focused part one, check it out here.

The 96th Academy Awards ceremony should be known as the Cannes Oscars, argues Cannes Film Festival director Thierry Frémaux.

Berlin Film Festival 2025 Dates 

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent At last year’s Cannes Film Festival, Leonardo DiCaprio, Harrison Ford and Scarlett Johansson hit the red carpet to premiere their latest big movies. But Hollywood may have a much lighter presence at the 2024 edition of one of the world’s most notable film festivals.

Roll up, roll up: it’s Cannes prognostication time.

It’s been quite a while since there has been significant discussion about a Netflix film appearing at Cannes. The reason being that Cannes’ rules claim that a film that plays in competition at the event has to have a theatrical rollout in France.

Sweden’s Göteborg Film Festival unveiled its 2024 lineup today, featuring 250 feature films set to screen across ten days, with highlights including Handling the Undead, Norwegian filmmaker Thea Hvistendahl’s feature debut, starring Renate Resinsve and Anders Danielsen Lie. Other buzzy titles include the Finish title The Missile from filmmaker Miia Tervo and Morbius director Daniel Espinosa’s return to Nordic filmmaker with Madame Luna.

Annika Pham Actors Ewan McGregor, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Renate Reinsve, Anders Danielsen Lie, directors Ruben Östlund, Ernst de Geer, Ramata-Toulaye Sy and Cannes Film Festival honcho Thierry Frémaux are some of the stellar guests set to walk the red carpet at the 47th edition of Sweden’s Göteborg Film Festival. This year’s Göteborg Fest unspools from Jan. 26 to Feb.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent In bigger picture terms, the major highlights of Ventana Sur were a masterclass by Cannes head Thierry Frémaux and an impromptu speech by San Sebastián director José Luis Rebordinos, heads of the most important film festivals in the world and Spanish-speaking world, supporting the continued existence of INCAA. There words came after Argentinian President elect Javier Milei had vowed on the campaign trail to shutter Argentina’s state-backed film-TV agency if voted into power. In industry terms, never has Ventana Sur, Latin America’s most important film-TV market, been this big, its final attendance numbers sky-rocketing to 4,300, some 30% up on 2022, beyond even the wildest expectations of organizers, Cannes Marché du Film and the INCAA.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Mexican Rigoberto Pérezcano’s “Lovers Fare Goodbye,” a poignant, exquisitely shot tale of star-crossed young love dominated prizes at Primer Corte, Ventana Sur’s key arthouse pic competition. The prize and dozens of others were announced Friday at Latin America’s most important film-TV mart-meet.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent BUENOS AIRES — Delivering a masterclass in Buenos Aires just days after the election victory of far-right libertarian Javier Milei on Nov. 18, Cannes Film Festival head Thierry Frémaux voiced his support for Argentina’s INCAA public sector film-TV agency, which Milei has promised to destroy. Frémaux’s one and brief direct reference to the INCAA – which oversees Argentina’s crucial federal film funding, without which much of Argentine filmmaking would wither – came towards the end of a 90-minute masterclass entitled Cinema (of) Tomorrow.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Co-organized by the Cannes Film Festival and Market and Argentina’s INCAA film-TV agency, late November’s Ventana Sur market looks set to have at least one star: Cannes head Thierry Fremaux himself. Presenting the Cannes Film Week, a extraordinary showcase of 2023 winners led this year by Justine Triet’s Cannes Palme d’Or winner “Anatomy of a Fall” and bowing on Nov.

Tokyo’s International Film Festival returned this evening for its first completely unrestricted, post-COVID-19 edition with a well-attended screening of Wim Wenders’ Perfect Days. 

Thierry Frémaux is best known internationally as the long-time head of France’s Cannes Film Festival, which is organized out of its offices in Paris’s trendy Marais neighborhood.

Actress Charlotte Gainsbourg made a moving presentation of her documentary Jane By Charlotte, capturing her complex relationship with her late mother Jane Birkin, ahead of a screening at the Lumière Film Festival on Saturday.

Wim Wenders and Thierry Frémaux signalled their support on Saturday for the Hollywood actors strike as the industrial action hits its 100th day.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent While at the Lumiere Film Festival in Lyon, German film master Wim Wenders said he shares Martin Scorsese’s deep concern over Hollywood’s obsession with sequels, and worries about AI in line with U.S. actors who are still on strike.

Lise Pedersen Lyon’s impressive Roman-style auditorium, normally used by the city’s symphonic orchestra, was sold out as U.S. writer and director Wes Anderson took to the stage as guest of honor of the Lumière Film Festival.

Ed Meza @edmezavar Oscar winner Bong Joon-ho’s 2006 monster movie “The Host” is among Paris-based distributor The Jokers Films’ recently releases, made available for the first time ever as a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray edition. The Jokers’ other new French release, the 4K restoration of Bruce Weber’s 1988 Chet Baker doc “Let’s Get Lost,” also screened at the Lumière Festival in Lyon with Weber in attendance. Describing the film’s sound and 4K restoration as “sublime,” The Jokers head Manuel Chiche says, “‘Let’s Get Lost’ is now a timeless classic not only about life but also about art and creation.” “Let’s Get Lost” is due to hit French theaters in summer 2024.

Lise Pedersen “Vive la paix, vive le cinéma!” Irène Jacob, the president of Lyon’s Lumière Institute which runs the Lumière Film Festival, chose to mark the opening of the event on Saturday night with a solemn message of peace, a week to the day after the outbreak of renewed conflict in the Middle East. “Tonight, we are really looking forward to this festival as a gesture of peace, because we do not forget what is going on in the world, the tragedies that move us, the wars all around us, the children and civilians in danger, the madness and the sadness of our divided world.

Harrison Ford is hanging up his iconic "Indiana Jones" hat, and he's pretty emotional about it.As the 80-year-old actor prepares to say goodbye to the role after the final film, "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny," he explained why his character, Indy, and the franchise are adored by fans worldwide. "I think the thing that I most admire about them is the depth and subtlety of the emotion, and the importance of emotion in these films," Ford said during a BBC Radio 1 interview.

German director Wim Wenders will be feted with France’s prestigious Lumière Award at the 15th edition of the classic film-focused Lumière Festival in Lyon, running October 14-22.

Documentary fans might be forgiven for nurturing a dream – that Cannes would follow the recent example of Venice and Berlin and award its top prize to a nonfiction film. Complete the documentary Triple Crown – the Golden Lion, the Golden Bear and the Palme d’or.